Throughout this past March up until now, I have been pondering many issues in Black America.  While there are many issues that I could have written about, why not address a topic that is avoided like the plague in the African-American community? 

I read an article the other week that raised the question of whether or not Black History Month has lost its luster.  The article basically said that, based on the importance (or lack thereof) the media placed on Black History Month leading up to and during the month of February, America has "moved on" from its harsh racial past and that the emphasis that Black History Month places on Black Civil Rights and the negative images and memories that it invokes is no longer needed in today's "post-racial" society.

I then proceeded to ask a few of my friends what they thought about Black History Month this year and a lot of them were upset that the month didn't get as much "shine" as it deserved.  When I asked them why they felt this way, they said "because White folks don't wanna know the truth about all that Black people did to get the country to where it is today."

But wait...do WE want to know the truth about Black History Month? How many of us know more about the Black struggle in America than just Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks on the bus? Who has read any of the great literary works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, or any of the many great minds of our past?

Black people love to talk about Civil Rights as if its a badge of honor we fight to protect daily, when, in reality, we know absolutely nothing about the struggle.  To be up in arms about the perceived lack of recognition and reverence for a month dedicated to the stuggles and achievements made by our predecessors without a single inclination to pick up a book or educate ourselves to gain a deeper understanding of those people or the social climate in which they fought is a complete show of ignorance, disrespect, and disregard for all that they stood for.

One thing about Black people is that we LOVE to meet...LOVE to discuss issues facing US.  In these discussions, gatherings, seminars, and meetings, we LOVE to refer to the past and what our pioneers did during their time.  The sad part is that if we were to go to college campuses and speak with leaders of prominent Black organizations (on my campus, that would be NAACP, BCPC, MAP, NPHC organizations, etc.), it is highly unlikely that most could tell you any more than surface-level information about those pioneers they LOVE to reference.

Take a moment to think about what this means.  Our pioneers' dedication to something greater for the future is the basis of what we do as human beings in today's world, especially as Black leaders in any capacity, on college campuses or in our careers.  Therefore, if we can't gain an understanding of the HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF BLACK LEADERSHIP through the speeches, literary works, movements, demonstrations, and lives of those that laid the foundation for us, how can we TRULY be effective in our roles leading others?

Dr. King hit the nail right on the head with this statement.  How dare we live our lives on the shoulders of these great men and women, yet never think to pay them the respect of educating ourselves about our past?  A widely-known adage states that one should only "speak on what they know."  If this holds true across all aspects of society, when it comes to Black History and the Black struggle for progress in America, a lot of us Black people should KEEP SILENT.