February: A Month of Blackness

Countless jokes have been made about how Black History Month has been relegated to the shortest month of the year.

Whoever really thinks of February as Black History Month past grade school, where Martin Luther King Jr. pictures are colored in with that rarely used brown crayon (or perhaps burnt sienna until you start coloring and realize you picked up that deceiving color that LOOKED like brown until it was on paper) once a year? Remember sitting in your 4th grade classroom learning about the bravery of little Ruby Bridges, the deification of Rosa Parks, that ardent desire to play ball that Jackie Robinson had?

But then elementary school ended, and for all intents and purposes so did Black History Month. Teachers had standards to meet so that we could pass the tests that evaluated their effectiveness, that would determine whether our schools got additional funding or not. So in came state standards, out slipped Black History Month.

But at the risk of sounding trite, where would we be without the dedication of the men and women of the "Civil Rights Era"? What would our country look like? Would we have "naturally" outgrown segregation? How long would it have taken? Would it ever have happened?

It's impossible to tell. But as we still have a ways to go in terms of equality and racial blindness, I'd say we wouldn't be anywehre good without the Civil Rights Era.

So! Here comes my point!

For the next month (hopefully) every day, I'll post a random fact, a random quote, a random poem, a random whatever that has to do with black history -- recent or colonial or anywhere in between. I don't eexpect this to be much frequented, it's mostly an indulgence for my love of quotes and poetry and random facts.

So, happy fact of the day, if you're reading this. (Obviously I'll start on February 1st, just through I'd throw my preamble out there now.)