Find your Black Superhero

So when I started this blog, I said to myself that I would try and post about 2-3 times a week… Well the Flu definitely interrupted that plan but I’m back … and you know with my love for history and culture that I WAS NOT going to let black history month pass without doing at least one post on it. And I definitely had to post because the black pride my parents ingrained in my sisters and I runs deep. I remember going to an all-black, public elementary school, when it came to doing that yearly black history report every February most of the kids did the same historical figures: Martin, Malcolm, Harriet, Rosa. Don’t get me wrong, these were definitely some very high profile patriarchs and matriarchs who contributed greatly to the culture of black people. But when you are in a class of 25 and you get 5 Martin Luther King papers it becomes a little redundant when you hear them read in front of the class. My folks might not have broken the mold with the figures they had me do my reports on but I always had different people from my classmates. They were definitely as intrigued as I was about some of these “new” superheros. Three of my faves were:

Crispus Attucks – escaped slavery, first person killed in the American Revelution

Lorraine Hansberry – “Raisen in the sun” need I say more… oh and a lil side note I refused to watch mr combs drown in the shadow of Sidney Poitier but that’s just me

Wilma Rudolph – with extra kudos to the Wilma… When I read her story as a child I felt a connection with her…the book put a lot of focus on her childhood story and since at the time I read it we were the same age when she had polio and couldn’t walk, only to over come it and become a track star. She was like a superhero to me.

For me, that’s what black history month is about for me. Saluting the black superhero’s, both past and present, and discovering the new ones who have yet to get their due. Remembering the people’s whose shoulders you stand on today. I’m not going to let people that dismiss the month (that includes the cynical black people) get in the way of me taking part in the celebration. If it weren’t for black history month you might not find us in a history book at all. History books had barely begun covering black history when the tradition of Black History Month was began. And no I don’t care that it’s the shortest month in the year because before 1976 it was only a week long. And if you missed it don’t worry the UK celebrates it in October. Music legend James Brown put it best (yup I’m quoting him LOL) SAY IT LOUD