When you think of Black History, what comes to mind? Is it Dr. Martin Luther King and the activism and protest that followed his leadership? Is it Rosa Parks refusing to abide by Jim Crow laws deciding that she wasn’t going to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus? Or do you think of Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, George Washington Carver?
These are all perfect examples of great leaders, activists, and inventors who stood in the face of adversity and oppression but chose to overcome the odds, greatly shaping the world today and history as we know it.
With that being said, it seems as if the meaning of Black History has become very one-dimensional over the years. The idea of it has grown and has gone from activists and inventors to politicians like former president Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris, representative Jasmine Crockett, musicians like Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Prince, Stevie Wonder, actors such as Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Cynthia Erivo and Viola Davis. They are all Black History, yes, but as a society we forget that Black History is all around us.
We take the powerful history in the making that surrounds us everyday for granted, just because they aren’t in our history books or walking the red carpet. Black people existing and being comfortable in their skin is Black History. Being not just Black but unapologetically Black is Black History.
Wearing your hair the way you want, dressing the way you love to dress, stepping into your power as the beautiful Black kings and queens that you are without worry of any expectation or being put into a box is Black History now and Black History in the making.
It is often forgotten that Black people are a giant and beautiful brown rainbow that is constantly contributing to the world in every positive and influential way. It doesn’t take leadership, fame and fortune to be a visionary when you’re Black; because you already are. The magic that happens when you just exist in your Blackness.
Your hair defies gravity, your skin soaks up the sun rays and protects you from UV harm, your cheeks are fuller, your lips are bigger, you are the blueprint to what everyone wants and pays for, but you have it naturally. It’s the aesthetics and lifestyle you bring to the table that makes everything seem as if it’s never been done before, even if it already has.
Black people know no boundaries when it comes to creativity and art. This is when Black History becomes less about historical and mass media facts and more about the Black person as an individual and how the mere existence of their everyday lives is a gift that continues to give.
So when you think of Black History don’t just think about what happened then, but what’s happening now. Black History is the girl in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) who’s also on the dance team, the boy in the fashion club who loves snowboarding, and the wild and earthy girl who loves to surf and eat lemongrass. It’s the black girl from Germany who’s also a cheerleader, the boy who dances hip-hop but loves Paramore and the girl from Los Angeles that has been on more adventures than you can count. This is us, Black History in the making.
