I never formally received lessons on Black History from my mostly all-white Catholic school in a small farming town in the middle of the state. The best we received was a few sentences on slavery and MLK Jr. There was no mention of anything else unless I sought knowledge elsewhere on my own. I discovered the library and began reading stories about different people throughout history. Their stories connected the dots to questions I had about why things were the way they were. I began to realize that learning history meant recognizing and understanding patterns that could predict behaviors. Knowledge became power, and anyone with power would do their best to keep it to themselves. So, I did my best to learn more about Black history.
Black History Month is celebrated in February every year. Historian Carter G. Woodson is credited with starting Black History Month to recognize the contributions of Black people. Woodson believed that Black people should be proud of their heritage and that all Americans should learn about Black achievements. The history of Black people is a puzzle piece in the whole puzzle of U.S. History. Without this piece of history, you are lost to not ever knowing the true portrait of the United States of America. You will always be missing something.
On the first day of Black History Month in 2023, U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) reintroduced the Black History is American History Act, legislation that would mandate the inclusion of Black history as a required component of the American History and Civics Academies' competitive grants administered by the U.S. Department of Education. She said, “Black history is crucial to understanding the complexity of our nation's past, present, and future—not just slavery and civil rights. By incentivizing schools and educators to teach Black history in the classroom, we can all learn important lessons in our country's ongoing journey toward creating a ‘more perfect Union' for all Americans."
Congresswoman Beatty previously introduced the Black History is American History Act in the 117th Congress. The legislation was initially introduced by U.S. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (OH-11) in the 116th Congress. However, the current administration vows to shut down the U.S. Department of Education entirely and ban teachings on various topics, a domino effect allowing anyone to silence some information. Restricting the free flow of news and information to a group of people is a tactic used throughout time to control a populace. The perfect act of resistance is to keep learning anyway, and I encourage anyone to do more digging into different facets of history to understand their current reality better. Black history is American history, and we should all take the time to learn a little about Black history this month.