Being Black/February 1, 2019

Dear Black History Month,

I’ve been Blessed to have reached you once again. I would like to apologize for previously not recognizing you. If I may be quite honest, I just recently started recognizing myself. Having not been raised being given knowledge of self, I simply always identified myself with what I did. This is no slight to my mom or step-father we all simply had our own process of finding ourselves. Nevertheless, Black History Month, I wanted to let you know that I planned to acknowledge you this year. Oh, guess what, once the month is over, I’m going to continue to educate myself and others on what I believe it means to be Black. The topic is so diverse, in depth and uncomfortable for so many Blacks and Whites alike. Well, I’ve known for quite some time now that I possess the courage, understanding and insight to help at least one person comprehend what it means to be Black, better. For my Christian friends of a lighter hue, I need you to hear this, I know and believe that there is only race created by God, the human race, but due to the troubling persistence of an unscientific idea, the ideology of race has deep roots and claimed innumerable scores of lives. So, for those of you of a lighter hue, to fail to acknowledge that those darker than you don’t have to go through, at the very least, twice as much as you; as I educate myself and other Blacks I earnestly invite you to be educated too. Amen?! May we proceed. The goal is to acknowledge being Black during Black History Month while we let this acknowledgement of all who came before us remain a part of us.