Sad. Disgraceful. Exhausting. This best describes Black History Month 2019 in it's entirety. I'm tired, you're tired, and at this point, I'm just ready to wrap this whole thing up. I'm even down with rescheduling Black History Month a couple months out to see if we can get a better do-over—because bruh, everyone has picked the wrong month to lose their damn minds. I mean, it was bad enough that we (Black folks) were given the shortest month of the year to celebrate our greatness on a large scale. But this?
Let's recap why this month has been so trash. It started with the never-ending Jussie Smollett scandal involving a (possibly staged) hate crime that initially shed light on the threats Black queer men face in 2019. Unfortunately, this was overshadowed by the inconsistencies of the case on both sides, as well as the back-and-forth between Jussie and the less-than-reliable Chicago Police Department. Then, we transitioned to the predictable racism of older white politicians on Capitol Hill who were exposed for their history of wearing blackface for sport. After this came Liam Neeson's unprompted confessions about his past transgressions against Black folks, which turned into headlines about his "bravery" for sharing this while promoting his new film (literally no one asked for this info, and honestly I'd rather not know). And of course, to top it off, Gucci threw in some racism with their blackface-esque attire, and Burberry followed with sweaters that dangled nooses as fashion (of all the things...a noose...because that just screams "fashion", right?).
Y'all, we've only had three weeks of Black History Month. We're not even done yet.
I don't remember a time (other than this Tr*ump presidency) when I've wanted something to be over so badly. It's disappointing because this was supposed to be our month, ya know? Black folks fight every day to navigate a society that was not created to benefit us. We do our best to find some sort of peace and happiness in the midst of chaos and harm, and this month is the only month when the entire nation has to at least pretend like they give a damn about us (I'm aware that's not how this works entirely, but the concept remains the same).
But, even in the midst of such racism, the thing that gives me hope that we can still "save" Black History Month is the notion that these terribly racist things would have happened anyway. Those politicians—and many others—are still smiling (racistly) in their yearbooks from prep school and the ivy leagues, decked out in their klan fits and imitating Michael Jackson with faces painted black. Whatever's happening with Jussie and company would've still went down in March, April, whenever. Liam still would've told on himself to the entire world. Gucci and Burberry would've still purposefully created racist fashion for shock-value and to get Black folks talking, be it Floyd Mayweather's ignorant behind who's still rocking Gucci down to the socks, or other voices of the culture who have called foul on both of these high-end brands.
Racism and buffoonery don't just go away for a month so we can feel good about ourselves. This is still America and we are still Black.
So, with that, we might as well count our blessings and assess the wins we've had this month. Though they are few and our losses outnumber our wins, they're still wins nonetheless. We can't forget about Beyoncé's attempt to save Black History Month by giving us multiple looks via Instagram (for once, because you know she posts when she wants to), or the fact that R. Kelly is FINALLY in jail (this platform will always proudly advocate for R. Kelly's conviction for his crimes against Black women and girls). To add to the small wins, we also got to see Barak show off his "44" bomber jacket at an NCAA basketball game, witnessed the globe celebrate Rihanna's 31st birthday, and tonight we'll be rooting for the many gems of Black cinema appearing at the 91st Oscars as they finally get the recognition they deserve.
And these are just some recent instances of our wins with Black excellence. We still have much to hold close and be thankful for when it comes to the path that was paved by our ancestors, and Black folks who represented themselves as exceptional and deserving. There's still so much to learn and to embrace. And when you think about it, the same applies to the lives we lead. We're always gonna have to put up with crap we don't deserve, but celebrating the big wins of the past and the small wins of the present are things that will get us to the promise of the future. Every day belongs to us, regardless of the BS we put up with; every month is Black History Month. Sure, it was a flop this year, but we have next year, next month, tomorrow to celebrate the way we see fit. Celebrating ourselves—as individuals and as a people—is something we do have control of. There's power in control. There's power in our existence, with or without a month that says so, or people who refute this. There's power. It's yours, it's mine; it's ours.
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