This Black History Month, let’s invest energy into some new acts that we can grow into traditions that can uplift us both individually and collectively. Here they are:
Read a Black Classic
Howard University professor and all-around Africana Studies powerhouse Dr. Greg Carr often laments the current fascination with thinking that everything needed to be known exists somewhere online. It doesn’t. There are worlds, universes, galaxies of knowledge and information not online, but readily accessible via an ancient technology known as books. And taking the time to read, turn pages, and if you’re like me, write notes in the margins, you’re giving yourself time to contemplate, wrestle with, and sit with what you’ve read. Carr reminds anyone who will listen that our ancestors in Kemet believed that time spent sitting with and contemplating what you just read was an invaluable part of the learning and knowing process.
And what better way to take this practice to the next level than to read a Black classic – “The Fire This Time,” “Parable of the Sower,” “Up From Slavery,” “Precolonial Black Africa,” “The Philadelphia Negro,” “Song of Solomon,” etc. Even the most well-read soul hasn’t read every Black classic. So, chances are, you have a gazillion choices at your disposal.
Pick one, and watch a whole new world open up for you.
Watch a Black Classic
Every generation, young folk look cross-eyed at “old” movies and TV shows. And every generation, as those young folk mature a little, some of them take the time to check out some of those past TV and/or cinematic gems. And just like reading a classic, watching one enriches us in ways we often can’t even fully recognize or appreciate immediately.
Take your pick of past decades. Each one is overloaded with movies (and TV shows) that will enliven and enlighten you. The original “Sparkle,” “Cooley High,” “Carmen Jones,” “Car Wash,” “Deep Cover,” “School Daze,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “The World, the Flesh and the Devil,” “The Brother From Another Planet,” “A Different World,” “The X Files,” anything starring Pam Grier, etc., will be more than worth your time. And yes, I count “The X Files” as Black – two workers kicked to the bottom rungs of their “business,” given throw-away work, yet they end up doing the most important work on the planet while every force possible is deployed to undermine, discredit, and silence them (or steal their ideas). You can’t get much Blacker than that.
Plant a Tree for an Ancestor
Anything we do to uplift the environment is a much-needed blessing for us and the planet. Anything we do to honor our ancestors is a much-needed blessing for us and the planet. Imagine if a global cadre of Blackfolk did this one simple act at least once a year!
Write a Physical Letter to Someone… and mail it
On those rare occasions when I receive a physical, hand-written, old-school USPS-delivered letter, I pause and take the time to read that cherished, surprise gift on the spot. There’s something to be said for that intimate, personal touch. Take the time to brighten up someone’s day by sending a heartfelt message to a loved one. Believe me, they hit way “different” than texts.
Give Old, Old School Music a Listen
I love me some music, so I can’t say much here or I’ll ramble on forever. But one of my pet peeves is radio stations that play the same songs over and over, when we have decades, generations worth of insanely incredible, groundbreaking music from which to choose – and form every genre imaginable. There’s no excuse why we’re not being serenaded daily by songs from the 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s, and beyond. One of the things I appreciate most about growing up in CW and Norma Jean Walker’s household was the constant exposure to music that I otherwise would not have heard. They played their favorite tunes from what they considered back in the day. And in the moment, I wasn’t feeling most of it. But some of it, I did. And the rest of it, I later learned to appreciate. There’s something about music that can connect generations. We’re losing that opportunity as each individual is now a walking, personal playlist shared with no one but themselves.
Take the time to reach back and give those past masters a listen. If it wasn’t for them, the folk you’re jamming today wouldn’t exist. And today’s artists who are really doing something, have one thing in common – an unabashed respect and appreciation for those artists of the past.
Engage in Radical Self Care
The late, great Audre Lorde said it best: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.” We’ve been conditioned to believe what we do (i.e. our job) defines us and our worth. For that and other reasons, we often end up working ourselves to death; not taking the time to care for self. As folk say, we spend our time making a living but not a life. But you are worth it. You are worth an investment in your own well-being. So, invest in yourself by prioritizing rest and relaxation, meditation, daily/weekly walks in nature, gardening, or any other activities or “inactivities” that allow your mind, body, and spirit to recharge.
Speak Life to Yourself
We humans are a funny lot. We often speak to ourselves in a negative, brutal, and harmful way that we would not accept from someone else. That voice in our heads is often the biggest hater we face, always doubting your abilities, always telling you what you can’t do. Why not tell that voice to talk to the hand? And the only way you can really do that is to speak life to yourself loudly, proudly, and consistently. Positive affirmations are considered both a spiritual technology and a scientifically proven way to bring about positive change in your well-being. Let’s use our Black History Month energy to speak life to ourselves!
