The Many Roads To African American History

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By Enid Hinton


With February comes Black History Month, maybe the best possible time for a family to learn about African American History. Since black stories will be celebrated in the media, this might be the best to begin engaging a field that can become a lifetime of study. Beginning can be as simple as putting a calendar up, with each day taking note of a different black achievement or noteworthy event.

Black literature, written during different periods of time, is an excellent way to learn the attitudes and lifestyles of black people. It is also a good way for youngsters to get a feeling for what it might have been like to live through the struggles of those gone by. An objective historical document can give important detail and context, but sometimes leaves out the feeling of living through the events.

The entire family might select novels to read in a week or more, depending on the length and sophistication of those novels. Another approach might be to select a "poem of the day" for reading and discussion. This could become an annual affair, kept fresh by introducing a new syllabus of reading each time February rolls around.

Music could be a vital part of the family's Black History Month program, even though it's likely everyone thinks they already know black music. Very often young people have the idea that they know this subject when they have never explored beyond hip-hop or whoever is on the radio. This would be a fine time to cultivate a taste for jazz, whether straightforward Big Band music or something more difficult.

One does not need to teach history through the arts, of course. Historical documentation is abundant both in text form and through documentaries, many of which are aired each February. After all, these are stories that are part of America as a whole, not just one single group. Therefore it does not matter what ethnicity one's family belongs to. Any person, whether black, white, brown, red, or yellow, can benefit from learning something about black culture.

There's no reason this study needs to be limited to the United States. Africa, whether before, during, or after the Transatlantic Slave Trade, has its own compelling story to tell. Learning about Africa can be crucially important emotionally for black Americans who might have fallen into the assumption that their story begins in chains in the Old South's cotton plantations, rather than in an African context stretching back thousands of years.

It might be uncomfortable for people of different ethnic groups to dive into this material, which can be hurtful reading for those who are too young. But there are several ways anyone can participate in black culture, including ways that are celebratory and positive. One could treat the whole family to a dinner of traditional black cooking. One might also visit the friendly environment of a majority-black church some Sunday in February.

Everybody can benefit from some exposure to black history this February. It doesn't require and special effort. Nor does it require that one be black oneself.




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