Whose history did you celebrate this month?

In our celebration of Black history month I was reading Commentary: Toward a Unified Black History  in www.BET.com by By Naeesa Aziz…….

It struck me that of these three famous Black leaders, Garvey; King; Mandela,  it is Garvey who was most adamant in his commitment to the Negro having a sense of pride in his race; and this to me was the factor which has contributed to many people feeling perhaps he was too extreme in his philosophy.
It’s funny, but if we do not have pride in ourselves and our history will there ever be any opportunity to acknowledge the greatness of our civilizations.

So Today-Black

So today when we speak of “Black” and “African-American, that little “hitch” still exists and we can understand where it comes from. But at the same time as we see our children talking the talk with all their ingenuity and creativity, while their elders fail to walk the walk, the thought is, it’s time to move on.

How do we move on? Garvey’s emphasis on self-knowledge is important today as it was when he first spoke. Self-knowledge is a mix of history, life experience and dialogue. As one understands him or herself better I think you are more capable of knowing why you are doing what you are doing.
These three great men all understood themselves, their place in time and anticipated the poisonous darts that would be fired at them.  At the root of their arguments however, is a common bond. This is the bond of being a person, being a human being.

Whether we believe in God or not we all agree we were created by a force well beyond our lowly comprehension. If that is so why give into the wearisome argument of human beings being different, one being superior to the other or one being put on earth to serve the other? I find it difficult to realise that in 2013 we still have people who prefer to live these lies.

Black history month is just an exclamation point in the routine round of month after month and serves a purpose as does Ukrainian week or Diwali celebrations. Celebrating difference is not celebrating socio-historical errors.

It is the concept of humanity which will unite us. Not skin colour, not nationality but simply humanity. I read a tweet just this week where Maya Angelou was thinking similarly. As I say in my children’s book “Marcus teaches us to Love one another”.

It would be so much more fulfilling for every person, to realise during Black history month, that this race of people are the only ones who do not strive to awaken in every heart anger at what has transpired in the past. Rather we strive to tell our offspring One Love.

Eleanor Wint, author of Marcus Teaches Us, a children’s activity and educational text available at www.garveykids.com