It's Akilah, Obviously!

Black History Month is here again, and I must say my feelings have not changed much in the year since I made this video. I’m not the biggest fan of Black History Month simply because I find that Black History is American History, and it is the last frontier of segregated education. Why can’t we talk about more than 5 black people more than 28 days out of the 365 in a year? Why is it taught separately?

I guess you could say my experience with it is different than many, and I understand the sense of pride some Black people take in it—but my experience as one of very few Black kids in a very White, Suburban high school meant that I either became the spokeperson for all Black people in February, or I was singled-out as the reason why those White kids felt guilty.    

I was really lucky to be on a panel for The Stream on Al Jazeera English and I can truthfully say that it was an amazing experience. I’m reading up on all of the great people who were also asked to be on the panel because they really helped me gain a broader perspective of why it is important to not only expand the month, but expand the content, and make it more inclusive.

Here’s the video!