*Logo courtesy of Askari Graphics 2012
The Hostile Takeover of Black
History Month
TRUTH
Minista Paul Scott
“You
took my style/I’m takin’ it back”
How
Ya Like Me Now-Kool Moe Dee
The
annual Black History Month program sponsored by Steppin’ Fetchin’ Sneakers was
going as planned. Dr. Thomas “D. W.” Griffin, was giving his usual boring speech
about how slavery wasn't so bad, when all of a sudden a group of Black militants
bum rushed the stage and started yellin’ about the ancient empires of Africa.
The crowd went wild as Griffin headed for the exist , dropping his copy of
The
Clansman
as he made his hasty retreat...
Is
it just me or does Black History Month always seem like a bad movie script?
There will be the usual programs about slavery and the life and times of Dr.
Martin Luther King. We will be bombarded by hundreds of commercials by that same
Barry White sounding brotha braggin’ about how some company loves Black people.
And somewhere near the end of the month , every city in America will throw some
multi-cultural shindig that talks about every issue under the sun except the
ones that are relevant to African Americans in 2013.
Although
the question is posed every year “is Black History Month still relevant”, the
question that we should be asking is whether or not Black History is controlled
by Black people ? And if not , is it really Black History or a watered down,
white washed version of our culture.?
Back
in 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson started what was ,then, Negro History Week as a
way to save the story of a great people from falling into the dark abyss of
Euro-centric falsehood. However, since then, the celebration has been exploited
by everything from car companies that want to sell Black people pimped out new
rides to restaurants that create a soul food dollar menu every year ,complete
with fried chicken, watermelon and red Kool Aid.
What
is most disturbing is that many of the companies that will have “Say it Loud,
I’m Black and I’m Proud” blastin’ out of the intercom systems during February
2013 are the same ones that dissed Black folks in the 90’s.
Although
AT&T has commercials playing ‘round the clock on black networks , back in
1993, the company came under fire from African Americans when their employee
magazine contained an ad which featured a picture of a monkey representing the
people of Africa.
In
1994 , Denny’s Restaurant chain , which takes great pride in its diversity
programs ,was sued for racial discrimination. Ironically, it was the Denny’s
chain that brought out some of the old “Sambo” restaurants.
Also,
the old Texaco gas stations had to shell out some major dollars in 1996 when the
company’s top officials were busted for referring to their African American
employees as “black jellybeans.” (among other things)
And
these are the types of people who we trust to tell our story?
Really?
Under
the guise of Black History, they give us just enough to keep “Black leaders “
happy and to ease white guilt. So
we get the same old rehashed slavery/MLK/civil rights stories over and over
again.
What
happened to the great African civilizations of Ethiopia and Egypt? What about
those brave warriors who fought against the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.Or how
about the thousands of Black people who fought against racism before and after
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr?
This
version of Black History is considered too controversial for the
mainstream.
Although
controversy may sell rap cds, it doesn’t sell cell phones. So, in most cases,
telling the truth about Black History may be bad for business.
For
instance, if more Black children knew about the damage done to the Africa over
the scramble for gold and diamonds, maybe“bling” wouldn’t be so popular. Nor
would rappers like Trinidad James singin’ about “gold all in my chain/gold all
in my ring..” still have a career. Thus impacting both the jewelry and the music
industry, simultaneously.
If
Black kids got a strong dose of true African history during Black History Month,
maybe they would start wearing dashikis and kufis instead of snapbacks and True
Religion Jeans. Which would impact the clothing industry.
Also,
if our youth learned about the historical origin of Black on Black violence
every February, they may be less likely to pick up an assault rifle. Thus,
impacting the gun industry.
So,
the only ones who truly benefit from true Black history are Black
people.
This
is why our story must be told and it must be told by us. There must be a hostile
takeover of Black History Month.
Black
History is more than a way to push a product. It is the tie that binds people of
African descent together. So, before we even begin to talk about "taking back
Hip Hop" or" taking back our community," we must concern ourselves with taking
back our history.
Unlike
during the time of our parents, we now have the technology to make it happen
right at our fingertips.
The
Black By Nature/Conscious By Choice campaign is on a mission to bring back Black
consciousness and there is no better time to start than right now. Just as
Public Enemy had as its mission to raise up 5,000 Black leaders during the late
80’s, our task today, is to raise up 5,000 intellectual
warriors.
For
Black History Month we are suggesting the following steps.
Instead
of depending on the media to give us the truth about our history, we must use
Youtube , Facebook and Twitter to start a “Black History :The Lost Episodes”
series where we will post and Tweet information that has been purposely hidden
from the masses of Black people.
Hip
Hop must also get involved as we are asking rappers to adopt the names of our
Black heroes and heroines during Black History Month. If rappers can name
themselves after comic book heroes like “Johnny Blaze” and Hollywood gangsters’s
like “Frank White” and “Scarface” , why can’t we have , "The King Tut of the
Turntables," “The Nat Turner of Rap”,” or “The Harriet Tubman of Hip Hop.?
“
Also,
we must form Afro-centric media watch groups to make sure that our history is
not distorted by the media, especially during Black History
Month.
So,
the hostile takeover of Black History Month must happen.
Like
Malcolm X would put it , we must take back our culture this year, “By any means
necessary.”
We
can do this the easy way or the hard way..
Or
like Biggie Smalls once rapped “the fast way, ski mask way... ransom
note....”
TRUTH
Minista Paul Scott’s site is No Warning Shots Fired.com. Follow on Twitter @
truthminista For more information about the Black By Nature/Conscious By Choice
Campaign contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com
or
call (919) 972-8305