Greetings Family,
I hope you’re doing well. My heart wants to send something weekly, but life has me sliding in like Eddie Cane Jr. sometimes. Still, we’re going to connect at least once a month moving forward.
Can you believe it’s already March?
Black History Month has wrapped up, but let’s be clear. Carter G. Woodson did not start Negro History Week as a hit-and-quit observation. He understood that history was made to be used. So while the decorations may be boxed up and the themed playlists have quieted, the responsibility remains.
I was at a school last week, and the only Black history the children knew of was Martin Luther King Jr. I was at an adult Black History Month event a few weeks before that and listened to a beautiful oration of the “I Have a Dream” speech.
I’m going to kick my soapbox across the room in an effort not to climb on it… But let me say this again: History is made to be used. It is not for rote memorization. It does not expire after 28 days. It exists to help us navigate the present.
History gives us pattern recognition. Foresight. Strategy. It is a blueprint we are constantly supposed to study, update, and apply. The February decorations are lovely. But what we need is a 365-day application.
Okay. I tried. The soapbox is back.
King is actually a powerful entry point if we study the totality of his work. Not just the dream. The systems analysis, the economic critique, the organizing, and the courage. If we did that seriously, we’d understand today a whole lot better. We might have even avoided much.
I know I keep saying that about King. But I keep being confronted with the same well-intentioned, but watered- down scenarios, and it literally makes me want to holler. Word to Marvin and Nathan. Yes, it’s that serious. And here’s why. We are not living in unprecedented times. We are living in understudied times. And our great-grandchildren will pay for our refusal to study if we keep scrolling reels instead of scrolling pages.
The Panthers said, “Power to the People.” That’s why they insisted on political education. They understood that informed people are harder to manipulate. So either we want to be powerful, or we don’t.
One hundred years of formal recognition means one hundred years of receipts, strategy, invention, organizing, brilliance, and sacrifice. Black History Month is over,
but the responsibility is not. Teach the youth. Teach yourself. Learn with your congregation. Learn with your community. Join organizations committed to liberation. Practice mutual aid.
Say it with me one more time, Family. “History is meant to be used.” Either we use it, or we lose.
And now we step into Women’s History Month. What better time to deepen our study of the Black women who organized, strategized, built institutions, and carried movements on their backs?
Next time, we’ll explore the work of a woman who taught adults to read so they could change the political landscape of the South. A critical analysis of her work is needed today. Will you be ready to use it?
With Love and Intention,
Starr Armstrong
Founder | Clever Communities in Action