you can have february back

Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week to put our names out there, but now our names flood the headlines as victims of the latest act of violence committed by the police.

Now, the week has expanded to the shortest and coldest calendar month in honor of our history. For 28 days, Target puts corny fake liberatory statements like “Curl Power” or “Young, Black, and Gifted” on their 100% cotton T-shirts. For 28 days, Good Morning America will put a black person in front of the camera and ask them questions like, “what does Black History Month mean to you?” or “are you proud to be black?” 

They’ll call that “doing their part” as if the other 337 days aren't spent circulating images of black death & exploiting black men & women.

They say the month is spent celebrating us…but I still walk into a room full of white people and don’t get my standing O…so I’ll believe that when I see it. 

As a matter of fact, y’all can have the whole month back.

My hands are sore from gripping onto those 28 days too tight. I’ve carried the burden of filling the auditorium (and your timeline) with black figures for too many years. I’ve been asked what the month means to me one too many times; I am giving it back. 

In return for the month, I’d like all of us back.

“Us” being the ones taken from this earth too soon. “Us” being the little black boys & girls who still had growing up to do, and the black men & women who had growing old to do. 

I want them live and in the flesh. Having a barbecue. Attending graduation. Baking a pie. Shopping. Getting a car wash. Having children. I want them back to living mundane lives in exchange for this mundane month. 

What good is this month for a “celebration” of black history when police departments are making their own history for the most killings in one month? 

So take February back & let our people come out of a traffic stop alive. 

I can do without the sales, the limited edition BHM sneakers, the performative Instagram posts, & the special episode that airs on Feb. 1st. 

I’d like long, full, and warm lives rather than the shortest, coldest, and pitiful 28 days.

“So take February back & let my people come out of a traffic stop alive.”