Black of us are resilient. It’s essential to do not forget that throughout a time when, on the streets and on-line, many people appear to be our wits’ finish. President Donald Trump is attacking DEI. He’s attacking Black Historical past Month. It feels just like the 47th president has declared struggle on our neighborhood.
As we rejoice Black Historical past Month this 12 months, it is very important bear in mind from whence we’ve got come. Our ancestors have been dropped at America in chains. They have been pressured to work from morning till nightfall with no promise of liberation. Some misplaced coronary heart as a result of freedom tarried, however Juneteenth finally arrived.
Within the years after slavery, many tried to destroy our our bodies and spirit. Our individuals endured lynchings and false imprisonment. Males who suppose themselves white unleashed massacres in locations like Rosewood, Florida and Tulsa, Okla. that they later tried to disclaim. And but, we’re nonetheless right here.
America handed legal guidelines that marginalized us. These who enacted them proclaimed that we’d by no means sit at their lunch counters nor drink from their water fountains. They thought it was a privilege to be within the firm of whiteness, however they didn’t know that it was them who was fortunate to be in our presence.
They gave us scraps to eat, however we used it to make meals with soul. We’re those who have been denied a music schooling, however nonetheless created jazz and the blues, a sound that they appreciated after which appropriated. Subsequent, they took the devices out of our lecture rooms, however it didn’t cease us from creating one thing referred to as hip hop, a tradition that modified the world. Chuck D was proper when he stated that rap music was the CNN of the ghetto, for we used it to inform a Black story over a bassline peppered by polyrhythmic beats.
The police tried (and are nonetheless making an attempt) to kill us. But, we refuse to overlook the names of Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Sonya Massey and the numerous others who have been unarmed, however executed by those that swore an oath to serve and shield.
Sure, we’re beneath assault, however this isn’t new. It has at all times been that manner. There has by no means been a second on this nation when there was not one thing or somebody making an attempt to eradicate us. If not bodily, then spiritually.
So, bear in mind this Black Historical past Month how far we’ve got come. Be inspired by those that got here earlier than and bear in mind the teachings our ancestors have taught us. We come from a individuals who overcame each impediment America positioned in our manner, and we’ll overcome the menace posed by Donald J. Trump.