Surrounded by bright tiki torches that cast shadows in the night, students of the Honors College gathered around a crackling fire on February 24, to participate in a fireside chat with Dr. Wairimu Njambi and Dr. Christopher Strain. With Black History Month coming to a close, members of the Black Student Union, Sarah Marajh and Angela Carter organized a relaxed forum to engage in discourse regarding “things of a cultural nature.” They discussed what constitutes American “whiteness” and debated whether or not celebrating Black History Month in any way perpetuates a separation of cultures.
Dr. Strain, a professor of U.S. history, particularly the Civil Rights Movement and race relations, offered a brief history of the origins of Black History Month and its founder, Carter G. Woodson. In 1929 Woodson proposed celebrating Negro History Week every February. Though he wished to commemorate the great supporters of emancipation and African-American rights, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whose birthdays fall in that month, he inadvertently chose a month that encompassed many more figures and events important to black history. The prolific political writer and activist W.E.B. Dubois who co-founded the NAACP, was born on February 23, 1868. During the month of February in 1870, the 15th Amendment, giving African-American men the right to vote, was passed and ratified. Also, on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated when he was about to address an OAAU rally at the Audubon Ballroom in New York.
After finishing his introduction, Dr. Strain joined the circle of students relaxing on blankets and benches opposite Dr. Njambi and opened the floor to questions, stories, and debates. One of the major questions to arise was whether or not Black History Month should commemorate only black history or if it should encompass the histories of all minorities in the United States. If the latter were adopted, some students argued, February would become Non-White History month rather than a time to remember the significant figures and events in black culture. Jarred Reiling argued that by celebrating the history of all minorities together it might “rob one’s racial individuality” in order to make it “American history.” With the many events that comprise U.S. history in various ethnic and racial cultures, we could deny their importance and thus support an even stronger dichotomy between what one may define as white and non-white. If such is the case, the debate continued, must we designate a period or month for every minority culture or stop celebrating Black History month all together? The students promptly turned to Dr. Njambi, who teaches women’s studies and is a co-professor of the independent study course, White Privilege. Rather than debate, she “wanted to hear a story or a real life experience” that was important in one of the student’s lives.
Visually bursting to tell her stories, Nkaya Williams, stood within the circle and brought us to her native homeland of Trinidad and Tobago. She described a typical day growing up without indoor plumbing, but with a rich and proud culture. A natural storyteller, Williams took us to a wedding to participate in a “two steps forward, one step back” procession. She brought us to the riverside to chat with the women of the village as they taught their young daughters to balance baskets on the head. She even included us in the mischief of the orishas, a practice akin to voodoo, to win the heart of a desired classmate or to seek revenge on someone else. She taught us that, “you do not disrespect people no matter what – respect is very important in my culture.” She also emphasized how important it was in her culture to pass down history from generation to generation through storytelling, to maintain their unique identity.
Perhaps by hearing more stories and sharing more experiences with the cultures around us, the tension between white and non-white cultures – whatever they may be – could give rise to a celebration of differences amidst a mutual respect of individuals.
