Black History Month? You Can't Be Serious.

They’re taking away Black History Month? That’s your issue this week?

There is a wonderful question posed by the brilliant Will McAvoy, who is the fictitious anchor of The Newsroom, written by the best television and film writer, Aaron Sorkin. Will McAvoy is a moderate Republican news anchor and managing editor of News Night. He's known for being difficult to work with, but he's also committed to covering important stories. In the opening scene of the series

McAvoy says, “You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fucking smart, how come they lose so God Damn always?” It’s 1:12 minutes into the piece. Watch it again; it never ceases to inspire.

One of the things MAGA (there is no Republican Party anymore) does so well, and the Republicans before them is they pick just a few things to focus on. Right to life. Immigration. Your buying power. And, that’s it. Easy peasy. They build those three things up because they know that some of their base will find it ‘their’ thing, and they can win on it. Done and done. Their special interest items? The things that the politicians champion for their personal gain or their constituency? They bury those things in other legislature as long as the politicians vote and focus publicly on the three items. They understand that American personal interests, diversified and important as they are, will not win elections.

Then there’s my team. Everyone gets on the table to put their ‘thing’ out there and we are all over the place. We have hundreds of policy positions. So Warren will focus on the money around RFK’s hearings, that’s her thing. And, AOC. Well, don’t get me started on the myriad of issues (all of them admirable) that has stopped her from supporting a bill that just didn’t go far enough left for her liking. Who suffered? Those who would have gained from the bill, who are her supporters and those she cares about.

Rome is burning. Burning like the fires in LA. Crashing like the planes. For God’s sake, we are now going to inundate the airwaves about Black History Month? Or Women’s History Month?

To be fair to those of you who care, I’ve never been a supporter of Black History Month, or Women’s History Month, or any month that corrals content and commerce around a specific demographic. I think it doesn’t do anything but add to anger from the other side and divert exposure to other things. Interesting that we the Dems have many ‘history’ month themes, but MAGA has … oh wait, not one.

Black history? Our focus needs to be the Black future. Women’s future. Climate future. Immigrant’s future. We don’t have time for performative acknowledgments of the past when the present is on fire. Yes, this moment is shaped by the last hundred, two hundred, five hundred years—but what matters is what we do next.

So forget Black History Month.

Every single month of the year, every single day, every single hour—hell, every single minute—needs to be about moving forward.

And, instead of wasting your time reading that which you read last February and the February before about the same heroes of the past, how about doing the following?

Read a book a year written by: A black human, An indigenous human, a climate change educator. For God’s sake, let’s educate ourselves rather than scrolling though a bunch of content we already know once a year during ‘their’ month.

Last week, I wrote about immigration, mentioning people I knew who were quietly making their homes safe havens. The response was overwhelming. People who were struggling with the decision reached out, telling me they were talking to the individuals who take care of their homes and yards, listening to their fears, and—when needed—offering them shelter.

That’s where our energy needs to go. Not into ceremonial nods to history, but into studying, preparing, and executing actions that shape the future.

You remember Harriet Tubman from last year’s Black History Month, right? “You have to go through the tunnel to get through the light.” It was attributed to her last year during February, but it turns out she didn’t say it. No matter. We are in the tunnel friends and neighbors.

Other have been in the tunnel. The Warsaw Ghetto fighters were in tunnels a lot. Do you think they took the focus off getting people out of the ghetto, or food into the ghetto, with a diversion about the fact that they had to wear a jewish star?

Do you think that those fighting at the Battle of the Bulge complained because they were allowed to light candles on Christmas Eve?

Nope. Harriet. Those fighting in WWII. Dr. Fauci? The list goes on.

Here is what they were and did. They were brave. They were smart. They were single minded in what they were doing. They were organized. They had contingency plans. They chose their circles carefully. They didn’t get distracted by every shiny object thrown in their path. They always had their eye on the big picture. What was at the other end of the tunnel.

You want to think and read and celebrate black lives in February. Just do it, but I really think they would appreciate all hands on deck in the bigger picture rather than that right now.

Defeat the enemy that is trying to destroy our democracy, such as it was. That’s the energy we need. Not a month-long retrospective, but an unwavering, everyday commitment to change.

History will always be there. But the present needs us now.

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Morgan Freeman on Black History Month.

“I detest it. The mere idea of it. "You are going to celebrate ‘my’ history?! This whole idea makes my teeth itch. It’s not right. My history is American history. It’s the one thing in this world I am interested in, beyond making money, having a good time and getting enough sleep," he said.