Today is the last day of Black History Month. Just in case you wanted to do something special to celebrate, but you didn’t actually plan anything, here are five Meltingpot approved, easy-breezy, pro-Black ways to finish off the greatest (and Blackest) month of the year.
1.LISTEN Listen to The Diary of a Mad Black Cousin episode on the podcast, The Nod. It’s about a Black family who continued to live and work on the same plantation where their ancestors were enslaved … for more than a century after emancipation! The story is told from the perspective of one of the daughters who got mad and broke free. It’s riveting listening. And here’s the link of part 2 of the story.
2. LISTEN AGAIN Speaking of podcasts, another listening option to make you realize that Black history is American history is White history, comes from WNYC. It’s a special one-off podcast called, “The Invention of Race.” The podcast is exactly what the title implies, an exploration of how we made up the nonsense we call race, and the subsequent invention of racism.
3. WATCH Go see Black Panther at the cinema. If you’ve already seen it and you don’t feel like going outside tonight once you’re home from work, then download the Netflix original movie that has also been nominated for an Oscar, Mudbound. Mudbound is a movie that features two families, one Black and one White trying to survive in 1940s Mississippi. If you don’t have Netflix, but you still want to do something pro-Black that has to do with the movies, pre-order your ticket for A Wrinkle in Time. Because it was directed by Ava DuVernay and stars Oprah, it definitely qualifies as a Black product that deserves your support. Bonus, this can also count as a Women’s History Month event by the time you actually go see the movie, because it rolls out on March 9.
4. DONATE Take out your checkbook or open your paypal account and make a donation to a historically Black college or university (HBCU). These institutions, which have been compared to real-life Wakandas, play an important role in our past, present and future, but need support. If you need more convincing, check out the new PBS special, Tell Them We Are Rising, and then get that checkbook out and know you’re actually doing something that directly and positively impacts the lives of Black people.
5. SUPPORT Go buy something at one of the remaining 55 Black bookstores in the United States. That’s right, there are only 55 Black-owned bookstores in the United States and number 55, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books, was just opened in my adopted city of Philadelphia. I don’t care if you buy a book, a bookmark, a T-Shirt or a cup of coffee, just support these businesses because they not only offer shelf space to Black authors who are often overlooked by mainstream bookstores, they also often act as community centers and safe spaces where Black folks can get to work on making the world a better place…for all people.
Bonus Idea: CELEBRATE Go to the bakery (Black-owned if possible) and buy a chocolate birthday cake and have a super Black birthday celebration for all of the amazing Black folks born in February. Seriously, what would we be talking about in February if it weren’t for these demigods of Black excellence born in this month?
Alice Walker
Toni Morrison
Frederick Douglass
W.E.B. DuBois
Langston Hughes
Rosa Parks
Leontyne Price
Sidney Poitier
Nina Simone
Marian Anderson
Who else should be on this birthday list? Did I miss anyone major? Minor? (Minor like, Ms. Meltingpot. But I got my cake so, I’m good.) Let me know. And tell me how you’re going to end Black History Month?
I’m listening.
Peace!
(Featured photo by Steve Snodgrass)
