20 Ways to Celebrate Black History
It’s lit!
Happy Black History Month to all my Black People except Omorosa, R. Kelly, Ben Carson and those coon twins that work for Trump.
It’s our 28 days of Christmas. We are officially T-minus 14 days away from the release of the Blackest movie of the century! If you haven’t, go check out my post about Black Panther now but hurry up and come back to this.
Let’s get straight to the point, no BS. Here are 20 ways to celebrate Black History Month.
1. Join @GIPHY and @BlackBirds on Twitter for the kickoff to Black History Month. Black Twitter’s gif game is undefeated so join in the fun by tweeting both accounts your favorite black history gifs!
2. Also, speaking of gifs, download Ebroji. It’s a gif keyboard developed by Dr. Woke himself, Jesse Williams. Best decision I made as a gifologist!
3. Visit your cities Black History museum. I know we aren’t all fortunate to have access to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture but a quick google search may lead you to a great alternative in your city. Here in Detroit, we have the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Philly, Cincinnati, LA and Baltimore also have similar museums.
4. Get the blackest hairstyle you can find.
Tomorrow, I will be reinstalling my jumbo box braids. I need to feel the spirit of the goddess and that’s what box braids do for me. I don’t know what it is about hair but a fresh cut or fleeked out edges just does something for the soul. So get that jheri curl or afro, brush down those waves, or even flip that 30 inch weave sis. Black hair is versatile so there are no rules.
5. Read a book by a black author. I’m supposed to be reading more this year but it hasn’t quite worked out that way yet but I do have a few amazing authors in the queue. At the top of my list is “I’m Judging You - The Do Better Manual” by Luuvie Ajayi and I definitely have to get my hands on a copy of “Black Feminist Thought” by Patricia Hill Collins.
6. Listen to a black podcast. I’m just getting into the whole podcast wave but I do enjoy it. Of course I’m going to suggest Myleik Teele’s Podcast. Sis will read you for filth but after you get out of your feelings, you’ll be ready to conquer the world. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention two of my favorite podcasts: Beat the Buzzer (a sports podcast hosted by my friends KT and Cardo) and the Am I The Only One podcast hosted by my boos Iesha and Tamika. I’ve been featured on their blog a few times so I’m patiently awaiting my invite to the podcast.
7. Binge watch a Black series. I’m sure Black Twitter was set on fire when Hulu announced that they added “Living Single” to the roster but you can also watch “Girlfriends” on the CW Seed app and prepare for season 2 of “Dear White People” on Netflix.
8. Re-up on your african garb.
Listen, I’ve been shopping for my Black Panther premiere outfit for a month now but after the L.A. premiere I have to step my game up. Some good places to start are Zuuva, Dashiki Pride and Afrocentric Designs. You can also look around town to find something. Luckily, Detroit has a huge African immigrant population so I know the items I am buying are legit.
9. GO SEE THE BLACK PANTHER! Listen, if you don’t see the Black Panther for the first time in the month of February, it doesn’t count. The movie has already surpassed hella presale ticket records. I have a ticket for a Thursday show and a Saturday show. I’m not playing.
10. Study some Black art. Do you know about Jacob Lawrence? What about Annie Lee or Sydney James? Head over to your local art museum and see if you can take in some black art. If there isn’t a section specifically for African or African American art question the staff and make them get it together. Also, purchase some art from a local artist. Support the starving artist.
11. Listen to some Black music.
From Blues to Rock to Ratchet, Black people have done it all. Don’t argue with me, argue with ya mama! Black people are the originators and trendsetters when it comes to this music ish! If you have Spotify, there are a few playlists available if you search Black History Month. If you have Apple music, I highly suggest you listen to any of Cousin Mitri’s playlist.
12. Give back to your community! There are plenty of ways you can give back to black and brown people this month. JustServe.org and VolunteerMatch.org will help you find community service opportunities in your area. It’s a great resource. Or you can contact your favorite non-profit and see how you can help out.
13. SOUL TRAIN DANCE PARTY!
First of all, these gifs are amazing. Secondly, If your BHM doesn’t include a Soul Train line, did it even count? Turn on one of those playlists I mentioned above and get down witcha bad self! You don’t have to break it down like this but eff it up sis!
14. Speaking of dance moves, you can get a nice little lesson in the history of Black social dances from choreographer Camille A. Brown. I love everything about this video. And as you can tell, we are again the originators of this ish.
15. And once you get done watching Camille’s video, explore the TED website for other thought-provoking TED Talks led by Black people. My favorite is when Mellody Hobson (probably the richest woman in the world) tells the story of the time she was mistaken for waitstaff, sis is a Fortune 500 CEO.
16. Have an comfortable talk with a non POC about being Black.
Don’t walk away just yet. Come back. I know we aren’t their teachers or their go to guide for the Black experience but I’ve learned that they will continue in their ignorance if we don’t check them from jump. I recently had a conversation with a former coworker (non POC) of mine about my work experience as the only Black person on staff and she had no clue I had been feeling like that. It was so refreshing to just talk to her about it. She didn’t interrupt but really sat there to take it in. After that she began to ask me about things she may have seen as microagressions and I helped her nip some bad behavior. Conversations are all it takes. Not every person will be that open to listening but we have to start somewhere right.
17. Support Black Businesses.
You should do this almost everyday but even more so during BHM. I don’t really need to expound on this but here are a few of my favorite brands.
18. Play some Black Trivia Games. If you haven’t purchased Black Card Revoked yet, pleased climb from under your rock and get it together. It still amazes me how we all grew up the same way just in different homes. Black Card Revoked tests to see if you know when Cash Money took over to whether or not your momma had McDonald’s money. For The Culture is also another great game. It’s like “Heads Up” but for Black people. It’s available on iTunes and Google Play.
19. Support Black Media! Can’t say this enough. Once upon a time, there were hundreds of black publications across the country. Today, Real Times Media owns a few of the remaining Black papers founded in the early 1900s. Buy a paper, share an article. If there isn’t a Black press outlet in your city, donate to the National Association for Black Journalists. It is the hub for any black journalist in the country, providing career training for those in the field and seeking to create opportunities for those looking to break in. P.S. NABJ has one of the best conventions around and this year it’s in Detroit.
20. Be authentically Black. We should do this everyday but the reality is society tries to crush every sense of our blackness. This month, cut the code switching. Wear your hair how you want. Get those glow in the dark nails (my next set). And bust through those doors like
