Celebrating Black History Month

I still remember the rock glaring white in front of my college cafeteria.

“The Rock,” was a huge boulder for students to express themselves with spray paint, usually cheering on a sports team, announcing an engagement, celebrating a dorm or reminding students of an upcoming event.

At my small Christian university, for the first time, much of February the rock was painted with the words, “February is Black History Month.” On the first week of March, someone anonymously whitewashed the surface and wrote, “March is White History Month.”

The morning rattled our small community with very few students of color (and only three staff members of color). It opened up a tense and eye-opening time of conversation on campus as folks took sides, and our Black professors urged us to investigate why celebrating Black history was so threatening.

Fast forward to 2023 and governors are banning the teaching of African American history, and since 2021, 36 state legislatures have seen movements to prohibit the teaching of “divisive topics” like racism, sexism, or certain aspects of American history, with eleven states enacting some kind of ban. Black History Month still seems to be a tenuous, performative or outright offensive season to some, but I feel deeply it’s important to celebrate it as Christians as part of a larger goal of racial reconciliation*

*To read an insightful look at what “racial reconciliation” means for the people of God, this article by Rich Villodas is a great place to start.

Here are eight ways I suggest celebrating BHM this year. Please remember you can’t do them all (or you won’t do the ones you choose justice) and that these are a beginning, not an end to a life-long journey of unlearning and learning together.

1. Understand WHY Christians Should Celebrate Black History Month:

Dr. Jemar Tisby puts it far better than I ever could, explaining why the church and Jesus followers should even acknowledge BLM.

2.Listen to Something New:

• For the one who’s not sure where to start: Seeing White Radio Series

• For the history buff: Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement Momentum Series

• For the one who wants to hear more from women in the church: Melanated Faith on faith, race, and culture.

• For the one who wants to hear about the intersection of the Bible, church history, and culture: Pass the Mic Podcast

• For the family with younger kids: Hey Black Child is made with kids and for kids to learn short stories about famous Black heroes outside of the classroom

3. Watch Something With Someone Else and Discuss it After

• 13th is powerful. Tracing the roots and rise of mass incarceration in America, this documentary will leave you speechless at times and with more questions than answers

• March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World is a short (20 minute) storybook film of the book by the same title written by Dr. King’s sister for children

• Hidden Figures is the story of the women behind the U.S.’s space launch and a reminder of Black excellence, resilience and community (ages 10+ I’d say)

• I Am Not Your Negro was my first deep dive into James Baldwin and this film traces the Civil Rights movement to #BLM movement and was sweeping and challenging. You can watch it in it’s entirety on YouTube Movies.

• Just Mercy is a good introduction to the work of Bryan Stevenson and the fight for justice for the wrongfully condemned

• The Hate U Give isn’t history but reverberates with it. My husband and I sobbed through this powerful adaptation of a powerful book

4. Pay a Black creator or leader for their free labor

Follow someone on social media or through a podcast who has taught you or shared resources you’ve used? Consider supporting them on Patreon, using VenMo or PayPal to buy them a coffee (like an account I appreciate Jasmine Holmes), or offering upfront to pay someone for their time and opinion if you’re accessing their expertise or lived experience. We shouldn’t ask questions or ask for recommendations in email or messages we’re not willing to Google for first and pay for second.

5. Prioritize Black and brown voices:

There are hundreds of amazing titles, fiction and non-fiction, by BIPOC authors. You can search on Google for the type of book you would usually read and find options for voices that get less shelf space and advertising. The three books pictured above, Be the Bridge, I’m Still Here and The Very Good Gospel, were three personally life-changing books for me in the area of faith and justice. This Here Flesh and Who Will Be a Witness? are also two stirring reads.

I also have for the last few years made a goal of reading 25 books by (not about!!) BIPOC authors. Looking at my reading log, I had only read 5 in a year and decided to change that. The next year, I read 25, this year 35… It doesn’t happen by accident but has been rich and a way to celebrate excellence and creativity, not just trauma.

For kids and youth, I recommend the mobile resource We Read Too, a database of books by and about people of color you can take with you to the library or bookstore and beyond.

6. Learn Which Voices Are Missing and Why in Our Areas of Advocacy

The Mennonite church has made Creation Care and stewardship a priority but it remains to be seen how well we’ll listen to underrepresented communities in what needs to be a collective effort. Articles like this one help explore how to be culturally and racially sensitive in Creation Care, and have principles that can translate to other areas where we desperately need to include Black and brown voices.

7. Repeat after me (and teach): More than one thing can be true at one time.

I think the feeling behind the white-history rock at my university was the fear that celebrating another group somehow lessens the achievements of our own. I believe the pushback against teaching history or social justice concepts that could “make students feel bad about themselves,” is rooted in all-or-nothing, dualistic thinking.

I want my own children to know these things:

-We can be proud of our ancestry AND yet humble enough to learn about our missteps and blindspots

-We can trust in the saving work of Jesus to wash away our guilt/sin AND understand that repaying and repairing and restoring are also necessary after a long history of wrongs

-We can honor our heroes while ALSO acknowledging their shortcomings and the fact that there were in fact their contemporaries who were not “products of their time”

-We can be close to those who look, act, and believe differently than us without our proximity invalidating our beliefs

-Black heroes (or any heroes for that matter) were whole, complex people. They don’t have to be perfect to be influential or faithful or celebrated. They were activists and pioneers but also mothers, brothers, children, hungry, idealistic, depressed, sick and glorious

-We can experience challenges in some areas of life AND acknowledge that we still have privilege that many don’t. We can be well-meaning in our attempts to connect but also inadvertently harmful in our lack of listening.

-We can know a lot (and have Black friends and colleagues and children and spouses) while still needing to unlearn and keep learning, asking for forgiveness even when harm wasn’t our intent. (This article on “9 Phrases Allies Can Say When Called Out Instead of Becoming Defensive” is helpful in this area).

F8. Commit to One Action that Will Last Beyond February

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Complete the educational units from Be the Bridge that have required listening, viewing, and reading, along with a listening period before comments are allowed

• Sign up for Repentance Project’s An American Lent for a season of contemplation through segregation and racism in America

• Commit to picking up at least one book at the library each time you go with your kids that features BIPOC or is written by BIPOC

• Choose to support a Black-owned independent bookstore like Sankofa instead of retailers like Amazon when ordering books for your personal or classroom use

• Decide on a personal or family challenge like learning about one figure a week or month from lists like this one or these from the Conscious Kid . Or, if you want a mystery challenge, here are 12 things you could research, one for each month:

  • Lucy Simms

  • Mary Turner

  • Tulsa Massacre

  • Rebecca Lee Crumpler

  • Charlotte Forten Grimké

  • Maria Fearing

  • Onesimus and vaccination

  • Bayard Rustin

  • Claudette Colvin

  • Ralph Bunche

  • Fannie Lou Hamer

  • Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsy

I’d love to hear about the ways you’ll be engaging Black History Month this year. Let me know in the comments or via email!