This can mean many things depending on your situation. For some it means only four weeks until another payday. For others there is less time to meet monthly goals Some of us use the shortest month to abuse, rather than celebrate Black History. It is good for our nation to celebrate for a month, but Black History must be integrated into the rest of our history for the rest of the year. It is meaningless outside the context of all human history. All worthwhile Black historical accomplishments did not occur in February. If it only took one month, that, in itself is worthy of celebration all year long!

How is Black History Month abused? In my opinion, the worst offender and the most insensitive is the liturgical church. For years, we have bombarded our congregations with vaguely related "Black" material throughout February even though these hymns and sermon topics are appropriate to other seasons of the liturgical calendar. In March we put it all away for another year.

The most blatant February pulpit incident was committed by a beloved pastor. He proclaimed that "...God's constant efforts to to save his people can be expressed in the words of that old Negro spiritual, Ol' Man River 'He just keeps rolling along'." I didn't know it was an "old Negro spiritual". I thought it was from Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein.

Looking back, the most humorous incident was during a Negro History Week celebration in a huge church attended by a few elderly plus seminarians. Other than references to Lincoln's speeches about not being a slave...not being a master, there was nothing related to the program until the offering when we heard the organist play a very catchy tune. After two phrases of this theme and variation, my wife and I turned to each other and said in unison "Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away... " We gathered the kids and went to the car singing "Old Black Joe". We kept our money.

I am looking forward to the day when "Black music", whatever that is, becomes integrated into our worship all year long as it fits the liturgical calendar. This will take a cultural change, much patience and education.

The month is short, but the time is also short. Let's learn about and celebrate contributions by Black people to society. Let's do it all month long. Then let's apply our new-found knowledge to our attitudes all year long.

What national celebration would be complete without a biography of ...
(Click here or on the "AFRO-American Almanac" banner).

-- David Jackson