Visions of Martin in Blue

" If you don't know what was then you are unable to properly interpret what is and you are ill prepared for the future." --Louis Farrakhan

It all started in a Classroom…

“Who dat?” Monique asked, pointing to the poster over her desk. I looked up, “It’s Martin Luther King Jr., speaking at the March on Washington”.

“Who he?” She asked again, staring at me impatiently. I stared back. She stared some more. I continued to stare at her, willing it not to be true, had she really never heard of MLK before??

“He was an important Civil Rights Leader. He and others fought for equality during the Civil Rights Movement?” I said, trying to jog her memory. I refused to accept her blank stare, she had to know this.

She took a minute, assessing the information I had just given her, eyes flicking across the poster, looking for evidence of greatness.

Then suddenly her face snapped together in pained disgust, “Man Fuck him!” She spat. “He ain’t no Crip!” she exclaimed, throwing twisted fingers into the air as the bell rang and she escaped into the hallway.

I stood, frozen, questioning my entire life’s purpose as a History teacher. Did she just say fuck Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because he wasn’t a Crip???

In that moment and many since I’ve wondered, do Black people really even care about Black History anymore? Now, as a History teacher and a Black one at that, this a horrifying thought but the question must be asked, do we even care?

Throughout the history of America, Blacks have been subjected to what amounts to a government sponsored cultural genocide. Using violence, discrimination and very law itself, the American power structure has conspicuously tried to rip the foundation of a cultural identity out from under people of color. No where else is this more evident than in the classroom, where the contributions of African Americans are often downplayed if not totally omitted from American History.

The suppression of Black culture and history continued well after the end of Slavery and into the first half of the 20th century. Only during the Civil right movement, thanks to the efforts of college students at Howard University (shout out Samuel L. Jackson!) and the work of other activists, who demanded the addition and recognition of the contributions of African Americans and other ethic groups in the study of American History, was the Ethic Studies movement was born. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, ethnic studies classes appeared at the college level across the country and over the past 40 years, these classes have developed into established nuanced fields of study. However, the study of minority history is still considered a subset of the larger American History and has yet to be fully integrated. At a time when one would think the study of Black America would be at its height (what with a Black president and all) the movement to include the contributions and the struggles of African Americans in the American historical dialogue has, not only stalled but again is under attack.

A systematic white-washing of American history is underway and it is seemingly going by unnoticed by Black leaders and the Black community at large. In the last month, the state of Arizona has taken large steps to once again marginalize the history of minorities and I have yet to hear anyone raise a single objection. In addition to making to legal to racially profile its citizens, by passing bill 1070, the Arizona legislature has also made it illegal to teach ethic studies classes. That’s right folks Hispanic, Black, Native American and Asian American History classes are now against the law in the state of Arizona because the state government was afraid that classes like these would create a level of “resentment” towards other races….I wonder who they could be talking about?

Why wasn’t this reported by the media? Where is the Al Sharpton led March? The Jesse Jackson interview on Dateline? The outraged crowds? I don’t know either but it must be a sign that we just don’t care whether our history is included or not. Black History on the secondary level is already optional (that’s right I said optional) and in many states, it’s not even offered to the majority of high school students. If we as a community allow this Arizona precedent to be set, then what is to stop other states from making effectively making Black History illegal too? But do we even care?

Welcome to Nigrescent…

The definition of Nigrescent is “tending toward black; blackish”.

Quite plainly, Nigrescent means to be black and this blog is dedicated to the discussion and exploration of what it means to be Black in America. The challenges, the issues and events that affect us everyday and the history behind them because…"It is what it is, because of what it was"