Black History Month

This is a month that is celebrated by Black communities all over the world. It is a time to showcase our contributions, history and culture to the world.

Some may say why Black History Month, why not White History Month, well the reason is simple, every month is White History month including February. We live and breathe whit history and this is all over the world. Wherever the white man went he has left his historical footprints.

I remember growing up in the Caribbean I never learned anything about my history but of European and British history. Blacks were not counted and still not counted in these parts of the world though we have contributed a lot to the development of the west. Many young people are not aware of our contribution because it was excluded form the books. This gives them a chance to learn that blacks have a right to be here, they have paid their due. For more than 300 years they gave free labour that helped developed some of the most important institutions in the West, that have made many people rich. Today's youths should learn that blacks worked as slaves on plantations, in homes and cotton fields. They were bound to these activities through cuel bosses/masters.

They have to know that Harriet Tubman is a historical figure in Canada. She brough many slaves from the USA over to Canada with the help of Quakers through the Underground Railway. Those people settled in Ontario - Chatham, Owen Sounds and around that place.

Blacks were first enslaved in Quebec City. While they were not treated as badly as in the United States, they were still treated bad enough to make you cringe. They were beaten and whipped if they stepped out of line or tried to gain freedom.

Did you know a black man was whipped if he as much as looked at a White woman in what could have been interpreted as a suggestive manner?

Blacks were dehumanized and white children were taught that Blacks were not human beings as they were but something inferior.

During Black History Month, it is important to relive these memories so that it never be allowed to happen again.