How to Celebrate Black History Month Year Round
By: DM BLUNTED
Ah, Black History Month. The time of the year to celebrate and give thanks and space to the Black folks today and from our past. *Scratch the record* Wait, why don’t we do that year round? Why do we wait for the shortest month of the year, to look around and appreciate the hardships and successes of Black Americans? Black history doesn’t start and end with the month of February - it’s literally impossible to fit 400+ years of history into a 28-day time span. So this year, don’t pat yourself on the back just for posting a Maya Angelou quote during Black History Month, keep that energy year round.
Black Americans have been out here, smoking cannabis before it was a billion dollar industry and generations ago, working fields of hemp as enslaved people. Our roots are thick and firmly planted in the same soil of cannabis - to only acknowledge these facts during Black History Month is insulting.
Black history is cannabis history. Black history is the United States history. The good, the bad and the ugly are all permanently interlaced. So when we celebrate hemps’ legalization or pop fireworks on July 4th, we also need to acknowledge in the same breath that black people’s literal blood, sweat, and tears are behind those celebrations. When you light up in a legal state, keep in mind that there are black and brown bodies in jails and coffins over the same plant you’re enjoying safely, now. And when you’re smashing chips because you’re body is being ravaged by munchies, remember, that it’s because of a Black American that you’re munching on those chips.
The best way to celebrate Black History Month year round, is to acknowledge the plights, tribulations, and triumphs of the Black people around you, all 365 days. It’s listening to us when we say, we need more support and y’all giving it. It’s hiring Black people for their voices instead of taking them for free and acting like you’re doing them a favor. It’s stepping outside of your comfort zone and speaking out for our rights. Overall these are all simple examples, that you can apply to your life as easily as buying black in the month of June.
