This month is celebrated not only in this country, but also in other countries in Central and South America and begins in the middle of the month to coincide with the Independence Celebration days of Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
February is once again, as every year, the month when this country celebrates Black History Month. And once again my thoughts immediately fall short of being celebratory as they are overshadowed by the reality that it is the only time this nation acknowledges how critical the African-American has been and continues to be to this country’s development.
The current pandemic presents nothing new to African Americans in terms of disproportionately impacting our communities in every dimension of life. The fact is, as has been noted in any number of commentaries and references on social media in the wake of the Covid-19 virus, we have been experiencing a pandemic since our first days on the shores of this country-a pandemic of racism. Emancipation provided a lowering of the viral load, as have the legislative outcomes of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, but the stark reality is that it’s a virus that continues to impact the consciousness of many Americans and continues to mutate with varying presentations requiring vigilance and a consistent intervention of social outcry and activism.
The intergenerational cast kept the audience enthralled throughout.