If you don't know it's the 1st of the BEST month for highlighting and shining light on everything #BlackExcellence! Don't get it twisted - Blackness is a dominant force ALL YEAR LONG but for the month of February we really running it up!
Fuck yo President's Day and every other made up White holiday - disrespectfully. As a kid, I grew up going to a private school that was majority Black so we learned about Black folks all the time but we really went all out for Black History Month (BHM). I'm grateful for that experience because we learned about impactful Black people beside MLK, Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and the like - I'm talking about we really LEARNED about Black folks across the board and what all WE contributed to this country. From the traffic light to the hot comb, we learned it all as 3rd/4th graders. Once I moved and switched schools I noticed the lack of BHM being truly celebrated or taught by my white teachers....for whatever reason white people loveeeee only talking about MLK, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln (like he even Black or benefited us smh).
I say all that to say I'm taking my space to another level this month by 1) posting BHM content EVERY DAY until March 1st 2) spending and recirculating more bread into Black-owned businesses of all types and 3) doing my best to reach more Black urban planners/students/and Black people and make all this urban planning shit make sense. Those are big ticket items for the month (and beyond) so be sure to pop me if I start lacking on the content. I'm gonna be consistent on posting and highlighting Black people that made an impact on the built environment, Black human/civil rights, historic/well-known Black communities/spaces, and of course, sneakers, music, and artists that have been impactful to the movement. I'm hella excited to get into the nitty gritty of some influential Black folks that have fallen to the shadows or those that have paved the way for me to be in urban planning the way I am. If ya know me, then ya know I LOVE research especially about Black life, Black communities, and the migration of Black bodies in the built environment.
Even gonna show love and give flowers to those Black urban planners and game changers that are shining right now. I'm big on showing love while you can so that's exactly what I'm gonna do! Follow my IG to see who I post and what they've done for US. It's gon' be a whole lot of Black culture, Black love, Black community, and Black ass vibes!! Heavy on the #BlackExcellence shit this month, ya feel? And of course, holla at me w/some dope Black-owned brands for anything from clothes, shoes, jewelry, backpacks, and whatever else! I'm putting my money where my mouth is more so this month and going forward to really increase the buying power of the Black dollar. TAG A BLACK-OWNED BUSINESS!! Or send them to me on IG or Twitter!
Also, adding to my reading list this month, of course with Black authors so lemme know! Don't hit me w/books about being "anti-racist" because...nah. I love my culture, my skin, and my BLACKNESS! And I love YOU for being Black and existing in your light as is! Do not change for anyone -a job, a relationship, a friendship, and definitely not for this here internet. BE YOU AND BE BLACK AF!!!
Happy Black History Month mane!! I'm excited as hell to journey through all these amazing, influential Black people/places this month!
"[T]he accounts of the successful strivings of Negroes for enlightenment under most adverse circumstances read like beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age." - Dr. Carter G. Woodson
コメント