As we enter into Black History Month 2015, make note that this month of celebrating our history is a marker period for celebrating ourselves. We celebrate by the recognition of our heroes, heroines, and their achievements; but also this month serves as a marker for reflecting and reaffirmation on our collective struggles and achievements in the seven core areas of culture.

Those area’s are; spirituality/ethics, history, social organization, political organization, economic organization, creative production (art, science, technology, & literature), and our ethos (community psychology) that evolves from our work, study, and struggle in the preceding six areas of culture. For history is a record of people in struggle for justice, freedom, building the world they desire and deserve to live in; and against the forces of oppressive opposition from others, contradictions within themselves and nature. Thus, while those most notables are recognized, we know in the best of African cultural understanding that any and all achievements happens as a collective process and product.  Therefore, there are those whose names we might not know yet, warrant our recognition and respect for whatever role they have played in the awesome and ongoing struggle we wage for liberation and a higher level of human life.     Furthermore, in the process, we see Black History as argued a record of a people struggle and from that record we seek to learn its lessons; As Malcolm X taught, "Of all our studies history is best prepared to reward our research." Secondly we are to absorb its spirit of human possibility; and thirdly, we strive to extract and emulate its models of human excellence and achievement, and finally we are obligated by our culture to practice the morality of remembrance as an obligation and honor. As ancestor Mary McLeod Bethune teaches us that “We are heirs and custodians of a great legacy" and urged us to discover the dawn through that legacy and to bear the burden and glory of that legacy with strength, dignity and determination. And likewise ancestor Fannie Lou Hamer reaches us to “never forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.”

Given the above it is imperative that today in the midst of the ongoing oppression on Black life that we as a community to remember we are engaged in a struggle for justice! And turning a blind eye to that struggle via the Super Bowl, The Real Housewives Of Atlanta; or some other corporate programming to keep us anesthetize in the matrix of Eurocentric hegemony,  will only contribute to one’s  own demise.

Consequently then as we celebrate Black History, let each and every one of us think deeply as to how we can actively  participate in the rescue and reconstruction of ourselves in every sense of the word and in our own cultural context.  Here it is important to raise the proverb given us by philosopher John Mbiti who contends I am because we are, therefore, we are because I am.” Essentially this means we are all in this (our collective history and subsequent struggle) together. Thus, it is critical for us to be actively engaged in the well being of our community. As Nia the third principle of the Nguzo Saba contends “To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness." It’s in this context that we participate in rebuilding and sustaining the liberation movement; doing honor and justice to the lives and legacy of our fore fathers and mothers who lived a life of ethical service to the community so that we may be here today and continue that legacy of work, study, and struggle with dignity, strength and self determination.
Min. Tukufu Kalonji is Founder & Kasisi of Kawaida African Ministries,  For info contact @ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.