Many people question why we celebrate Black History Month every February. Allow me to explain,

It is “Our Way to Say Thank You,” to our ancestors who were captured and thrown into dungeons in their homeland of Africa and then forced out the “Door of No Return” into the holes of slave ships, piled atop of each other for an average of three months in the “Middle Passage.”

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It is “Our Way to Say Thank You,” to our ancestors who landed on the shores of this country and faced unbelievable evil in a strange land, among strange talking and looking people.

It is “Our Way to Say Thank You,” to our ancestors who endured centuries of oppression at the hands of oppressors, who had the unmitigated arrogance to consider themselves as masters.

It is “Our Way to Say Thank You,” to our ancestors who confronted an apartheid system of abuse, but still survived, fought back, and brought us “Up the Rough Side Of the Mountain,” and we have all benefitted from their sacrifices.

It is “Our Way to Say Thank You,” to the “Greatest Generation” of freedom fighters the world has ever known, men, women and children who took on an organized mob force of violent resistance and won.

It is “Our Way to Say Thank You,” to the writers, painters, photographers, poets, musicians, entertainers, and athletes who have excelled in the performance of their particular art and sport and helped create and sustain one of the finest cultures known as the African American (or Black if you prefer) Culture in the entire history of civilization.

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Our celebration is accentuated in the month of February but is acknowledged and enjoyed every day, every month of every year.