When I walk into the campus bookstore for the occasional jug of milk, I am enticed by the many items on sale for February. The story of Pierre Toussaint seems to beckon me from a corner shelf, along with many other tales of contributions to society by African-Americans. Without my current ties to homework and other activities, I would be hard pressed to not read every book in the store on this subject.
However, outside the bookstore, the campus walls tell a different story. Outside, there is one advertisement after another boasting of Valentine’s Day candy sales by different student groups. My thoughts quickly change to the idea of free treats only seven days after my twenty-first birthday-but for Black History Month, not a second is spent upon quiet reflection.
This description couldn’t be any more symbolic on how the modern media ignores the importance of this month, choosing instead to devote their minutes to sales pitches for food items, flowers, and other knickknacks relating to the holiday for the romantically inclined. One is more likely to hear an ad for Hallmark cards than a brief description of Booker T. Washington’s experiments with the peanut plant. Could this be the reason, then, that the real importance of February is becoming ignored?
Where are the ads for biographies of Frederick Douglass, a man who endangered himself to achieve his own freedom from slavery? Where is the praise for the courage of the Buffalo Soldiers and the Tuskegee Airmen, who risked their lives for a country that did not yet respect them as human beings? And more importantly, why has there been no special event on this campus to honor any African-American contributions, save for that of Dr. King in January?
The martyrs of the civil rights struggle did not lose sight of their goal for racial equality. They did not take action just to help themselves, or just their families, or just their friends next door. They meant to help all people who were looked down upon in their own time and and for the generations of the future.
A dozen roses does not last for decades. A box of Valentine’s chocolates turns stale and bitter after months on the shelf. But the sacrifices of those February is supposed to honor will not pale with the passage of time as long as we choose to remember them. It is time we all started to acknowledge their worth just as we acknowledge our passion for those we love. Maybe it would help if Hallmark had a Valentine’s card for those who loved so much that they devoted their careers and their lives so others could breathe a little freer and live a little better.
Friday, July 4, 2025