The Art Snob Archive

Black History Month - Feb 2 2006

The beginning of February, my dear readers, marks the beginning of Black History Month, a welcomed break from the eleven-month cycle of White History. It is a time I use to brush up on my Bell Hooks, to review the proposed policies of Jomo Kenyatta, and to refrain from taking any milk in my coffee.

February presents a chance to “expose the harms of racial prejudice and cultivate black self-esteem”. Now, a single month is obviously an inadequate response to the exclusion of important African-American narratives from larger North American histories, but still, it provides a good incentive for white people to rent Alex Haley’s Roots and claim they “understand”. Personally, I thought LeVar Burton was much better in Reading Rainbow.

As a bit of a history buff myself, Black History Month at least gives me an excuse to depart from my routine study of crusty old European men (which, admittedly, can get a bit tedious). There are only so many stories of colonial exploitation and racist oppression you can read before having your faith restored by the heroic stories of Black activists such as Stokely Carmichal and Harriet Tubman.

Sometimes I worry, though, dear readers. I fear that Black History Month may be sinking into clichés. After all, everyone from DJ Williams (of Stomp the Yard fame) to George W. Bush is sending “shout-outs” to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. We must ask ourselves, how long can we allow the Civil Rights Movement to dominate our appreciation of Black History?

Yes, I understand the Civil Rights Movement was probably the most important event in North American Black History, and yes I understand that Civil Rights Leaders have been deservedly elevated to Saint status, so please don’t send me hate mail just yet. As a member of the patronizing, overeducated cultural elite, however, it is my duty to tell you that Black History Month has much more potential. It needs to acknowledge the bigger picture, to address a historiography that encompasses so much more than just social activism. Within Black History, after all, there exists a powerful cultural legacy that deserves to be celebrated.

It is time to recognize, for instance, the historically supported fact that behind every successful white artist, there is predictably a much more creative Black man or woman. And I’m not just referring to Justin Timberlake; this is a tradition that stretches back centuries.

Black History Month should work to lift the more financially endowed and historically “market friendly” White cultural behemoth from its place on top of the suffocating Black artist. Give credit where credit is due. The serious art snob, of course, already sees the Melvin Van Peebles behind the Quentin Tarantino, the Nina Simone behind the Feist, but unfortunately not all North Americans are so enlightened.

It is the responsibility of Art Snobs to always know the Ur-text, to be there at the birth of the next scene, to dig beneath commercial bastardization to find the independent roots. Black History Month emerges as an excellent opportunity to discover and celebrate the cultural innovations of Black artists and writers that have had such an effect on the larger project of Western Civilization. Everyone already knows the names of Malcolm X and W.E.B. Dubois; it’s time to add some Black artists to the February pantheon.

It is the 21^st century, after all. How much longer can we deny the relevance of painters like Raymond Saunders and Jean-Michel Basquiat? Is it just to ignore the brilliance of Little Richard and James Brown? Or even J Dilla and Talib Kweli? Ralph Ellison and Zora Neale Hurston made pioneering progress in American literature, but where are their shout outs in fictional step dancing movies starring Ne-Yo? Innovation has characterized Black History as much as social progress, and Black History Month should reflect this. It’s only fair.

Admittedly, society has labeled me a ‘white dude’, but you cannot deny that somewhere, back at the beginning of time we were all children of Africa, and so this is technically sort of my fight too. Okay, it’s really not. But please, if you’re only going to get one month to celebrate Black History, make it count. Godspeed.

posted by HLL @ Thursday, February 01, 2007