Celebrate Black History Month Like It’s Going Out Of Style — Because It Very Well Could Be

Barack Obama was in high school when Black History Month was officially recognized. It could be phased out before he reaches retirement age.

Despite how the Civil Rights Movement and landmark provisions and initiatives that were created for the advancement of Black Americans during the 1960s and 1970s are often depicted in black-and-white imagery — to make it seem like the severity of racism during that era was so long ago — many of the breakthroughs that have taken place have only been fully experienced by one, maybe two, generations.

It’s a sobering reminder of just how new many of our freedoms are, as most of them are currently under attack. For that reason, we should treat this February like it’s the last February that will ever be dedicated to us. Because when white supremacy is allowed to govern in an autocracy, our joy and the celebration of our progress are always a threat to our oppressors.

What began as “Negro History Week,” created by Carter G. Woodson, a renowned journalist, author, and historian, occurred during the second week of February to overlap with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. It has since become an annual, month-long celebration of Blackness and the achievements of Black Americans, recognized by sitting presidents since 1976.

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, there’s never been a better time to appreciate it, as we’re in a moment that feels like its national acknowledgement could soon be coming to an end.

Believe what you see, not just what you read/hear.

“This month, however, we do not celebrate our differences. Instead, we celebrate the contributions of black Americans to our national greatness and their enduring commitment to the American principles of liberty, justice, and equality — the principles that wrested the Western Hemisphere from monarchies and empires, ended slavery, saved Europe, put a man on the moon, and built the freest, most just, and most prosperous society ever known to mankind,” reads a proclamation from the White House that feels like President Donald Trump took no part in writing it, as the author refuses to capitalize any of the B’s in Black during Black History Month.

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2026 as National Black History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”

The idea that this is an official decree from the White House, given the current state of our nation and the things that have been said and done by the signatory, is laughable at best ­and a gut punch at worst. It’s clear that the President of the United States is playing in Black America’s face with this declaration. 

Recently, Trump called into a podcast to urge Republicans to try to hijack our electoral system, saying, “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” Given the history of this nation, a repeat of the poll taxes and literacy tests that were used to keep Black Americans from taking part in the electoral process, making a return isn’t something we should ignore. In the last few weeks, and since he’s been back in office, we’ve witnessed Trump try to undermine civil rights by suggesting it led to “reverse racism, watched as his administration stripped MLK Day and Juneteenth from the National Park Service’s annual free-entry days, and denounce the celebration of our freedom from slavery as one of the “too many nonworking holidays in America” that cost the country “billions of dollars.”

Yet, somewhere, Nicki Minaj, Jason Whitlock, and Sage Steele are probably praising Trump for his “Black History Month shout out,” in the latest chapter of the ever-evolving book, “All Skinfolk Ain’t Kinfolk.”

It has never been or never will be on white people or America to teach, recognize, or respect Black history. A large part of that involves celebrating, donating to, and matriculating at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Showing up to “turn up” at a homecoming isn’t good enough. Send your money, children, nieces, nephews, your mama, and your cousin, too, to the only campuses on Earth that prioritize our well-being, safety, and education at institutions of higher learning.

“They can change what they teach in schools. They can change the points that they use to decide what is some larger form of education. They cannot change what we teach each other. They cannot change what we preach on our own time. They can’t do it,” commentator Bomani Jones, a Clark Atlanta University graduate, said recently when speaking about remembering the greatness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a fellow HBCU graduate (Morehouse College).

“Everything I ever learned about Black people, I learned from Black people,” he added.

At a time in which a glance at the news will inform you that journalists are being arrested for being Black, while the number of Black coaches in the NFL remains at three, after no Black candidates were hired in a cycle that featured ten openings, it becomes quite clear that as much as things have changed, most of it is still the same — as it’s on us to take care of us.

So, throughout 28 days of this month, make an effort to do something for yourself, or for someone who looks like you. Because even if they eventually try to take this month from us, we’ll do what we’ve always done — keep on keeping on. Moreover, this month, which started as a week-long celebration, was always our own creation.

“Happy Black History Month for the rest of my life. I want to remind everyone that we are all we’ve got. And we know who I’m referring to. So, please give yourself some grace, and extend your kindness to your neighbor who needs it.” — Durand Bernarr.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University. Follow his Substack to keep up with more of his work.