When a colleague sent me a Choice Feminist Campus post, Black HERstory Month, offering ways to observe and honor Black History Month from a feminist perspective, I was intrigued.  I have long been conflicted about Black History Month because of its superficial presentation -- and I am not sure celebrating Black HERstory Month is the answer I seek. 

If you Google "do we still need Black History Month?" a ton of articles and posts pop up -- either defending or critiquing what has become a must-do month long celebration for many schools, organizations and companies.  Last year, the actor Morgan Freeman added fuel to the already smoldering fire when he called the idea of Black History Month "ridiculous" during an appearance on 60 Minutes.  Many share Freeman's views that Black history should be a part of history everyday, while others argue that while a month recognizing black history may have potential, Black History Month as it exists in the U.S. has become too commercial to have any real social value. 

Renee of Womanist Musings has a guest post up on Feministe titled Black History Month in which she explains why she has deliberately not done a "celebration post" for Black History Month. 

"For a brief 28 days of the 365 that make up a year, people will briefly acknowledge the contributions of blacks and then return to privileging whiteness in every single social institution."   

I tend to agree with Renee and have been exasperated by the number of people who want to specifically celebrate this year's Black History Month because we just elected this nation's first president of African descent.  It feels forced, obligatory and downright inappropriate when so many communities of color are struggling to survive the same sea of societal toxic waste resulting from the lack of privilege that they faced last year. 

I can't help but think that Black Herstory Month is destined to that same fate as Black History Month, even though I really like the idea of studying and honoring the contributions women of color have made throughout history.   

When I was a young child, Black History Month was celebrated through traditional examinations of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for equal education.  The unique contributions women of color have made and are making were often overlooked, and I was left feeling invisible during a month that was supposed to increase my visibility.  That lack of visibility continues -- and was particularly felt during last year's election coverage when women voters and black voters were spoken of as if black women voters simply don't exist.  

So, I wasn't shocked by the continued failure to mention Shirley Chisholm's name during the historic 2008 presidential campaign even though her presidential candidacy in 1972 foreshadowed many of the issues and controversies last year's race resurrected.  Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968, and ran for president in 1972.  An examination of Chisholm requires an examination of why her candidacy was not viewed as viable and why history has failed to acknowledge her run and it is clear that such an examination wouldn't fit into the "we're gonna make history" election year narrative of 2008.  If Black History Month functioned properly, Shirley Chisholm's historic 1972 run would have been top of mind for political pundits searching for examples of the challenges candidates of color face when they run for statewide or national office.  If we are ever in a position to assess the impact of Black Herstory Month, name recognition among the general public and within communities of color for Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis and Cynthia McKinney as African Americans who have run for President of the United States must be a measure. 

And I'm not unmoved by the proposal to increase our historical awareness of women of color.  In fact there may still be something to this Black Herstory Month idea if we use it right. The Choices Feminist Campus post provides some good suggestions for ways to explore and celebrate herstories in a meaningful and educational way. 

We can host regular screenings of films or documentaries about, directed and written by and starring people of African descent.   A favorite film of mine is Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, which explores Chisholm's 1972 run for president.  The documentary is a fascinating look at herstory too often overlooked when we explore women in politics.  Screening and discussing this documentary provides an opportunity to learn more about Chisholm's historic run for office and explore the issues raised during it that are still relevant today. 

Or perhaps we would prefer to host a ceremony or gathering to pay homage for past sheroes and heroes of African descent who have contributed greatly to our world.  I was able to participate in such an event a few years ago.  Participants were asked to research women in our families who were part of the Civil Rights movement.  We then honored those women through personal accounts, performances and song.  Preparing for the event gave me the opportunity to collect personal histories from my relatives.  I was able to build a herstory of my Grandmother and get to know her through the context of the struggle for social justice.  I discovered that my Grandmother was active in the anti-Lynching movement, participated in boycotts and marches and fought for better access for women to health care more than 50 year ago.  Honoring my Grandmother provided an opportunity to explore not just what she was able to accomplish but also what she was prevented from accomplishing.   

The ideas presented for Black Herstory Month are all doable as regular projects throughout the year and they all provide opportunities to celebrate as well as identify inequalities in need of correction. The problem is that many schools and institutions see Black History Month as just another diversity "to-do" that, once completed, lets them off the hook for the rest of the year.  So they place a few ads on Black radio stations and sponsor a couple of events then call it a day.  The challenge is figuring out how we can sell through the benefits of a comprehensive program to those same schools and institutions when so many of them enjoy the ease and sense of accomplishment that comes with single serve diversity initiatives per month.  

In many ways it falls on the students and employees of such institutions to push and challenge for more meaningful interactions and events that truly reflect Black History; for the inclusion of Black history as a part of American history and women's history and LGBT history and you get the picture.  And there can not be enough emphasis put on the word "meaningful," because celebrating the good is as easy as it is tempting but exploring and addressing the injustices that remain unaddressed is what is required to achieve meaningful. 

As Rene of Womanist Musings points out at the conclusion of her Feministe guest post, engaging in dialogue and listening to each other is part of the solution.  Without that dialogue Black Herstory Month is doomed to fall short of being an instrument of social justice and far more likely to evolve into just another vacant minority marketing campaign scheduled in the month of February.