Let me not pull a Barack and answer the last question because i have the same question....but i will this.....we do still need black history month....and the reason we need it is because we don't get to sit side by side with the rest of history....we are still being sent to the back of the "short" bus....and as long as they don't want to teach our children the truth about this nation's history, as long as they continue to act as though our contributions were minimal, then we need to have a month to ourselves....

the only thing is, it doesnt matter whether we have black history month or not....we know we got the shortest month available, so we still got hoodwinked....however, it is our responsibility to make the kids aware of black history on our own.....we as people need to stop waiting until february to talk about it, stop talking about the same black figures, and stop acting surprised when our kids don't get this info in school....we didnt get it did we???...so why would they.....we all come from parents/grandparents who were around during civil rights, marches, violence, lynchings and so forth.....how many of us had parents/grandparents who told us about those events....my mom was a preteen when MLK got killed, yet i never heard her talk about how she felt or where she was....how many kids know what Black Wall Street was or do they think thats just something the GAME came up with for a record label name....we have to teach our kids and stop relying/waiting on someone else to do it, or a particular month to come around.....we have a HUGE history that should be shared.... but until we share ample pages and not just simple guest appearances in history books, i say keep BHM....just my thoughts

Have you ever heard of Norbert Rillieux, Frederick M. Jones, Elijah McCoy, or Garrett Morgan? Were you ever tested regarding whom they were and what contributed to America? Have you heard of Alexander Bell, Albert Einstein, or Thomas Edison? Were you tested regarding whom they were and what they contributed to America? All of the persons listed above revolutionized and industrialized this country with inventions such as the traffic signal to food refrigeration and transportation however, we were never taught about the former in history/science classes. Children should be taught and assessed on Cultural diversity, Cultural History and how different cultures (not just black but black included) have contributed and enriched this country! If we remove what is acknowledged as Black History Month we will rob the minds of our future. I pose the question, Are we doing History justice in neglecting parts of it?

I see where both of you are coming from... The real question I suppose is WHY do we need a Black History Month this late in the game. WHY have we excepted a month as the only point throughout the year when our people's accomplishments are celebrated? WHY have we not continued King's battle for equality even in the books? Anyone who picks up an American History textbook will rarely see our faces or the accomplishments we have contributed to this FINE nation. WHY have we allowed ourselves to be Jim Crowed from the books STILL? WHEN WILL WE STAND UP? It's time to end the sit-in, no one is paying attention.

Yes, we indeed need to continue celebrating "Black History Month"... And, that being said, I would encourage all Indy.Com readers to check out what PBS is doing throughout February to both explore and honor African-American history...

Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson's American Journey -- the timely and unforgettable story about one person's commitment to integrity and human rights and his profound influence on the American judicial system -- marks its broadcast premiere on WFYI Public Television on Tuesday, February 5 at 10 pm. This riveting and thought-provoking film transports viewers through the inspiring life and work of one of the first African American federal judges in the United States and chronicles the impact of his decisions on the lives of millions.

Building on the widespread acclaim of PBS' African American Lives (2006) and Oprah's Roots (2007) programs, African American Lives 2 will again journey deep into the African-American experience to reveal the triumphs and tragedies within the family histories of an all-new group of remarkable participants. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. returns as series host, guiding genealogical investigations down through the 20th century, Reconstruction, slavery and early U.S. history, and presenting cutting-edge genetic analysis that locates participants' ancestors in Africa, Europe and America. African American Lives 2 will air Wednesdays, February 6&13, from 9 - 11 pm on WFYI Public Television.

Amidst racial naysayers during World War II, the first and only black fighter pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen, were commissioned in 1941 to help defend the distressed bombers in the European theater. Red Tail Reborn -- a new PBS documentary premiering Thursday, February 14 at 9 pm, on WFYI Public Television -- tells their story and the story of people who strive to educate Americans about the airmen and their signature planes with a distinctive red tail.

A hundred years ago, in communities across the United States, white residents forced thousands of black families to flee their homes. Even a century later, these towns remain almost entirely white. Independent Lens: Banished, airing Tuesday, February 19 at 10 pm on WFYI Public Television, tells the story of three of these communities (Forsyth County, Georgia; Pierce City, Missouri; and Harrison, Arkansas) and their black descendants, who return to learn their shocking histories.

that's funny.

PBS you say? Hat's offto them then. Interesting that I haven't really heard anything about what BET is doing to educate the very one's that they corrupt the rest of the year. OH... maybe they will do special episodes of the American Gangster series?? Because telling our children how successful past generations of drug dealers, murderers and theives will give them that push they need to get their weight up...

PBS does this every year, however it hardly gets the attention it deserves....i watched some of them last year and they actually are really good documentaries and very telling...of course, when they profiled Oprah last year, it was heavily advertised....but at least they have it...i think its available on DVD as well....i get what you are saying Allen....we have become extremely comfortable in settling for what scraps we've received....this issue is really deep because when you have babies having babies, they haven't had the chance to learn the info to pass on to the next generation, therefore its like a ball rolling downhill...and we dropped it....we have adults who aren't educated on black history to teach their kids about it....we have adults who don't care, who love BET and think that American Gangster is a series that educates everyone....we accept the fact that New York gets on tv and acts like trash, Flavor Flav gets on tv and acts like trash and we keep the ratings up because we think its cute....and if we keep living in this cloud of smoke, we will look up oneday and no longer have Black History Month and the only things we will be mentioned in history books for is being DC Snipers...then we will be mad...right?

we are not living in a progressive nation. the progress was made over 200 years ago when a new form of representative government was theorized and put into action. since then that theory has become a shell of itself and the only hope of having its use come to fruition is through the election of a black man to president of the united states. pbs, npr, abc, cbs, nbc, but not fox (they suck and hate black people), all play the game in "celebrating" black history month. beyond the education of what past and present african americans have and do to make this nation better, indianapolis really celebrates with the black expo every year. its not a month but i think, at the ground level, has better intentions than most of the national networks who are simply looking for advertising dollars and viewers.

but yea, we need it because its white history day every day. anyone who says otherwise needs to go ride the bus.

I suppose my next question is what are YOU doing to make progress? We all have a responsibility to ourselves, our people, and the next generation to be the change that we want to see.

In a lot of my poetry workshops and interactions with young African-Americans, I often ask "Are YOU a walking stereotype?" Are you doing exactly what society expects from you based on our media representations, or are you making the difference? Well which one is it??

i am making progress by continually asking myself if i see others as the way they are or the way the world wants me to see them. that goes for stereotypes of all races and classes. if i see a preppy in broad ripple, i try to see them as an individual. if i see a hoodrat on 10th street, i try to see them as an individual. no, i dont have meaningful conversations with these visions. no i dont engage them in a discourse on what they may be wearing and the message it gives off. i challenge and change myself, which is where it starts.

i also lay a verbal smack-down on people i run into that use less than complimentary words about people or things they only know from what others have told them.

again, the progression was made 200 years ago with a piece of paper our current political powers see as toilet paper, not a contract. a great thinker once said the power of the roman empire was in the Constitution of it's people. the power US citizens hold is in a real constitution. sadly, its never used to protect or uplift us.

for the record mbnjmntrb , that was a GENERAL question for ALL... I wasn't specifically saying that perhaps you weren't doing your part for progress. I just wanted to be clear :)

but out of curiosity... isn't it somewhat judgemental and harmful to use labels like "a hoodrat on 10th street"??