Great, thought-provoking post! I completely agree with you - interactivity is definitely missing from most heritage themed months. Every February of my years in elementary school was spent reading and learning about "famous black people", such as Harriet Tubman and MLK, Jr. Why did my teachers think that reading about a handful of blacks and their achievements was an effective way of celebrating black history? Why was there just one month devoted to this? And what about lesser-known blacks who contributed to worthy causes? The idea that there are only a select few blacks who are worth mentioning and celebrating - in the shortest month of the year - is bothersome to me.
Although religious holidays are observed differently from heritage themed months, it seems like Judaism emphasizes not only remembering the past through stories and texts, but also through *doing* and *acting* in order to connect with a holiday's significance. On Tu B'Shvat, Jews are encouraged to plant trees and eat fruits and nuts; Yom Kippur is spent fasting in order to atone for our sins; a sukkah (a temporary hut or booth) is built for Sukkot in order to remember the dwellings of our ancestors during the harvest season. Thus, it seems that interactivity is very much a part of Jewish holidays.
I am uncertain about how to make Black history month more interactive. But I agree that there is a missing component; remembering the contributions of blacks through words and texts needs to be accompanied by actions. And these actions certainly should not be limited to the shortest month of the year.
Great, thought-provoking post! I completely agree with you - interactivity is definitely missing from most heritage themed months. Every February of my years in elementary school was spent reading and learning about "famous black people", such as Harriet Tubman and MLK, Jr. Why did my teachers think that reading about a handful of blacks and their achievements was an effective way of celebrating black history? Why was there just one month devoted to this? And what about lesser-known blacks who contributed to worthy causes? The idea that there are only a select few blacks who are worth mentioning and celebrating - in the shortest month of the year - is bothersome to me.
Although religious holidays are observed differently from heritage themed months, it seems like Judaism emphasizes not only remembering the past through stories and texts, but also through *doing* and *acting* in order to connect with a holiday's significance. On Tu B'Shvat, Jews are encouraged to plant trees and eat fruits and nuts; Yom Kippur is spent fasting in order to atone for our sins; a sukkah (a temporary hut or booth) is built for Sukkot in order to remember the dwellings of our ancestors during the harvest season. Thus, it seems that interactivity is very much a part of Jewish holidays.
I am uncertain about how to make Black history month more interactive. But I agree that there is a missing component; remembering the contributions of blacks through words and texts needs to be accompanied by actions. And these actions certainly should not be limited to the shortest month of the year.