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Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Harriet Tubman. We’ve all heard these names before, especially in the month of February, also known for being the month that we get taught Black History. But, do we even know how Black History Month originated?

When I was in elementary school, we learned all about Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on the bus and got arrested for it. We learned about Martin Luther King Jr, who gave out the iconic speech “I have a dream”. We also learned about Harriet Tubman, who helped many slaves escape with the underground railroad. However, with the positives, we had to learn the hardships that came with Black history, such as segregation where White people didn’t want Black people to be around them or their children after they were freed from slavery. Another hardship we had to learn about was slavery, we learned that if the slaves didn’t reach a certain quota, they would be beaten or even worse.

The problem is, that’s all we learned about. The only positive things about black history that we learned about were Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks. Despite having many other amazing Black figures over the years, such as Marcellus Gilmore Edson who made peanut butter, and Carter G. Woodson, who was the founder of Black history month. He launched “negro history week” in 1926 to showcase Black Americans accomplishments and contributions, his idea later formed into the Black history month we know of today.

We also shouldn’t be learning just the hardships of Black history, I feel like that’s all we get taught in schools about during Black History Month. About how we had all these horrible things happen to us.

In the SFUSD website, it says “The Euro-centric focus of the American education system and other American institutions has perpetually framed the history of Black people in America as either enslaved, discriminated against, or suffering under the social-ills of poor health, poverty and over-incarceration”

I appreciate the fact that Black history is being taught in schools, however it shouldn’t be limited to our pain, suffering, trauma, and the same three people. It puts our history into a box and limits people from learning more about the accomplishments and contributions of the many Black figures throughout the centuries.

The process will be long and slow before we ever get to an accurate representation of all of black history, but it’s a foot in the correct direction. For starters, we could implement learning about the founder of Black History Month and why it’s important, or learning the black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. It signifies that through strong faith and solidarity, the black community can move towards a better future and imagine a world where liberty is achievable.