Keeping it Real: A Reflection on Black History, Black Present and Black Future

Last Updated on February 20, 2024 by BVN

S.E. Williams

Experts tell us the importance of history is that it gives us the opportunity to “examine and interpret human identities and transformations of society and civilizations over time.” 

We are also told history helps us not only understand but also learn to come to grips with complex questions about how we present ourselves in the world today and to better understand the circumstances of the world we live in. We are supposed to gain this understanding by examining how what occurred in the past, helps shape not only our experiences today but also serves as a guiding light or northstar to the future. 

For us as Black people I believe it is important that we reach back, beyond the amazing accomplishments and contributions by Black Americans to this country and the world since 1619, and take a deeper, longer look at the history of civilizations that existed in Africa before colonization, before the slave trade. I propose this as a way to understand what inspired the evolution of religion, art and society of the great African nations so we can better understand the strength, spirit, inventiveness, determination and creativity that sustained us here in America. 

I say this because we know that only the strongest of the strong survived the march to the slave ships, the middle passage, the auction block, slavery, reconstruction, the lynching years, Jim Crow, the fight for Civil Rights and today’s continuing struggle for equity in every aspect of life. Our survival is a testimony to our tenacity, brilliance and determination. Where did that originate and can it be magnified? 

Within our very DNA we carry this wisdom, a wisdom of generations. We only need to examine the patterns of our broader history in ways that help us better understand what our  forebears brought with them from the Motherland–those intangible attributes, the whispers of the ancestors, passed from generation to generation like the texture of our hair, the melanin in our skin, our height, our hips, our noses and our lips. 

I believe this is where we find keys to understanding how to navigate current and future dilemmas as we continue to thrive as a people. Part of that, of course, is contingent on our relationships with other groups because here in America we are such a small percent of the total population. Therefore, we must strengthen alliances even as we strive for self reliance. In addition, we must be aware of what is happening to other Black people in the diaspora. 

I know many of you might say this is a throwback to the thinking of the 1960s. To that I say and what if it is? The potential for progress through a greater understanding of Black history relative to Africa is as powerful today as it was 60 years ago. 

In the meantime, let’s celebrate Black History today and everyday, we owe it to our ancestors and the seventh generation. 

Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.