Tell the truth. Shame the devil: Black history and Willful Ignorance

In 2020 when the world shut down and homeschool was a “thing,” I basically gave my brothers black history assignments. My cousin sent me a Google Drive link with all kinds of black literature and I forced my brothers to read it with me. In true Courtney fashion, I told them that they were to read a certain piece of literature and then creatively present it. There were so many topics from Stokely to The Green Book to Afrofuturism….just a lot of cool stuff. I don’t know if they remember any of that, but 3 years later…seeing how LOUD history revisionists are becoming…especially when it comes to black history and education, I’m glad I did it. 

I learned the most about black history/thought outside of school. Be it from my family or my church, they gave me the basics and that lit a fire in me. I wanted to know EVERYTHING!

My grandparents were some of my best teachers when it came to primary information. They lived it. They were forthright. They were clear that we ain start as slaves and everybody wasn’t “bowing down to white folks” and just taking it. I heard stories about my however-many-greats grandfather being a white slave owner who raped my however-many-greats grandmother. I heard stories about my great grandfather getting into an altercation with some racist white men and then having to run away so the other white folks wouldn’t kill him. I heard about riots and even colorism. I heard about the injustice and crooked ways of sharecropping. My family told me those stories…and they didn’t get it from a text book. They lived it.

(…and never once did they say slavery, sharecropping or any of its spawns were beneficial to any kind of black achievement.)

They let me know early on that if I wanted to know what really happened, I couldn’t rely on textbooks and teachers in classrooms. 

I got it then…and I get it even more now. Our education system is largely based on what officials at the table think kids should know. It wouldn’t be that bad if the folks at the table had black folks in mind when creating these curriculums….but they don’t.

…and maybe that’s not their responsibility. 

If the oppressor, who has proven themselves to be narcissistic and self-serving, has to teach the oppressed about themselves….we’ll never get the truth. 

…and if these last few years of DeSantis, Trump, and every other anti-critical race theory pundent has taught us anything, it’s taught us that history is often re-told through the lens of the ones on the stage with the mic….but, I submit to you, the people in the back have a story, too. 

…and in the year of our Lord 2023, I hope we see how important it is to keep telling the stories…to keep telling the truth and not rely on what’s given.

I’m not saying that we should revolt the education system…but I am saying that we need some supplements. We need to fill-in the blanks. We need to add color to this black and white portrait that folks so desperately want to hang in our children’s gallery. 

….and all of this has been said many times and many ways, but it’s the truth.

…and in a way every generation has been tasked with echoing and uplifting the voices of black folk. I know there’s strength to continue to do it.

…and I pray we use the ingenuity that, at this point is a cultural theme for black folks, to find more creative ways to fight this racism-fueled movement for willful ignorance. 

We need to tell the truth. 
We need to shame the devil. 

…and if by telling the truth the devil is shamed, then so be it.