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The good side of Black History Month
I’m a little ambivalent on Black History Month, not that the history and personalities celebrated aren’t worth celebrating - they are - but how that celebration and recognition gets segregated in the calendar. If black history and culture is worth attention, it’s worth attention throughout the year. Limiting it to February belittles it - “Oh, it’s February. Time for that black stuff” - and gives presenters the chance to check off the diversity box on their to-do lists.
Over the years I’ve had Waco arts presenters talk to me about a concert, play or lecture featuring a black cast in which they added, “It’s for Black History Month,” which presumably legitimized their programming selection. I’ve also had some comment on poor turnout for some of those events that they were disappointed “they” didn’t show up, as if Waco’s black community made its entertainment choices on skin color first, personal interest second.
The good side is that some things come to or happen in Waco that might not without a special emphasis. There’s a special half-hour radio program on Waco World War II hero Doris Miller, airing at 2 p.m. Saturday on public radio station KWBU-FM, that likely would have not come to the station’s attention had not National Public Radio and Public Radio International come up with special Black History Month programming for their affiliates and clients. What’s interesting isn’t so much the content of the program, but its history: It’s a contemporary production of a 1940s-’50s radio series in Chicago, “Destination Freedom,” that celebrated black leaders and heroes a decade before the civil rights struggle brought national attention to race relations.
Then there was last Tuesday’s multi-media performance of Langston Hughes’ “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz” by jazz trumpeter/scholar Ron McCurdy and his quartet at Baylor University’s Roxy Grove Hall. Enjoyable concert, particularly when McCurdy’s sidemen Eli Brueggemann on piano, Edwin Livingston on stand-up bass and Peter Buck on drums hit their groove. The visual dimension of the program wasn’t as effective - more interpretative than informational, with unfocused images, bits of film trailer and long shots of water setting mood more than annotating Hughes’ poem. An audience of maybe 200 people loved the performance, which likely wouldn’t have come to Waco had not Baylor and Alex Parker, Baylor’s Director of Jazz Studies, brought it here.
Parker organized the performance of Duke Ellington’s “Sacred Concert Music” in April 2005 and secured the funding that enabled “Ask Your Mama” to be presented free. I know Alex is a color-blind sort of guy and that the scheduling of “Ask Your Mama” this week had more to do with McCurdy and his combo being in Texas this week, but if connecting the concert to Black History Month helped him bring the jazz project to town, well, that’s a good thing.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music, TV/Radio
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By ar
February 20, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
As an black woman, I am sick and tired of being patronized with Black History Month “stuff”. It feels more like tokenism to me, and that is offensive. And you are correct Carl, I am black 365 days a year, and I am proud to be black 365 days a year. I think it’s time for us to stop segregating our celebrations and just be proud to have gotten this far together in spite of past obstacles. Can you imagine the cries of racism if someone came up with White History Month? I’m so sick and tired of this race myth that we have bought in to. PBS has a great documentary claled Race: An Illusion. It is a great eye opener if anyone is interested in some enlightenment on the subject.