ARTICLE: Dear Black History Month, F*ck You #OpenLetter

Every year my Twitter and Facebook accounts are flooded with posts from individuals that feel the need to only celebrate the accomplishments of African American individuals in February. Did our sisters and brothers only fight for our rights or bring change to this great nation in one month? No. I know many of you will argue that I am wrong for telling 'Black History Month' to kiss my ass only because you realize that the month itself was created by one of us; Carter G. Woodson in 1926.

Why do we as a people continue to settle for less? We all pretend to give two-f*cks when an incident such as the Trayvon Martin case happens, but fail to recognize those individuals that have fought to make crimes against African Americans illegal. How many of you all know that exactly eighty one years ago from the date that I wrote this article (3/25) that the Scottsboro Boys were arrested in Alabama for allegedly raping two white women. Their case set the foundation in our nation for the right to a fair trial after they went through more than three trials attempting to get justice for a crime that they did not commit. I'm sure none of you cared since it didn't occur during February and was plastered across your TV screens or social networking sites.

Black History Month is nothing more than financial heaven for retailers. Just imagine how excited they are to put out all of their African American history merchandise that will bring them an additional profit gain for an entire month. Do you really believe that Target cares about what African Americans have done for this nation when they are making a huge profit from teachers and other leaders seeking to pay homage while we work their registers? I find it funny how the news tries to pen the increase of retail sales in February on a rising economy (here) without mentioning the fact that most of the increase more than likely came from the purchasing of Black History merchandise. Hmph.

And why do we settle for being called 'black' when some of us are brown? Another race calling me 'black' is the equivalence of them calling me a 'n*gger' because they obviously know that my skin color is not black. Why?

My point is that if you aren't going to celebrate the accomplishments of our people throughout the year, don't participate in the nonsense to recognize them in February. Do you think Martin marched and Rosa sat for you guys to take field trips and design posters in classrooms to recognize them during that one month? No. I suppose that when February rolls around next year I will be blocking half of you.