Reflection also time for renewal

February is Black History Month, America's 86th and chosen carefully to coincide with the birthdays of former slave Frederick Douglas and liberator Abraham Lincoln. A presidential focus is apropos of America's first presidential term with an African-American in the White House. Hopefully, only the first of many non-Caucasians (and women) to come as we finally begin to reflect the variety which composes this melting pot nation.

It still pains to reflect upon how Mr. Obama's ancestors may have arrived here. Yes, that time has passed and we move on. Yet as is the case with minority or oppressed populations worldwide - races, cultures, religions, and even women, their history tends to be dismissed, falsified, or ignored for years, even centuries, before it is acknowledged and celebrated equally with the majority or ruling populations.

Such was the conclusion of national leaders find in the U.S., Canada, and United Kingdom early in the 20th century, and so Black History Month was born. Canada and U.K.'s are celebrated in October, following the U.S. example in the 1980s, long after Black History Month's American birth in 1926.

As former London Mayor Ken Livingstone said, "(I)t is imperative that Londoners know more about African influences on medieval and renaissance European music so that accepted ideas about European music are changed. Despite the significant role that Africa and its Diaspora have played in the world civilization since the beginning of time, Africa's contribution has been omitted or distorted in most history books."

The Brits chose October because it begins a new school term; the origins of this celebratory month were rooted in correcting a relative lack in education. Sometimes we must review to renew; the past instructs the future. In parts of Africa, October is also the month for sankofa, which in the Akan language of Ghana means "to look/go back" and in Asante, the symbol of a bird looking over his back.

In life, review is a common theme. Western new year celebrants look back upon the old year before celebrating the next. Persian and other eastern cultures have a special day dedicated to letting go of old resentments and pain in order to be free and pure for the coming year. Sankofa is associated with an African proverb, "Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi," which loosely translates, "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten."

There is nothing more powerful to the health of any human soul, and to the cohesive health of society, as acknowledgement. Man's desire to be heard is as natural as breathing. If we have forgotten, it isn't wrong to go back and listen.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email [email protected].