February…our month again

A few nights ago, while flipping through various channels on TV, I was pleased to see some of the greatest black movies that in fact, have helped shaped our culture as we know it today. I was in an oasis of my beautiful culture.
Then I woke up from that glorious dream when I happened to glance at my calendar. It was February. You know what I’m talking about. Think, when was the last time you saw Alex Haley’s Roots or Queen, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Toni Morrison’s Color Purple and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X on television? Most of you will probably say during the month of February…Black History Month. Why?
Could it possibly be just that the people in charge of these various television stations think they have an obligation to their African American viewers to show black movies? Because as you and I know…it’s back to the same ‘ol same ‘ol when March blows its winds our way. But then again, you can always go to your local Blockbuster Video.
I just can’t get over it, still. One month out of the year, we see shades of black and brown grace the screens and the bookshelves constantly. Go to Barnes and Noble or the many other coffee-drenched booksellers across the country. Right there in the front of the aisles you find the greats like Ralph Ellison who are normally pushed in the tiny section in the back upstairs under “African Americans.”
You would think that with all the contributions Blacks made to American history, through theater, music, dance, literature and song, that they…we…would be “noticed”, year-round.
Well, at least we have this month to be recognized as interval parts of American culture, past, future and present.
Maybe we should just consider ourselves, lucky to have one month in which we are greatly recognized.