“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.-Nelson Mandela

Once again Black History Month is with us (especial those of us in North America). It is February! The celebrations marking African Heritage are on and awards to deserving people are given, but what lessons do we learn year in and year out from the Black History Month (BHM)? Lessons are meant to be learnt. History always has its own lessons. The lessons in Black History or African Heritage are simple but very encouraging. Self-confidence, determination, perseverance, hard work, hope and victory! They remind me of the meaning behind the lyrics of one patriotic song of Ghana written by the late renowned Ghanaian teacher, preacher, philosopher and songwriter cum composer, Dr. Ephraim Amu. The words of the song written in Akan language go:
Yen ara asase ni. Eye aboden de ma yen. Mogya nana nom hwei gu de to ho ma yen. Edu me ne wo nso so se ye be ye bi atoa so….
which refer to the struggles of our forefathers in building a heritage for us and the need for us to continue from where they left off so that our future generation would also benefit from what we strive to accomplish today. Our forefathers succeeded in their struggles because they united their efforts, put away bitterness and backbiting, divisions as well as acrimony. They sacrificed their lives devoid of selfishness, envy, bigotry and truly served their communities! Unfortunately, what do we see in our communities nowadays? Unhealthy competitions, selfishness, milking of our community resource for selfish gains, unpatriotic spirit and evil intentions!!!!!! We ought to learn the good lessons of history and change for the better!

Some Brief History from ‘Black History’:
Africa has its own rich history. That coupled with the history of early African Canadians as in the stories of the Underground Railway, Afriville Village and others encourage in us self-confidence to succeed as Black people. “Say it loud, I’m black and proud!” to borrow the words of the celebrated Black singer of blessed memory, James Brown. Did you know that there is a connection between Harriet Ross Tubman of the Underground Railroad and Ghana? “Two of Harriet’s great grandparents had been members of the Ashanti tribe in Africa and had been captured and transported from Central Ghana about 1725. Harriet was the fourth generation of her family to be enslaved in the United States” (Rosemary Sadlier, Toronto, 1997).
Accoding to Daryl Michael Scott, (Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 2011), “The precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week." This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and of Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which Black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century”.

Not Just a Ritual:
I hope the celebration of the Black History Month has not become just an annual ritual. That it brings us through the year the awareness of our ancestral heritage and gives the opportunity, at least every February, for Blacks to receive the positive reaffirmation that is necessary to help the community flourish.
The celebration of February each year as Black History Month in America since the 1920s has become a huge national affair. And in the Ontario Province of Canada, an official item on the calendar since 1978 when the Ontario Black History Society successfully pushed for its formal recognition by the City of Toronto.
Black men and women of old like Sundiata, Mansa Musa of the ancient Songhai and Ghana empires of West Africa; Yaa Asantewaa of the ancient Ashanti Kingdom; Rosa Park and Martin Luther King Junior of the United States; Elijah McCoy and Rose Fortune of Canada; Halie Saliesa of Ethiopia, Lumumba of Congo, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Steve Biko of South Africa and many others of our ancestral heritage remind us of the struggles of the past. What role(s) are we playing in the struggles of today – freedom from ignorance, economic exploitation, neo-colonialization and racial segregation?
Black History Month provides us the opportunity to feel affirmed and the pathways to arrive at an understanding of ourselves as Black people in the most comprehensive socio-historical context that we can produce. It is a clarion call to all nations and cultures, especially those of America and Canada, to acknowledge the contributions of people of African descent in their nation building. Black History empowers us as a distinct group to achieve social, economic and political feats.
To quote the President of Ontario Black History Society, Rosemary Sadlier, “Black history provides the binary opposite to all traditional histories. One needs traditional history to engender a common culture; one needs Black history to engender a clearer and more complete culture.”
A story is told of a successful slave-master in the Caribbean who was invited to America during the era of slaves’ rebellion in America to advise his colleagues on how to control their slaves. He told his colleagues in America of a plan he employed to put a lid on his slaves. His plan was that of sowing seeds of mistrust and division among his slaves so that they could not unite in purpose to rebel against him.
The greatest lesson to be learnt here is that of unity. As long as we unite as Black people we would achieve a lot for our communities.
Black History should be made to bring all people of African descent together wherever they are to combat the forces, which militate against our advancement as “a nation of Black people”.

Encouraging Black Youth for High Achievements:
I see great potential in our youth to succeed where we have failed if only they will learn from history. If only we will educate them about the rich history of our ancestors. Our forefathers were wise, resilient and dedicated to the struggles against ignorance, oppression and immorality. African heritage has a lot to inspire us to take cultural ownership and encourage our young people to achieve success spiritually, socially and economically.
Speaking at this year’s (2014) BHM Awards night for the Ghanaian community in Toronto, Tony Rivire of the Toronto Police who was the keynote speaker advised our youth to have a purpose driven by passion and sustained by perseverance which is influenced by good people in their lives. He told his personal story based on the 4 ‘p’s (purpose, passion, perseverance & people) and entreated the youth to set achievable goals and work towards them with the support of family, friends and associates who are the most influential people in their lives. He then challenged our young people to do voluntary work in their communities and use their energy, wealth and time wisely. Rivire nailed it with the fact that, “learning is the most important thing at school and education is an effective insurance policy for our youth”.
We must therefore encourage black youth to take their education seriously. For, education is one of keys to success. We need to have role models to guard our young ones to understand the social forces, which have shaped and influenced their community and their identities as a way of feeling connected to their experiences as people of African descent.
We should aid our young people in their struggles along the road to becoming victors in their individual fields of endeavor. History won’t forgive us if we fail to learn the lessons of unity, hard work, perseverance, self-confidence, sacrifice, responsibility, hope and victory which BHM teaches us not only during the month of February but all year round.



By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, Teacher, Brookview Middle School, Toronto