Why are months such as Black History Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month only celebrated for one month? How many people actually know we have a month toward a specific cause?
Months such as these should be recognized all year long and not just for one month.
Recognizing these months all year long will help bring more awareness to the cause rather than just a month.
March is recognized as Women’s History Month, and February is known as Black History Month but it fails to bring attention to the masses.
According to the website WomensHistoryMonth.gov, certain days in March are used to reflect on moments in history such as March 7, 14, 21, and 24 where moments are thought of from our history as seen from a female’s perspective.
History.com has different facts posted throughout the month of February to commemorate African history.
Doing this for the whole month helps bring awareness, but celebrating this throughout the year will help everyone learn about history better and possibly help certain causes.
There have been activists who have spoken out about Black History Month in particular.
In 2005, actor Morgan Freeman spoke out against the show “60 Minutes,” speaking about his thoughts on Black History Month.
“You’re going to relegate my history to a month? I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history,” Freeman said.
Author and activist Maya Angelou then agreed with Freeman, “We want to reach a time when there won’t be Black History Month, when black history will be so integrated into American history (so) that we study it along with every other history.”
Certain months don’t serve a purpose due to, in part that it should be something that is celebrated all year long, which could help the cause in the long run with the year-long awareness.
While many can say it shouldn’t be a month, many can also agree it still should be celebrated.
We should celebrate and learn about history on a daily basis because history happens every day and not just for a month.
