BY SOUMANOU SALIFOU

The future comes out of the past, says an old African adage. So, hail to Black History Month, that special moment of the year when we celebrate our history, a history that spans several continents and has strongly impacted the world in extraordinary ways. Contrary to the tradition where Black History Month is generally celebrated looking to the past to point out the accomplishments of our illustrious forefathers, we, at “The African Magazine,” celebrate the past as well as the present.

Why not, indeed, recognize and salute the accomplishments of a living sister, Ambassador Erieka Bennett, who was born in America and has been involved for decades in Africa where she now heads an organization she founded twenty years ago to link the African diaspora in America to the motherland: The Diaspora African Forum (DAF) headquartered at the W.E.B. Dubois Center Cantonments in Accra, Ghana?

It’s also the opportune time to recognize another sister, Sheila Brown, a Washington, D.C.-based African American attorney, health coach, speaker, and author who connects with her African roots in deeply meaningful ways. Her new book, “The Divine SelfQare Strategy: A Wellness Guide to Total Body Alignment” which was released in August 2022, evidences her intention to expose youth to various medicinal, natural health and wellness traditions employed by African people throughout the diaspora.

Deeply rooted in African and African American history, the book reveals powerful, uncommon insights that have led generations to acquire health and freedom. From eras spanning slavery in the United States to great Ethiopian empires, Sheila brilliantly takes readers on an impactful journey through time using the art of storytelling.

Breaking with the tradition, we also look back at one of the darkest chapters of our history: the lynching of our forefathers whose only fault was their black skin. The image of the charred corpse of Will Brown burned in 1919 in Omaha, Nebraska is so gut-wrenching one of my associates could barely hold his tears, so I had it removed. But why revisit that dark corner of our history despite the disgust and revolt it triggers even in the most peaceful among us? Because, though I believe we must forgive and move on, we must never forget, to avoid being caught off guard. The ugly past can always crawl between our feet and bite us again. Was it not on January 6, 2021 that a noose was spotted on the West side of the temple of our democracy, the Capitol, during the coup attempt staged by an evil, delusional man with the support of his accomplices in Congress? The noose may not have been intended for us, but it’s the sad reminder of one of the darkest pages of our history as Black people.

We would do ourselves a disservice and fail to carry out our duties as parents vis-à-vis our children and their children if we fail to remind them and ourselves of pivotal moments in our history. History never stops. It’s a continuous process that requires our permanent vigilance. But we should not look back only at the negative past. We must also point to events that cement our place in history as Black people.

“The future comes out of the past.” Indeed, the success story of the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, the best women ever to play the white people’s sport tennis, may be today’s story, but it will be remembered as an important accomplishment in our history for generations to come.

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