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February, the shortest month of the year. Everybody knows it for flowers, chocolates, and love. It’s the month of Valentine’s Day. Ever since 1976, however, it’s been known for something a bit more significant: Black history month.
Most of the NS staff and student body is white, including many of the foreign exchange students. NS also has many people of other cultures, including Latin Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and more. One major minority however, is African Americans.
According to the 2024 U.S. Census Bureau, whites make up nearly 89.9 percent of all of Utah’s citizens. African Americans make up a tiny 1.6 percent. Within the NS boundaries, the numbers become an even larger majority, with only 1 percent being Black.
What began in 1926 as “Negro History week,” is now an official, month-long national holiday. Those born of African descent stand more than 42 million strong and counting in the United States alone.
As a Black student, Black history month holds a deeply personal and profound meaning for me. I am reminded of the struggles, sacrifices and triumphs of Black people throughout history, and the power of resilience that is now a part of my story. While I may – hopefully – never have to experience many of the trials and hardships that my ancestors did, I find myself grateful for what they had gone through to keep me safe and to allow me the chance to grow in a free country.
Even as I walk through the halls of NS, I can’t help but feel that Black history is reduced to a single chapter in a textbook, or that it will never be taken seriously by many of my peers. Black history is not just slavery or the Civil Rights Movement. It’s the beauty of the south, the growth of a people who were stolen away from their homeland and learned how to thrive in lands not their own and the culture that spreads throughout the country.
Black history is more than just dates and facts. It’s more than simply learning about stories of Malcom X, who fought tirelessly against oppression, or Martin Luther King Jr., who rose up to fight for his people, and women like Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman, who were not afraid to lose their lives. While inspired, Black history is more than just a list of names who changed the course of history; it lives on today in every Black soul who lives today.
The beauty of Black history is shown through this month, though it means more to me these past few years than ever. Black history month is not just for black people–it’s for everyone. It’s a chance for us to learn, reflect, and commit to building a more just and equitable society. As a black student, I want Febuary to be about the present and future more than the past. I want it to be about looking forward to a future where no person’s history is confined to just a month, but is fully integrated into the story of America.
