I’d love to chat with my late grandfather, Arthur C Lamb. He died in 1988, the same year I graduated from HS. I only have a few childhood memories of him. Mostly that we called him “Dear” & that during our infrequent trips to Baltimore, he’d indulge the family in a game of Scrabble (still my favorite board game). I also remember him as a stoic man of few words. It wasn’t until, years after he died, that I realized just how much we have in common! I so badly wish we could chat because I’m sure he’d be a great storyteller. Like me, Dear was educated in predominantly White schools. But…

Black history has never been separate from US history. We are integral to it. We’ve lost so much, been denied so much and fought for so much. We’ve survived so much, overcome so much, and achieved so much. So, for a mere 28 days, it behooves us to pause and assess our own personal understanding of Black history, the impact it’s had on the U.S., its institutions, and our beliefs about Black people. The more we ignore accurate history, the more we get buried in its trenches & progress never happens.