It is officially February, which to many means Black History Month. A month in which we highlight the contributions people of colour have made to society.

BHM was first introduced to me in grade six by my teacher. I was excited to see people like me being praised and celebrated. Every day that month, I came home proud I had learned one more thing. But does this time make you wonder, “But if they are African American/Canadian, how did they get from Africa to the Americas?”. I did too. So, I have spent some time reading and researching over the past five years. I’ve read many books by black authors about life in specific periods. But why did I have to do this on my own? As we grow, we should begin learning from BHM and not just about it.

We should start wondering how we can learn more about black history, implement black history in our schools, and make it something we learn year-round rather than in the shortest month of the year, hoping that this wondering will lead to these things happening. We should consider how far people of colour have come since they “stepped” off the boats into America, Canada, and England. How much we have fought to have our voices heard and live a free life.

A’ja Wilson is a star basketball player in the WNBA. She played college basketball at the University of South Carolina. After her time on the team, she made such an impact on and off the court that they made a statue of her on campus. On this same campus, her grandmother had to walk around on her way home from the grocery store. She and her family are examples of the true growth and history of people of colour. But let’s not stop there.

After February, let’s continue to wonder and learn about black history. An easy way to continue to learn is to read books but find ones that interest you. For example if you like more informative readings there is Policing Black Lives. If you prefer books that are more story based the ones suggested below are great. I enjoy reading stories so I found using that to teach me was more enjoyable.

The books which helped me the most were:

• The Book of Negros
• The Help
• Brother
• The Color Purple 

 To continue to learn about Black History not only in the month of February, find outlets that interest you the most whether its reading, videos, or discussions to name a few. Just by making a conscious effort to continue your learning beyond the month of February, you not only are gaining important knowledge and information you did not have before but you contributing to making learning about Black History a continuous thing and not just an annual thing. 

Written by our Champion Brynn Jenkins.

Above Brynn is pictured holding up her Toronto Rugby Jersey, while below is a stellar action shot.

 Photo by Jeff Chan.