What Does Black History Month Mean to You?

02/07/22 • 16 min

Some Historical Facts about BHM:

The commemoration of Black History Month in North America dates back to 1926, when Harvard-educated African American historian Carter G. Woodson proposed setting aside a time devoted to honour the accomplishments of African Americans and to heighten awareness of Black history in the United States.
This led to the establishment of Negro History Week in 1926. Celebrations of Black history began in Canada shortly thereafter.
During the early 1970s, the week became known as Black History Week. It was expanded into Black History Month in 1976.
In December 1995, the House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month in Canada following a motion introduced by the first African Canadian woman elected to Parliament, the Honourable Jean Augustine. The House of Commons carried the motion unanimously.
In February 2008, Senator Donald Oliver, the first Black man appointed to the Senate, introduced the Motion to Recognize Contributions of Black Canadians and February as Black History Month. It received unanimous approval and was adopted on March 4, 2008.

As an immigrant teenager, I didn’t really grasp the whole meaning of BHM. In High School I felt that BHM was when we were allowed to be black or celebrate our blackness. it was upto the black kids to prepare something to present to the whole school.

School administration was not really part of supporting the student. I got the feeling that they were saying to us – it’s your month so do what you want!

We did some performances and put together shows for the school. But there were not many meaningful educational programs developed by the school and the teachers for BHM.

But now, I notice that BHM has evolved into something more significant and that’s a step in the right direction.

It's important that we create intentions and personalize what black history means to us to help to move the needle forward.
I was invited to speak at the City of Ottawa as part of the BHM celebrations this week I I truly felt honoured and humbled to take part in the event and the celebrations. One of the things that I talked about is to be intentional of what we want to accomplish by the end of this month?
Ask yourself:
How would you like to experience BHM every year?

What can you do to me more intentional and in your BHM efforts?

What can we do to use BHM to create awareness and amplify our voices?

To advance our cause and advocate for ourselves?

We can use our voices and capacity to show-up for ourselves and as a result we also show us for our community and those that come after us.

Sometimes, this means taking the initiative for BHM at your workplace, schools and in your community at large.

We can all do our part in our perspective spaces to inspire change, create awareness and hold others accountable to create safe and equitable environment for black people.

So this month, I ask yourself, how can I take advantage of BHM to move the needle in any way that you can
If you’re in the entrepreneurship space, talk about what it means to be a black entrepreneurs, the benefits and challenges and invite others to join you in this conversation. You can do the same in your prospective fields.

BHM is also a chance for others to celebrate with us and experience the diverse and vibrant black cultures in CANADA. Do what you can, make it inspirational, engaging and joyful

Happy Black History Month!

Some Historical Facts about BHM:

The commemoration of Black History Month in North America dates back to 1926, when Harvard-educated African American historian Carter G. Woodson proposed setting aside a time devoted to honour the accomplishments of African Americans and to heighten awareness of Black history in the United States.
This led to the establishment of Negro History Week in 1926. Celebrations of Black history began in Canada shortly thereafter.
During the early 1970s, the week became known as Black History Week. It was expanded into Black History Month in 1976.
In December 1995, the House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month in Canada following a motion introduced by the first African Canadian woman elected to Parliament, the Honourable Jean Augustine. The House of Commons carried the motion unanimously.
In February 2008, Senator Donald Oliver, the first Black man appointed to the Senate, introduced the Motion to Recognize Contributions of Black Canadians and February as Black History Month. It received unanimous approval and was adopted on March 4, 2008.

School administration was not really part of supporting the student. I got the feeling that they were saying to us – it’s your month so do what you want!

We did some performances and put together shows for the school. But there were not many meaningful educational programs developed by the school and the teachers for BHM.

But now, I notice that BHM has evolved into something more significant and that’s a step in the right direction.

What can you do to me more intentional and in your BHM efforts?

What can we do to use BHM to create awareness and amplify our voices?

To advance our cause and advocate for ourselves?

We can use our voices and capacity to show-up for ourselves and as a result we also show us for our community and those that come after us.

Sometimes, this means taking the initiative for BHM at your workplace, schools and in your community at large.

We can all do our part in our perspective spaces to inspire change, create awareness and hold others accountable to create safe and equitable environment for black people.

BHM is also a chance for others to celebrate with us and experience the diverse and vibrant black cultures in CANADA. Do what you can, make it inspirational, engaging and joyful

Happy Black History Month!

Previous Episode

Are We Conditioned to Not Care about Our Self-Care?

I have to be honest...the concept of self-care is sometimes a bit foreign to me.

As I gain more self awareness, I start to ask myself, why that is?

Why it doesn’t come-up for me often?

What I am starting to realize is that I have been conditioned to not care about my self-care

Let me explain:

There’s a Somali proverb that says “Nin lagu seexdow, has seexan”

This translates to – If there’s someone sleeping on you, don’t sleep.

In other words, if you have people depending on you, you can’t afford to sleep.

This proverb explains exactly how I feel about self-care

As a young single mother, I often was busy doing everything that I could to meet my children’s needs. there was not much left to think about self-care and my own needs

When I entered the workforce, I felt that I better make use of this opportunity! I better work my butt off to go above and beyond to show my boss that they weren’t wrong in giving me a chance.

And when I finally became the manager of my Centre, I had 20 bosses that I answered to. I considered everyone in my team as my boss. I felt that it was up to me to make sure they were happy. I was the go to person for all their issues at – I had that open door policy for real!

But the problem with that was that I felt their needs were always more urgent than mine.

I did that because I felt, I wanted to do a good job. Support my people the best way that I could and at all cost.

In the background tho, the story that was playing was, like me so that I can keep my job.

I felt if I talked about my needs, I wouldn’t be seen as a strong person. I would be dispensable.

Can a WOC afford to complain at work and run the risk of being seen LAZY! Or God forbid Difficult! Can you relate to this?

I felt so depleted at the end of the day, I had no energy left for my family and myself to enjoy life. I just came home and crashed! Only to repeat the same thing tomorrow.

And now, As an entrepreneur I find myself at times this mindset showing up in different ways.

The thing that I have to be mindful of is that If I don’t show-up for me and my needs, I can’t expect others to do it.

One mistake that I made as a parent is that I’ve always sheltered my children from the problems, struggles cause I wanted them to have worry free life.

But what I realize is that even your kids need to understand that you’re human and that you have needs.This is why it’s important to allow kids to understand your needs as a parent and your challenges without traumatizing them.

That helps them understand and appreciate you and have compassion and empathy for you.

As I become more aware of this, I realize that the mindset behind my thinking is the lack.

It’s the belief that my needs are not important. That I exist only to serve others

As you reflect on your feeling towards self-care, recognize what's coming up for you:

Do you feel comfortable to say no when something feels too much for you?
Do you feel like you need a strong reason to say no?
Do you resistance resistance expressing your needs?
Do you feel like you have to do it all by yourself?
Is the Strong Black Woman Syndrome showing up for you?
Are you unwilling to do fun things just for you?

Remember, just because you have responsibilities does not mean that you don’t have to practice self-care.

Self-care is a feeling that you matter, and that you’re a worthy of prioritizing your needs above all

Next Episode

Mindfulness Meghan - Teaching Mindfulness to Emancipate Mental Slavery

Meghan Stewart - Wills is a Certified Mindfulness Coach based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
She was featured as one of 10 women in the Ottawa area building community by supporting and promoting wellness. Meghan says that Mindfulness is accessible to harness in our emancipation of mental slavery; it empowers self-awareness, self-mastery and equanimity.
This was truly heartfelt and enriching conversation that I couldn't get enough of.
Hope you enjoy it too.
Connect with Meghan:
Website: Mindfulnessmeghan.com
Youtube: Mindfulness Meghan
Instagram: @mindfulnessmeghan