For many, the second month of the year is commemorated as being Black History Month. In the US, it is also Heart Month. Not to be overlooked, at the end of the Fifth Century, Pope Gelasius deemed February 14th St. Valentine’s Day. (Black History Month also takes place in Canada in February. In Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands it is celebrated in October. But Valentine’s Day is February 14th, everywhere.)
Mindful of the ever-growing problems resulting from modern living, concerns about heart care are an ever-growing concern. Valentine’s Day, for years, has been a day where folks remind their loved ones of their caring with gifts such as roses and chocolate.
But February this year should be focused on Black History Month because of the widely publicized events that have awakened a need to recognize that in the US and for that matter, all around the world, that every man and woman are supposed to be created equal. The premise should ring true, particularly, now
When Carter Woodson, a historian, along with the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, developed the idea of making the second week of February, “Negro History Week”, in 1926, they hoped it would lead to an awareness that there was a forgotten group of citizens who had a hand in building this country.
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had February birthdays and it seemed like a perfect fit. Lincoln’s birthday was on the twelfth and Douglass’ on the fourteenth. The goal was to broaden understanding about African-Americans and to provide cultural insight that was brushed under the carpet after the Civil War.
At the time, it was a tick over fifty years since that war supposedly decided that there should be equality for all.
At the time, teaching Black History, which was the immediate goal of Negro History Week, was not well received. Nonetheless, the second week of February was duly recognized until 1969 when the Black United Students at Kent State University proposed that the entire month of February become “Black History Month.”
A year later, the first celebration was held, at the university. By 1976, as a part of the Bicentennial Celebration, it received an official US government designation.
Last year, the world and tennis were dealt a double dose of devastation. COVID-19 became death’s community calling card and with it economies were maimed. Everyday stress increased and led to the manifestation of frustration and in some cases, anger. Even worse, occasionally, road-rage like eruptions resulted not only in the US, but internationally as well.
May 25th, 2020 was a personal tipping point for the two of us. The death of George Floyd further opened our eyes to where the world and tennis were in regard to so many things. We have traveled extensively and are long-time tennis journalists so we have “creds” but – We are not African-American.
More to the point, we well know that more must be done to rid our lives of racial bias. Simply stated – Black Lives Matter…Even More Now. (And let it be known that “all lives matter”, all the time – that’s understood. The point is that there are inequities in the treatment of African-Americans that have never been addressed.)
Original colour image: EPSN
Naomi Osaka used her face-masks at last year’s US Open to call attention to victims of racism – Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castile, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Elijah McClain, Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor and too many more. Her hope was to increase awareness and have people “see more names”, names of the Black victims of police violence in the US.
Prior to New York, Osaka had traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota where Floyd was killed and she took part in the peaceful protest that was being held. In July, she co-wrote an article that appeared in Esquire Magazine concerning racism and personally “being all things together at the same time.”
After Jacob Blake, an African-American, was shot in the back multiple times by a policeman in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Osaka withdrew from participating in the Western & Southern Open semifinal. Realizing the significance of her decision, tournament officials suspended play at the National Tennis Center for the entire day in support of her social justice expression.
Coco Gauff was another person who was candid in her comments about the importance of Black Lives Matter protests. Frances Tiafoe and Sloane Stephens, as well as James Blake and both Serena and Venus Williams, were some of the other prominent players who supported the necessity of the demonstrations. (Fittingly, the US Open, during its final days, featured the works of eighteen artists in “Black Lives to the Front”, an exhibition that was staged on the lower rows of Ashe Stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.)
February isn’t just about reading a book that extols the life of a famous person of color. It’s a reminder to realize that history is not merely a white world’s diary. What happened in the past doesn’t have to be repeated because we have no internal chronicle of events.
With knowledge and understanding of “all” that history presents, we have the tools that can change the future and leave the past where it belongs – and should have remained.
Title photo of Coco Gauff at the 2021 Australian Open by Vanessa Taylor