About the Author

Kathryn H. Ross is the author of memoir Black Was Not A Label (2019, Pronto) and poetry chapbook Count It All Loss (2021, GoldScriptCo). She writes and edits in Southern California and loves cats and naps. Read her prose, essays, and poetry at speakthewritelanguage.com.

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  1. I find other people to talk about with pride. Robert Smalls is very part of the Civil War and our history. Look him up.

  2. This is often such a difficult topic because society has made it so. For years we as a people have been made to feel ashamed of who we are. There are so many derogatory labels placed on us that we often feel ashamed of who we are. However, as I sat thinking most of how we are labeled is not what I remember. I remember how our neighbors valued community and where they lived. I remember how my family valued faith and family. How resourceful we were, able to make something out of nothing. We have a rich heritage that we should be proud of. We can’t let others write our narrative and we must be mindful to not let the current generation lull us into the negative narrative that has impacted the pride that we should feel.

  3. “Won’t it be wonderful when black history and native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history.”Maya Angelou
    You article is well said and so true. Thank you for sharing and reminding us that we are to be thankful and celebrate our history everyday especially since we use so much things daily that was invented by our brother and sisters.

  4. Thank you for this insightful piece! To your point about ‘erasure’, I have noticed that younger people in particular (some) seem a bit detached from celebrating Black History Month — and instead promote Black History 365 days a year. Interesting enough, they aren’t really celebrating or learning. I hope that we never become too removed from our ancestors’ struggles & sacrifice that we treat Black History like non-Blacks … Thanks again.

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