February of every year feels the same. 

Whoever is doing the morning announcements at school reads a fact about a Black person. History teachers give us the same outdated spiel about Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Streaming services have a “Celebrating Black Stories” section with a very poor selection of shows and music. Large corporations might make a social media post or two about it being Black history month.

But what is any of this doing for the Black community?

What is this performative celebration really teaching anybody? 

It’s Black history month, but people still don’t know about Claudette Colvin, who at age 15 — and before Rosa Parks — refused to give her seat on a bus to a white person.

It’s Black history month, but we’re not talking about how Black neighborhoods are overpoliced and Black people are persecuted for crimes at a higher rate than white people.

It’s Black history month, but we’re not acknowledging the fact that white privilege exists and that racism is normalized in our society.

We’re not talking about how celebrities can do blackface and get away with it or how they go to BLM protests for clout or how they take content from Black creators and make money off of it.

So what’s the point? Why bother giving us a history month — the shortest month of the year for that matter — if nobody is going to address the actual issues that we face on a daily basis?

Black history month should be something more than an opportunity for people with white savior complexes to say that they’re helping us or celebrating our history. You should actually be actively working towards helping us and celebrating our culture. 

Not just taking 28 days out of the year for performative activism, but spending all year amplifying our voices, telling our stories and fighting for equality.

So what can you do to help?

You can start by actually taking the time to learn our — your — history. After all, there would be no American history to study without the influence of Black people. 

You can talk to a Black person, ask them to educate you on issues. Or, better yet, you can do your own research from reliable Black sources and educate yourself.

You can correct the white people you hear saying the n-word and other racist slurs. You can explain to them why they can’t say it, or why the confederate flag is offensive. 

Don’t let them continue to do and say offensive things and excuse it by claiming that they don’t know that it’s wrong. 

You can use your white privilege to give Black voices a platform. To fight for the ultimate cause — true equality between races.

You can be a decent human being. Show empathy to people of color.

Not just during February, but every month.