IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH RELEVANT?
By Bill Bradberry WASHINGTON, D.C. — I have been in search of my people’s role in American and world history most of my life. I have had to look hard because, for the most part, it’s not in the American history books, at least not the truth of it. When it is there, it’s usually in some sanitized, watered-down version that I just know is not real. There are lots of traces of the truth hidden along the Eastern Seaboard and all over the country. It’s America’s history, not just mine. Much of it is hidden in plain sight all over the world, for that matter. Last week, I decided to visit our nation’s capital to better understand, conceptualize and articulate the relevance and importance of this year’s celebration of Black History Month. I wanted to be here in Washington during President George Bush’s State of the Union address, and for the announcement of the Smithsonian Institution’s decision on whether a comprehensive African-American history museum would be built on the National Mall, or
