Friday Five: the end of Black History Month

This week I started reading Erasure, Percival Everett’s 2001 novel about how African-American literature is perceived and discussed in the literary mainstream. (This 2001 novel was adapted into the film American Fiction, which was nominated for an Oscar last year, and which I wrote about here.) I find the title of this novel especially relevant at this time of year, as the annual celebration in the U.S. known as Black History Month draws to a close, and as attempts to erase our nation’s Black history continue. At all levels of government, in schools, colleges, and universities, and in the corporate world, Black History Month celebrations have been “muted,” as Forbes puts it, due to a rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives and practices. One highly visible example: on the eve of Black History Month, newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth barred the DoD from using “official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events” related to Black History Month and other “cultural awareness months.”)

These efforts will not remove Black history from our nation’s DNA. In a society where the cultural achievements of Blacks and other minorities are often ignored or shoved to the margins, it’s important to remind people of these achievements and their contributions to the American experiment — past, present, and future.

Today may mark the end of Black History Month 2025, but it is not the end of Black history or our opportunities to celebrate it. Here are five resources to draw from to keep learning about Black history well beyond the month of February.

1. A Celebration of Langston Hughes (audio). In this episode of the podcast Selected Shorts, actors read three fantastic short stories by Langston Hughes (1901-1967), a poet, playwright, and novelist whose name is practically synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s.
2. Learn about Inez Parker Griggs (1875-1950), a daughter of former slaves whose poetry received widespread acclaim. Writing from her home in Rolla, Missouri (the same town I write from), her works were published around the Midwest and she often traveled to read her works. On February 21, as part of local Black History Month activities, Professor Larry Gragg, the university historian at Missouri University of Science and Technology, presented about this talented and unheralded poet. A communitywide effort to honor and recognize “Rolla’s Poet Laureate” is underway.
3. Read 12 stories and poems by contemporary Black writers for free, courtesy of the literary magazine Electric Literature , a nonprofit publisher dedicated to making literature “more exciting, relevant, and inclusive,” and its weekly magazine The Commuter. The editors dug through their archives to share these stories and poems in celebration of Black History Month.
4. Read “Crown,” by E.A. Noble, a poem for Black History Month published recently in my friend and fellow writer Nat Weaver’s newsletter Weaver’s Deep Thoughts. You can read (and listen to) more of E.A. Noble’s poetry on her website.
5. Watch ou YouTube: “it’s black history month, go read a book,” a 29-minute-plus video of 15 book recommendations (fiction and nonfiction) from YouTuber and writer Anaïs Laure. (And when you’re done watching, check out one or two of her recommended books, then check out her Substack for more good stuff.)

Tomorrow begins another “identity” month targeted by Hegseth and his fellow white crusaders: Women’s History Month. Let’s continue to lift up the voices of writers and other creatives from underrepresented groups, every month of the year.

Photo via Unsplash and Electric Literature.