Black Women Have It Going On

Daily writing prompt

What bores you?

View all responses

“History is not a set of dead facts; it is a living river that determines where we stand today.” — Anonymous

Good morning from Colorado, where the spring weather is as unpredictable as ever. In these wee hours, as my furnace works overtime to keep my family warm, I’ve been reflecting on the flow of this week. I usually write on Saturdays and edit on Sundays, but life had other plans. Yet, I realize now that today is the perfect time to connect the dots of this series.

We’ve been discussing the phrase ‘something is better than nothing’ and how it shapes my view of Black History Month. As a family historian and a descendant of enslaved people, I’ll be honest: I am bored by stagnant history. When information doesn’t move or grow, it loses the power to shift our perceptions or provoke critical thinking. Stagnant history just normalizes old rhetoric that sounds good but keeps us stuck.

I recently learned the phrase ‘perfect is the enemy of good,’ and I see it playing out in our community. Sometimes we are so busy looking for the ‘perfect’ way to move forward that we open doors that should have stayed shut, or we overlook the gold already in our hands.

Take my 3x great-grandfather. He was released from slavery in his mid-forties. By the end of his life, he had accomplished more than many of his descendants who were born free. He left behind over 300 acres of Louisiana land and donated property for a school, a church, and a graveyard. His legacy is still paying dividends long after his death. Yet, many of us today—despite our ‘freedom’—feel more mentally and emotionally deprived than a man who was once legally considered less than human.

As I uncover the documents of his life, I am forced to ask: who am I? This is why I choose to study the individuals who wrote through time to show us what it truly means to be Black in America. We aren’t just a ‘month’ of history; we are a people still building cultural foundations from the ashes of slavery and the fire of Civil Rights. Let’s pray!

Prayer:
Lord, thank You for the ancestors who turned ashes into foundations. I thank You for my 3x great-grandfather, who showed me that freedom is not just a status, but a responsibility. Father, heal the mental and emotional deprivation in our bloodlines. Help us to stop settling for stagnant stories and start building legacies that pay dividends for generations to come. Amen.”