Kanye West is trying to accomplish what a gang of white supremacists and anti-critical race theorists have wanted to do for years: cancel Black History month.
In an almost 6 minute stylized clip on his Instagram, the artist stands in all black with dozens of followers around him as he lectures.
Kanye opens up by saying his new name, Ye, and shared that his parents met in Atlanta in the 70s. His mother was a member of Operation P.U.S.H., and his dad was a member of the Black Panther Party.
Proudly, he says that she was the first female English chair at Chicago University.
As he has said before, Yeezy notes in this video that the job in Chicago destroyed his family — irreparable damage that remains today.
“The system,” he says, “has been separating families, in every way that it can, for years. America is made to enslave us. What they ever gave us?”
“We’ve done proved. We’ve done showed. It’s documented. Now it’s cemented,” he declared on the post.
He continues, “Black Future… it is time to invent it.”
“There is no more Black History Month. Every February reminding us that we just barely can vote,” the Donda chart-topper said. “You shouldn’t have to be a tech genius, a basketball god, a musical wizard to be able to hold down your family.”
Kanye then turns the platform into a spoken word stage, reciting a poem about his children, those who will write the history, the media’s agenda to get him, and those who have misrepresented him as arrogant because he is a strong personality.
The rapper also recounts how North found out she was Black. A teacher was talking about Martin Luther King Jr., and she pointed out that she was of the same race as the civil rights icon.
Last time, the story was around MLK Day, but in this video, Yeezy squares this transformational moment at the start of Black History Month.
He said that his daughter’s understanding of Black history is coming from her teacher, who is more inclined to frame it around Christopher Columbus than Mansa Musa — the richest man in the history of the world.
“They beat down ideas that will keep you enslaved mentally,” he informed the group, all clearly instructed to be still with their hands down and hoods over their heads.
“I’ve been waiting for us to take the power in our own hands. I’ve been waiting to control our narrative. We need to empower local leaders and that’s our focus,” Kanye exclaimed.
“Our money is being made and goes back into a white system,” the billionaire stated. “Our 44 million (Black people and their spending power) is worth is $1.8 trillion. That means the Black dollar is neck and neck with the biggest company in the world, Apple. With more focus, the Black dollar will be the biggest company in the world.”
He informed that his brand, Yeezy, is the only 100% Black-owned brand “for the culture.” He philosophically aligned himself with the late Virgil Abloh and said they “broke down” the Black belief in Black design.
“We used to hold luxury here,” he says as he motions with his hands a gesture for higher, “and Black design there.”
Kanye ended his monologue by saying that he is fine taking the criticism because he is taking back the narrative.
One way to take back the narrative, at least about Black History Month, is to first recognize some facts about the celebration.
Black History Month was not chosen by white people to give to Black people because it was the shortest month of the year.
According to History.org, the roots of the annual celebration of achievements by people from the African diaspora was started in 1915.
Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent.
However, it wasn’t until 1926 that the group decided to create the national Negro History week. They chose the second week of February to align with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
The purpose of the week was to inspire Black communities to celebrate the contributions of Black people to the world on a national level.
The monthly celebration that we know now is less than 50 years old. In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month.
He pushed the country to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” To put this in context, Hip-Hop is older than Black History Month.
Ye, you can have Black Future Month — but BHM can’t go anywhere. BFM stands on the calendar shoulders of BHM.