Where is the Truth In Our History
Matthew Mullone is a Créole-Texan writer, anthropologist, communicator and multidisciplinary artist, using his art to push for change and understanding. Currently based in Tio’tia:ke / Montreal.
History is an intersectional idea. There is not just white history, Black history, your history, their history, and my history. History is layered with multiple avenues that lead to truth. Now, it is up to us to find a voice that represents that truth, which, often more times than not, is a subconscious voice that lingers in our mind that we listen to. This voice in the back of our heads can be indirectly influenced by outlets that socially constructed a past that hides, lies, or erases the history of Black people.
Black history month is meant to illustrate that we just want our place in the world and to be recognized as humans. We are continually fighting for recognition in society. This is not to say we have not made any progress but there is much more to the culture than something simply you can find on the radio, television or Instagram for that matter. To be a true ally for the cause of equity and equality, there needs to be an understanding. Black culture is a vast realm not even I can fully answer and this is the point. When we learn about Black culture and/or a Black person we must understand that identity is fluid. There is no one person we can ask to give all the answers on the subject of the history and identity of Black culture. Rather we must hear the stories of many to fulfill a holistic view on how Black culture and history has thrived and continues to.
We all have our history, but how many of us know the truth, and if we don’t know the truth how do we obtain the truth? These are questions that I contemplate on a daily occurrence. To start I am a Black-Créole man from the United States, therefore a lot of my ancestry has been eradicated from the history books that are taught in a classroom environment. The Black – Créole that I represent has a long and diverse history that predates the history of what we know as the United States, encompassing the ethnicities of African, Native American, French and Spanish to make one ethnicity. This is a topic that can be explored through the book called Créoles by Sybil Kein. Learning the stories of the past has been extremely difficult. Growing up in the USA, I have been fed misinformation or not enough information and trying to navigate through a white supremacy filter is a task. The same could be the same for people who are now just getting into the history of the Americas (ie. immigrants).
In Canada it has become hard to navigate the truth of my history because I am subjected to the racial profiling of my skin color. To the general world I am just “Black”, but being Black is more than that, it’s more than one ethnicity and one history. Black culture spreads further, wider and deeper than the colonial history of Canada. So when learning about Black history, do your best to go beyond the umbrella term that is used in popular culture.
To learn history is not that simple for Black people and immigrants in North America. Well… this is what I am trying to initiate is that we as community members befriend thy neighbor and find out their truth. With open ears, minds, and hearts we can rebuild a collective truth that is not guided by the white lies of our government. There is much more to our stories than a picture and paragraph and it is up to us to denounce these separatist ideologies that only benefit the 1%.
Black History Month can be celebrated by reading about the culture, listening to music, or perhaps holding a picket sign at a protest. There is more to Black History Month and it is about recognizing Black people as humans. I want Black history to intertwine and acknowledge more than just an extracurricular activity people participate in once a year. Unfortunately, this must be repeated time and time again until the Black body is no longer governed. I want the people of the world to go beyond just learning the history but to dig deeper and form a connection and realize that all of our histories help lead us to the truth.
