Source: Mike Coppola / Getty
Kanye West wants to rebrand Black History Month, and he declared it via Instagram on the first day of February.
“February is now Black Future Month,” Kanye posted along with the #BFM hashtag his stans are sure to get trending.
As HypeBeast pointed out, Yeezus first proposed making “Black Future Month” a thing in November last year during an appearance on N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN’s Drink Champs show.
“I’m tired of seeing us getting hosed-down. I’m tired of talking about slavery,” he said.
So, a couple things:
First, Ye really should be “tired of talking about slavery” after his loud, wrong and largely ahistorical comments about slavery being a choice. He should also keep slavery and Black history all the way out of his mouth after he erroneously declared that “Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people.”
Secondly, BHM was never meant as a month-long retelling of slavery and “us getting hosed-down.” It was created by a Black man, Carter G. Woodson, and pushed by Black people as a time for celebrating Black achievement. And, for the most part, it’s the only month when virtually any Black history besides slavery and Jim Crow is ever highlighted (and even those historical events are typically watered down for fragile white consumption). So BHM doesn’t necessarily need rebranding, America just needs to do a better job of honoring it.
But, OK, America is going to America, so maybe Ye is on to something here.
However, here’s another question: Why not both?
Why exactly would BHM need to be replaced by BFM? It’s funny how many Black people are often only able to imagine an “either/or” situation when it comes to Black representation when really, we could have it all if we united in making the case for it. Hell, Kanye could be using his massive platform to put the same energy into promoting BFM in addition to what’s already been established instead of promoting it as an alternative. (Bruh, we could just go ahead and take all of June.)
What Kanye seems to be proposing is an arbitrary change to what we already have. Should we also start a “Black Present Month” to commemorate where we’re at right now?
Know what? Nevermind—let’s not give Ye any more ideas.
