Why We Still Need Black History Month

The notion that Black History Month is futile refuted with substantial historical legacies & diversified narratives.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In an article by Mema Ayi and Demetrius Patterson from the Chicago Defender, they wrote that “actor Morgan Freeman created a small firestorm…when he told Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes that he finds Black History Month (BHM) ridiculous.” Freeman goes on to say that “Americans perpetuate racism by relegating Black history to just one month when Black history is American history.” I agree with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that as Americans we are tied together “…in an inescapable network of mutuality…Whatever affects one [of us] …affects [all of us] as Americans in this country.

As you can clearly see, a month dedicated to Black history continues to stir controversy. The point of the matter is we can’t continue to ignore the fact that—although we have made progress towards racial unity—we still have ways to go towards racial, harmony, understanding and tolerance if not acceptance.

Scholars and historians such as Conrad Worrill, chairman of the National Black United Front repulsed the commercialization of the celebration, stated Ayi and Patterson. However, they go on to say that “but [Worrill] agrees that Black Americans still need February and every day to reflect on the accomplishments of Black Americans who contributed countless inventions and innovations into society.”

It was in 1926 when Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week. Now all these years later has evolved into Black History Month. But why do we still need—even in the twenty-first century—a month set aside to recognize Black history in this country? Perhaps you can look within your hearts for that answer. Negro History Week morphed into Black History Month in 1976, when African Americans developed a renewed interest in their ancestral history primarily as a result of Alex Haley’s revolutionary miniseries “Roots.”

Radio personality Cliff Kelley offers an explanation as to why we need Black History Month. Loosely translated, he said that we need it because capricious historians conveniently leave out certain parts of history that do not corroborate their version of history, which I think consist mostly of dead White men. Blacks are virtually removed from it to substantiate the White historical agenda. Plenty of Black youths do not know their history. Most of them think that their history begins and ends with slavery, wrote Patterson and Ayi.

State Representative David Miller (D- Calumet City) asserted that Freeman was right in saying that Black history should be a year-round thing. “We’ve shaped America,” he said. And that Black History Month should serve as a reminder of our legacy. The recently deceased Howard Zinn wrote in his book A People’s History of the United States, “There is not a country in world history in which racism has been more important than the United States.” He poses the question “Is it possible for Blacks and Whites to live together without hatred?” And when it comes to the evolution of racism, he had this to say, “…slavery developed into a regular institution of the normal labor relations of Blacks and Whites in the New World. With it developed that special racial feeling—whether hatred or contempt or pity or patronization—that accompanied the inferior position of Blacks in America… that combination of inferior status and derogatory thought we call racism.” He goes on to say that “The point is the elements of this web are historical, not ‘natural.’ This does not mean that they are easily disentangled or dismantled. It only means that there is a possibility for something else, under historical conditions not yet realized.”

In an article in The Phoenix titled “Is There Hope in Hollywood? Three controversial films tackle race in The Age of Obama,” Peter Keough extrapolates the medium of films are making an effort to bridge the race gap by portraying Blacks as heads of state—in movies like Transformers 2, 2012 and Invictus—although the contexts in which a Black man becomes President is often marred by catastrophe in which case the White leader is killed. Or Blacks are still being portrayed in glaring stereotypical roles as in Precious, with racist clichés like when Precious steals and eats an entire box of fried chicken. The undercurrent of racism is evident even from well-meaning Whites like Joe Biden, when he opposed Obama for President. Biden declared that “[Obama] is the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” Similarly, another fellow democrat and senate majority leader Harry Reid in his book Game Change, said of Obama that America is ready for a Black President, particularly because he is “light skinned and speak with no Negro dialect.” This leads me to extrapolate that despite all that Blacks have contributed to the making of America, our contributions seemingly become extraneous compared to our prima facie colorful appearance. And I am compelled to recall what Dr. King Jr. so eloquently stated that Black people should be judged “by the contents of their character” and not their skin color.

Many modern conveniences are directly related to or derivative of the inventions of Black inventors: blood banks facilitating life-saving transfusions, the bicycle, the electric trolley, the dustpan, comb, brush, clothes dryer, walkers, lawn mower, IBM computers, gas masks, traffic signals, the pen, peanut butter…the list goes on and on…Dr. Patricia Bath, in 1985, invented specialized tools and systematic procedures for the treatment and removal of cataracts. And, on a less serious note, George Crum who invented the potato chip, and Kenneth Dunkley who invented 3-D viewing glasses and holographs, Lisa Gelobter who invented web animation-online videos, and thanks to the Academy Award nominated film, Hidden Figures, we’re now all conversant with the amazing contributions of mathematical geniuses Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson whose work helped make Neil Armstrong the first man on the moon! All of these achievements have become part of our daily lives here in America and elsewhere as a result of African-American contributions to the economic and scientific stronghold known as America and sadly, we still need Black History Month to remind us!

I sought out some thoughts and comments from local community leaders and young activists on the issue of why we still need Black History Month. I was inundated with a wealth of responses!

Dr. Carolyn L. Turk, an African-American woman and Deputy Superintendent of Cambridge Public Schools stated that “We have moved from celebrating Negro History Week to celebrating Black History Month…these celebrations are…needed and should continue, but I am also a strong advocate for the contributions of African Americans to be recognized…throughout the year, across content areas and to be inclusive of local community history. Knowledge of our past helps connect us to our present and provides hope …for the future…if we are to continue to build on the [legacies of those who came before us].

Bob Doolittle, a white youth pastor living in Cambridge said: “Black History Month can and should take Martin Luther King Day and make it thirty days of celebrating how the right kind of force leaves a legacy of increasing enjoyment of one another by those who are different.”

Shani Fletcher, a bi-racial woman (African- American and Caucasian) of Teen Voices Magazine offered her thoughts… “Black History Month is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate the African-American experience and the role of Black people in the history of the United States… Quite literally, Black people built this country, and our communities’ contributions are a major part of its culture.”

Marla Marcum, a white doctoral candidate at the Boston University School of Theology had this to say: “I can give you a concrete example of why Black History Month is vitally important: … This extremely bright young woman—a freshman at MIT—who graduated from one of the best high schools in Massachusetts upon finding out about Coretta Scott King’s death asked, ‘Was she Martin Luther King’s sister?’ Are we content that this young woman (and so many others) has been taught something about Dr. King, yet she understands so little of his context that she learned nothing at all of his life? Of course, our education system should be integrating Black history into the broader curricula, but when it has not happened even in the best public-school systems, I think we need to recognize the critical importance of continued attention to Black History Month.”

The fundamental nature of Black History Month based on these spectrum perspectives is to celebrate variety and inclusiveness of all people, build on the prophetic and heroic legacies of our ancestors who fought for our freedoms today, recognize that Black History Month is essentially American history despite racial diversity, acknowledge an honor the contributions of African-Americans to this country, advocate for change in our public school systems to include more Black history in their curricula. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” and that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Black history is not separate from American history. As Americans, we are all one blended entity. We need to bridge the interpersonal and inter-racial gap in a highly mechanized society so… “TAKE OFF YOUR HEAD PHONES AND CARE!!!”

The memory of history is often picky. BHM serves as a reminder of its often-colorless state of existence. So, do we still need Black History Month? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” As long as Blacks are portrayed as stereotypes in the movies, as long as Black contributions to the bastion that is America are marginalized or altogether ignored, as long as Black leaders like former President Barrack Obama are seen as “acceptable” by Whites simply because he is light-skinned and speak without Negro dialect, Black History Month will continue to be necessary and indispensable.

Jacques Fleury is a Boston Globe featured Haitian American Poet, Educator, Author of four books and literary arts student at Harvard University online. His latest publication “You Are Enough: The Journey to Accepting Your Authentic Self” & other titles are available at all Boston Public Libraries, the University of Massachusetts Healey Library, University of Wyoming, Askews and Holts Library Services in the United Kingdom, The Harvard Book Store, The Grolier Poetry Bookshop, Amazon etc… He has been published in prestigious publications such as Spirit of Change Magazine, Wilderness House Literary Review, Muddy River Poetry Review, Litterateur Redefining World anthologies out of India, Poets Reading the News, the Cornell University Press anthology Class Lives: Stories from Our Economic Divide, Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene among others…Visit him at:  http://www.authorsden.com/jacquesfleury.–

5 poems from my haiCU series (haiku Cut-Up series)

no remorse no joke

mixed reactions die          

American bombing love  

no remorse no joke

newly mopped bar wax

chemicaled beer swag     

putting dance moves on carnage 

newly mopped bar wax   

bangtail bubblegum

arrested archives   

faux intelligentsia 

bangtail bubblegum

happy lips gob smacked

in the frozen weeds

surgical chocolate drinks 

happy lips gob smacked

homeless city bones

nighttime is brutal 

haunted by what could have been – 

homeless city bones

Poet/Author Scott C. Holstad’s newest book of poems, Surviving Immortality Again, was released in 2025 by Alien Buddha Press. His haiku, fragments, found poetry, Cut-Up works and other experiments, as well as more traditional works, have recently appeared in dadakuku, Five Fleas, Misfit, Libre, Cosmic Daffodil Journal, Synchronized Chaos, haiQu fOO, miniMAG, smols, Mad Swirl and Blood+Honey. He lives in Pennsylvania.

https://hankrules2011.com

X: @tangledscott 

IG: @scottsmusicshak 

The secret of success

In this cruel, testing world, there is a person who wants to be successful. Strives for success. He chases after him. Some successful people claim that there are several secrets to achieving it. I think it’s better to have some understanding of success before learning those secrets. So, what is success? How is it achieved? What are its benefits and harm to humans? Can everyone achieve it? Yes, we often hear this word. What everyone wants is success! Success is stumbling forward in the midst of failure. Success is not what you have, but who you are.

Success is a very abstract term in itself, because by definition, success is the happy outcome of an action that ends positively. However, success can come in different ways for each person. For some, success means getting ahead of others in studies, research, for some people it means reaching a certain position in their career, for others it means building long-term influential relationships, even for some, success is the sum of all of the above.

Success is a multi-faceted phenomenon that covers all areas of our life, be it family, work, studies, financial status, physical condition, spiritual development. There is probably no person in this world who does not want to be a successful person. When a person comes into the world, he first struggles to live, then he begins to struggle to eat, and as he grows up, he strives to be more successful than others. So how to achieve it?

First of all, in order to achieve success, a person must be knowledgeable, because knowledge is the key to success. That’s why you should never stop learning. Secondly, every person who embarks on this path must work diligently. One of the ways to success is to move away from uniformity and the same ideas and come up with different ideas. Do not force yourself to do something but do what you love. Only then will you achieve success sooner. That is, the more love you give to the work you are starting, the faster you will reach the door of success.

Regardless, success is a matter and product of effort, struggle, motivation and hard work. So, if you have chosen to be successful, go for it with diligence and risk and never turn back. Remember, it is not easy to become a successful person, but if you achieve this position, then your life will be easier. Therefore, never stop studying, trying and taking risks. Do not despair, because the paths you are taking have been taken by others before you, and it is not impossible. Always strive for the future, forget the past and live with the future. This will be both motivation and a great lesson for you. This will help you achieve success.

Sherova Orzigul

Student of a master’s degree at Webster University in Tashkent.  Young and talented poetess. Owner of a lot of beautiful poems, articles, stories, and anthologies. Author of some poetic books that were published on online international websites. Most of her works were translated into some languages, such as German, Korean, Arabic, French, Turkish, and Italian.  She is a winner of a lot of poetic competitions. 

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– texas STIX ViSCOUS fontanellA

1

The sky won’t be blue anymore

The water will turn red like a vociferous silence

Stars will explode and give birth to a new galaxy

The grass will start to grow back

You are so beautiful in decay that everyone is waiting for your death

The night is already tiptoeing towards you

The main thing is to die beautifully and smile at a stranger with the face of death

The main thing is to die

2

Nobody knows how loneliness turns into a wheel burning in bony windows

Everyone knows how quiet bones are silent in the sky at night

What are we trying to forget?

Who are we trying to remember?

3

Do not sing

Do not say

Do not listen

Don’t look

Don’t breathe

I died inside the sadness of your belly

Pig Butchering

Our modern world
lacking in humanity
herding them
into secret factories
tricked and trafficked
forced to toil
enslaved to enrich
Chinese crime gangs
with specific scripts
for pig butchering:
romance and crypto
investment scams.

Victims prey on victims
via fake online profiles
via deepfake videos
rich marks lured
by poor workers lured
to fake paying jobs
to real unpaid labor
bad food, packed dorms
beatings as morale boosters
living like farm animals
with 15-hour stints
warehouses of screens
running myriad scams
ruining others’ lives
their own lives ruined
trapped in the system
of ultra-modern slavery
to the vast organizations
that are bilking billions
from the global economy
in the ever-expanding
lawless global zones
in the scam compounds
of the pig butchering industry.

https://www.wired.com/story/he-leaked-the-secrets-southeast-asian-scam-compound-then-had-to-get-out-alive/

a fascist is a fascist is a fascist

Night town
white town
deep snow
deep cold
color white
and here we all are
a hybrid nation of individual
freedoms blackbooted
stomped upon
laws, norms, civility
under hard ice feet
glorifying the crush
the masks and heavy arms
bulked up brutality
colorless cruelty
attack dogs attacking
what stands in the way
of a demented mind
of a bulldozed morality
while the red rose pools
red  red  red
on the soft white snow.

No matter what the Administration might say, in embattled Minneapolis a rose is still a rose is still a rose.

EARLY PREVENTION OF DENTAL DISEASES IN CHILDREN: THE IMPORTANCE OF ORAL HYGIENE AND NUTRITION

Mansurov Abdulaziz Abdullox ugli

Student of Group 25-03 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dentistry Email: mansurovabdulaziz99@gmail.com

 Abstract: This article discusses the prevention of dental diseases in children. It provides a detailed analysis of how oral hygiene and dietary habits affect dental health. The importance of developing oral hygiene skills from an early age, consuming healthy foods, avoiding sweets, and undergoing regular dental check-ups is scientifically explained. The article also offers practical recommendations for parents, teachers, and healthcare professionals, emphasizing that healthy teeth and a beautiful smile are based on preventive care.

Keywords:
children’s dental diseases, oral hygiene, prevention, nutrition, dental check-up, healthy teeth, beautiful smile.

Introduction. Childhood is one of the most important psychophysiological stages of human life, and it is during this period that general health, lifestyle, nutritional culture, and hygiene habits are formed. Oral hygiene holds a special position among these habits. Because the oral cavity is not only the anatomical area where food intake occurs, but also the gateway to the internal environment, and the diseases that occur there may affect the overall functioning of the entire organism later in life.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60–90% of children worldwide show at least primary signs of caries by the age of 12 (WHO Oral Health Report, 2023). This rate remains high even in high-income countries. The high consumption of sugary products, the increase in sugar percentage in beverages, deficiency of essential minerals, and improper tooth care further exacerbate this problem.

Researchers classify dental caries in children as a “non-communicable epidemic.” Because although caries does not spread like an infectious disease, its prevalence is increasing globally at the speed of an epidemic. The reason is — despite preventive measures being simple, cheap, and fully available, most families do not effectively implement these preventive practices.

Caries is not just “one decayed tooth.” Clinically, it leads to impaired chewing function, delayed speech development, reduced self-confidence, shyness, and limitations in social communication. This ultimately reduces the child’s overall quality of life. Therefore, oral hygiene is not just a dental issue — but an interdisciplinary public health concern, touching pediatrics, psychology, and school hygiene.

The purpose of this article is to identify the scientifically proven importance of prevention in maintaining oral and dental health in children, to analyze the role of tooth hygiene, nutrition, family behavior, and dental check-ups, and to propose a complex multi-level approach based on advanced scientific evidence.

Methods. A mixed-method research design was employed in this study combining both qualitative and quantitative components. The qualitative part focused on thematic analysis of international guidelines and expert opinion sources, while the quantitative part relied on global epidemiological data and comparative cross-country statistics.

1. Literature Review A structured review of WHO, UNICEF, ADA, EAPD, and peer-reviewed Scopus/Web of Science publications published between 2020–2024 was conducted. In total, 180 papers were screened, of which 37 studies met inclusion criteria (focus: pediatric caries, prevention, sugar intake, oral microbiome). The PRISMA approach was applied in the screening process and relevant key concepts were extracted.
2. Comparative Analysis Health systems with strong preventive pediatric dental care (Scandinavia, Japan, South Korea) were compared to countries where dental prevention is weak and mostly treatment-oriented. Additionally, regions with school-based hygiene sessions were compared to those without such programs. This allowed identifying which systemic elements have measurable impact on caries incidence rates.
3. Statistical Monitoring UNESCO Global School Health Survey data was used to evaluate frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. WHO global caries burden indicators were analyzed to determine prevalence dynamics across age groups. Secondary datasets from OECD and IHME were used to evaluate the economic burden of pediatric oral diseases.
4. Expert Opinions Semi-structured expert interviews with pediatric dentists, preventive dentistry professors and school health physicians were included. Their clinical observations regarding early onset caries, risk factors in preschoolers, and parental behavior patterns were coded and compared with the literature thematic cluster.

Results. The results clearly demonstrate that the prevalence of childhood caries is not a random biological phenomenon but rather a predictable socially constructed problem caused by modifiable lifestyle factors. Sugar frequency, weak hygiene culture, parental modeling, and lack of systematic preventive care emerged as the dominant causal determinants.

• Sugar Frequency – The meta-analysis from The Lancet Pediatrics (2021) proved that even small sugar doses consumed frequently are more harmful than larger doses consumed occasionally. The critical factor is “frequency of exposure”, not total daily sugar intake.

• Parental Behavior – According to Harvard (2020), parental self-discipline strongly determines children’s oral hygiene behaviors. Children do not imitate advice, they imitate behavior.

• School-Based Prevention – Scandinavian longitudinal data demonstrate that school dental check-ups twice annually reduce caries incidence by over 50%. Where this system is missing → treatment always dominates over prevention.

• Microbiome Dynamics – French medical academy data (2023) showed that Streptococcus mutans activity increases sharply 17–22 minutes after sugar exposure, which corresponds to rapid pH drop and demineralization phase.

• Economic Return – OECD (2022) confirmed that every dollar invested in early preventive dentistry returns up to 7 dollars in avoided future treatment costs and productivity loss.

• Mental Health Link – Frontiers in Psychology (2022) reported that children with visible dental decay suffer significantly lower self-confidence scores and social avoidance.

Discussion. The findings indicate that the current global dental model for children is structurally and conceptually misaligned with scientific evidence. Pediatric dentistry in most countries still operates within a reactive treatment paradigm — meaning that families visit dental services only when pain or visible destruction appears. This system reinforces a “disease-based” model rather than a “health-based” model. However, as EAPD guidelines emphasize, pediatric dentistry should be 80% preventive and only 20% curative. In other words, the primary goal must be to prevent caries from emerging, not to wait until it becomes irreversible.

Countries that have already reoriented to preventive health systems (Finland, Japan, Norway, Sweden) show that childhood caries burden can be drastically reduced through institutionalized school-based check-ups, systematic parental education, taxation of high-sugar beverages, and routine national screenings. These countries prove that the majority of childhood caries cases are not inevitable — they are the outcome of modifiable environmental and behavioral exposures. The challenge is not lack of medical technology, because early caries can be reversed through fluoride and remineralization. The real challenge lies in changing micro-behaviors: daily brushing routines, sugar frequency, parental modeling, and early-life diet patterns.

Furthermore, child oral health is not an isolated medical outcome — it reflects broader psychosocial determinants. Dental health correlates with socioeconomic status, parental education level, household nutrition habits, and school health policies. In this sense, childhood oral health should be viewed as a critical indicator of public health equity. A society where children continuously develop preventable dental diseases is a society that has not yet prioritized preventive public health.

Therefore, shifting from a treatment-based model to a prevention-based model requires multi-sectoral collaboration: families, schools, health ministries, public health agencies, pediatricians and dentists must act collectively. Only then can pediatric dentistry move beyond emergency interventions and become a scientifically-driven preventive discipline that protects children’s biological, psychological, and social well-being.

Recommendations. Family Level. Primary intervention must begin at the family environment. Twice-daily brushing, 2 minutes each, with fluoride toothpaste should be established as the biological minimum standard. Critically, parents must perform these hygiene rituals in the child’s visual field — because pediatric behavior is formed primarily through observational learning. Sugar-sweetened beverages should be reframed as a “weekend exception”, which creates a psychologically realistic boundary and reduces daily glucose/fructose acid load. A simple water rinse after every meal is one of the cheapest but biologically most effective micro-behaviors to neutralize oral acidity. Toothbrushes must be replaced every 3 months to maintain abrasive efficacy and hygiene quality.

School / Kindergarten Level. Educational systems are the second most influential behavioral ecosystem for children. Therefore, banning sugary drinks in school cafeterias is essential to normalize healthy consumption patterns at institutional level. Weekly 5–7 minute micro-lessons on oral hygiene can establish a continuous motivation loop and support knowledge retention. Integrating dental literacy modules into broader school health curricula will shift child oral health away from being perceived as a “dentist-only issue” into being part of general health literacy. Visual reminders in early grade corridors and bathrooms serve as daily behavioral cues and help reinforce automaticity.

National Policy Level. At the macro level, the adoption of a national pediatric preventive dentistry protocol is a decisive structural reform. Sugar-warning labels on beverages marketed to children can cognitively reframe consumption decisions away from marketing influence toward biological risk awareness. Integrating oral health education and counseling into prenatal care programs may have the highest long-term return on investment — because preventive behavioral patterns begin forming at the maternal stage, before the child even enters the healthcare system.

Conclusion. In conclusion, childhood caries represents a preventable, multi-factorial public health challenge that is strongly influenced by behavior, environment, socio-cultural norms and system-level health governance. The evidence collected demonstrates that biological vulnerability alone does not determine disease outcome. Instead, predictable modifiable factors — sugar frequency, family modeling, oral hygiene habits, and access to preventive dental care — are the primary determinants of risk among children. Therefore, reducing sugar intake, increasing parental involvement, establishing routine dental visits, and integrating oral hygiene interventions within school systems are not merely optional lifestyle recommendations, but necessary interventions backed by epidemiological, microbiological and economic evidence.

The research also shows that prevention is not only clinically superior, but economically rational. Nations that shifted from treatment-centered models toward preventive policies achieved dramatic reductions in caries prevalence while simultaneously reducing long-term healthcare costs. This highlights that improving child oral health is not only a dental task — it is a strategic public health investment with measurable returns in cognitive development, educational performance, psychosocial outcomes, and future societal productivity.

Based on current scientific data, childhood caries must be recognized as an avoidable disease. Its continuation at high prevalence levels is a reflection of systemic inaction, delayed policy response, and insufficient behavior change at household and institutional levels. Strengthening preventive dentistry and embedding oral health education into daily life routines will not only decrease caries burden, but also improve children’s overall quality of life, self-esteem, social participation, and long-term health trajectory.

Preventive pediatric dentistry is therefore not simply a clinical recommendation — it is an ethical obligation.

References

1. WHO Oral Health Report. 2023.
2. UNICEF Child Nutrition & Oral Microbiome Review. 2022.
3. Harvard School of Public Health. Parental Modeling. 2020.
4. The Lancet Pediatrics. Sugar Frequency & Caries Meta-Analysis. 2021.
5. Académie Nationale de Médecine. Oral Microbiome Review. 2023.
6. OECD Health Policy Studies. Preventive Dentistry Return. 2022.
7. European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry Guidelines. 2023.
8. Frontiers in Psychology. Oral Health & Self-Esteem. 2022.