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Guest Blog: Black History Month – The Purpose and Practice of Celebration

Following our recent Coffee with Franklyn James webinar, Rev. Franklyn James shares further reflections on Black History Month, delving deeper into the meaning of celebration.

Framing Black History Month: Cause, Celebration, and Continuity

As I sat preparing for the Coffee With webinar, ironically, while also editing a chapter of my book, Sip, Shade, and Speculate, I couldn’t help but smile at the poetry of the moment. Speaking in a coffee hour while writing about life in a café? It felt like a conversation happening across dimensions.

I want to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the United Church of Canada Foundation for supporting the Black Clergy Network (BCN) and for providing this platform for me to speak. I am also grateful to each of you who attended the session and those who will later engage with these reflections.

The spirit of remembrance and recognition must extend beyond a single month, ensuring we continue to honor our past, elevate our present, and shape our future.

This year, Black History Month (BHM) draws me to the deeper structure of celebration. Every celebration has a cause—a moment, a movement, or a milestone. It is the recognition of something fought for, something overcome, and something won. And while February provides a dedicated space for reflection, Black history is not a confined story but an ongoing journey. The spirit of remembrance and recognition must extend beyond a single month, ensuring we continue to honor our past, elevate our present, and shape our future.

The Cause: What Are We Honoring?

A celebration must have a first cause, an origin, a struggle, or a turning point. In the context of Black History Month, this cause is rooted in resistance and resilience in the centuries-long fight against enslavement, systemic oppression, and racial injustice. The victories, both large and small, pave the way for acknowledgment. We celebrate because there was something that needed to be overcome, and the fact that we are still here, thriving and contributing, is itself an act of defiance and triumph

The Celebrator: Who Holds the Memory and the Story?

Every celebration requires a community of remembrance, those who carry the story forward. The celebrators are those who have benefited from past victories and those who continue the legacy of justice, faith, and action. Black communities across the diaspora, educators, faith leaders, artists, and activists take up this mantle, ensuring that Black History Month is a historical reflection and an active and ongoing engagement with the present.

The Forms of Celebration: How Do We Remember and Honor?

A cause acknowledged, and a people gathered require expressions of celebration and ways to honor, engage, and embody our history. Black History Month is not just about reflection but also about joyful affirmation, cultural expression, and community-building. Below are some meaningful ways to celebrate and honor the victories, achievements, excellence, resilience, and cultural contributions of people of African descent.

Education & Storytelling

1. Lectures, panels, and discussions that engage scholars, faith leaders, and community activists to discuss Black history, justice, and future pathways.
2. Book readings and literary events featuring Black authors, poets, and historians who bring to life the struggles and victories of the past.
3. Museum exhibits and historical displays showcasing artifacts, images, and narratives that document the Black experience in Canada and globally.

Faith & Worship

1. Church services and theological reflections honoring Black faith traditions and exploring the role of spirituality in liberation movements.
2. Prayer gatherings and vigils that lift up our ancestors, martyrs, and leaders who paved the way.
3. Preaching and testimonies highlighting sermons and personal stories that carry forward Black resilience and wisdom.

Arts & Cultural Expression

1. Music and dance performances featuring gospel, jazz, reggae, hip-hop, African drumming, and more.
2. Poetry and spoken word amplifying the voices of Black poets who have captured the struggles and beauty of Black life.
3. Theatre and film screenings of plays and movies that tell Black stories, whether historical or contemporary.
4. Art exhibitions and live paintings celebrating the work of Black visual artists whose creations depict resistance, hope, and identity.

Community Gatherings & Shared Experiences

1. Dances and celebratory parties that create spaces for joy, music, and communal affirmation of Black culture.
2. Meal sharing and cultural feasts where communities gather around the tradition of people of African descent and soul food to honor ancestral culinary traditions.
3. Fashion and cultural attire highlighting African prints, head wraps, and garments of Black heritage.

— Rev. Franklyn James

Rev. Franklyn James is a theologian, poet, educator, and passionate advocate for social justice. He ministers at West River United Church in Cornwall, PEI, is a valued member of the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee. Franklyn also co-chairs the Black Clergy Network.