While one month is certainly not enough to celebrate and honor Black History, we can still take this month as an opportunity to do what we should be doing every month, namely give the proper respect and attention to the past, present, and future history of Black people in a country where Black histories (like Black people) have been deemed inferior. Much of contemporary spoken word is based in Black oral tradition and music, reaching through the blues, the Black Arts movement, and hip hop culture (to name only a few precursors). Billie Holiday's iconic anti-lynching ballad "Strange Fruit" exemplifies the power of Black artists who have used their voices to speak against the racism and exploitation at the bloody root of US history, and in doing so articulate the possibilities of new, more free, futures to grow.
-- Isaac Miller, Spoken Word Editor for The Progressive