I have a friend who asks me every year about what I’m doing for Black History Month.

And I always reply: “Nothing, I’m Black every day.”

And I mean it. I don’t celebrate Black History Month, but I am happy to be a part of celebrations of Black history – when they occur in February or any other time of the year.

I grew up celebrating the official end of enslavement in the United States. As a churched Black kid, New Year’s Eve was spent in church at some kind of testimony service. Then we went hom...