Each Black History Month, I challenge myself to research a certain theme related to Black history and post as many blogs about my findings as possible throughout the month. As I was considering this year’s theme, I thought about how Black behavior influences American culture at large–ie. the pervasiveness of Hip Hop or the popularity of Black slang.

I realized that although I’m often aware of and practice Black social, financial, religious and other behaviors, trends and isms, I’m not always sure of why my people, or I, do. So this Black History Month will be all about asking a question about why, how, when or where we started doing what we do. For example, Dave Chapelle posed the following query in one of his episodes:

Why do Black people smoke menthols?

Seriously, though. Why?

There’s always an answer for every kind of behavior, In America, that reason usually involves historical, societal, racial, financial and moral nuance.

Tomorrow’s post will delve into why Black folks love Cadillacs. You might be surprised when you learn why. Or you may already know. In any case, please tune into to share this year’s Black History Month challenge with me and feel free to comment and get a discussion going. 😊