Expanding The Narrative

And we're back for a bit longer look at some aspects of "Black History" that we (ie: I) never even thought about thinking about.

I got outa school a very long time ago, but the way I recall it, we were taught American History as The History of White People in North America.  And then once in a very long while, we also got this other thing - Native-Americans or Afro-Americans or Spanish-Americans or even on very rare occasions, Sino-Americans.  But nobody ever referred to Franklin or Jefferson or Lincoln or Calhoun or Lee or Davis or TR or FDR or or or;  as Euro-Americans.  Ever.

"Our" history of "our" country in "our" terms from "our" perspective, as told to "us" by "us".

Exclusive.  Restricted.  WASPs Only.

Here's a peek via HuffPo:

Every February during Black History Month, we recognize pioneers like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King who have pushed the civil rights agenda forward. However, the integral work of other activists is often ignored.

Rutgers University assistant professor Brittney Cooper joined HuffPost Live on Monday to discuss the exclusion of prominent black LGBT activists like Pauli Murray, who helped in the the progression of the civil rights movement.

From her campaign to matriculate into the University of North Carolina to her countless articles on race relations, Murray was an influential civil rights activist. Even with her list of accomplishments, Murray, who was of mixed-race heritage, saw her complex gender and sexual identity muted in favor of "respectability politics," Cooper said. Murray’s queer identity likely pushed the NAACP to ignore her case after she was arrested for refusing to move to the rear of a Virginia bus 15 years before Rosa Parks did the same thing in Alabama.

And here's a bit more on Pauli Murray: black, woman, LGBT.  Pretty much the trifecta.