So, It's Black History Month.

The one time of year when talking about black folks' suffering in "the mainstream" doesn't make you PC or oversensitive or whatevs. And, according to Renee of Womanist Musings, white people spend loads of time talking about the bad stuff we used to do to black people and isn't it nice that we don't have to do that anymore.

At the risk of making it all about white folks, aren't we a bunch of douchebags. (I use "we" in the loose sense, not the literal sense, though I have plenty of douchyness to account for.)

At the same time, I feel like I can't pass up this opportunity to bring awareness to a form of history that is often forgotten (or believed not to exist), inasmuch as the alternative for me is to erase it even further. So here are a few things to get white brains going in a less self-absorbed direction:

Womanist Musings: Why I Am Skipping Black History Month
Womanist Musings: Black History Month
Womanist Musings: Cotton Picking Day
Womanist Musings: Black History Month For Sale
Womanist Musings: Jim Crow Renaissance This Is Celebration?

Blaque Ink: Black Adversity: The Opposite Of White Privilege
Womanist Musings: For Rent: Whites Only
This one's so about white people: Love Isn't Enough: How to Be An Anti-Racist Ally
TransGriot: What You Don't See Is As Important As What You Do See
TransGriot: 'Reverse Racism' Are White Racist Words
TransGriot: Renee's Rule

These are a few posts that share some of the basic concepts of racism as it exists today - equally as important as black history. And remember, social justice isn't just for one month. It's an all-year thing. So read these posts, then bookmark the sites for later and keep on reading. I may not look like it because I prefer not to blog about race issues (being racially privileged, I'm not exactly qualified to comment) but I spend a good chunk of my off-time doing just that.