February’s Over, But We’re STILL BLACK.

Last updated on April 4th, 2021 at 10:59 am

When you’re a one-man operation trying to put out a series for Black History Month, there are some things you might not want to do with your February, like:

1. Hit up a Dad Summit in New Orleans to make dozens of new friends and better understand all the possible ways to be a great Dad,
2. Take a trip out to Kelowna, BC to keynote a parenting conference and change others’ thinking on what fatherhood means in 2018, and
3. Think it’s a good idea to take on such an ambitious creative project when it’s the financial year-end at your 9-5… and you’re in charge of keeping the numbers balanced.

But for those of you keeping score at home, that was my situation exactly this February, and though I got a bit of content out in its last few days, there was still so much I could do to move the needle.

Because after all—we’d danced this dance before. The dance we danced every February, schedules packed with dinners, discussions and dialogues as we revel in the attention everyone’s giving us… but what then? What happens when Black History Month’s over and we’re back to our regular lives, the Black Canadian narrative nothing more than a side note to everything else going on? I’m sorry, but as a Black Canadian myself, I’m still Black full-time well after February ends. I’ll celebrate other aspects of who I am as the year goes on from fatherhood to masculinity and back… but what says I should hold back from celebrating my Blackness just because it’s not the month where everyone else is doing it too?

And that’s why I’m thinking… maybe it’s time I tell some Black Canadian stories beyond the work I do each February.

As I said, I’ve been busy. If 2018’s taught me anything so far, it’s that when you put love, time and care into your work, it can build bridges and open doors you’d never imagine possible. I started February with an ambitious project, and were this 2016—or even 2017—my failure would hold me back. To think that it was the end of the world and that I couldn’t salvage things because I’d missed the window the world gave me.

But good content is good content.

Good content isn’t suddenly irrelevant once a new month starts. Good content is timeless, making a statement whether it’s out now or a year from now. And that’s what I strive for every time I make content—will people care about it a year from now? And if I’m not willing to invest the same level of effort into something as important as stories on Black Canadian culture as I am on my stuff, then what the heck am I doing?

February’s Over. We’re Still Black. WATCH OUT, 2018!

So that’s what’s up. Though I couldn’t tell these stories in Black History Month, it doesn’t mean I won’t tell them. There’s a long year ahead, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty to do, but the Black Canadian narrative won’t take a back seat to everything else happening on my blog. Not anymore.

I hope y’all are living life to the fullest out there, and please expect much more from the stories here at Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad! If you’d like to connect and put some stories toward the cause, this post right here’s a good starting point.

’til the next, I remain,