Celebrating Black History Month is 100 years old
This February we celebrate a century of Black History celebrations, as marked by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The ASALH has captured the themes of each Black History Month since 1928 which informs us about the significant roles and resilience that Black Americans have shown throughout the 250 year history of the United States of America, which we are also celebrating this year.
The U.S. celebrates the bicentennial
(I always appreciate this scene from Freaks and Geeks when these types of celebrations roll around . And it saves me from too long an essay. But you may see it again from me this year.)
The intersection of Bad Bunny and Black History
In the interest of intersectionality, this Black History month also saw a historic performance from Bad Bunny during Super Bowl LX, a national event that always takes place during Black History month. It follows another historical performance, Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show in 2025 which earns the top spot for most viewed Super Bowl shows of all time.
Last year, Kendrick Lamar brought viewers through Black History through the lens of someone who is emphatically no longer playing by white America’s rules. It was moving, powerful and a romp.
This year, Bad Bunny’s performance was a celebration of Puerto Rico (a U.S. territory, which a few people needed a reminder about) as well as the other countries in the whole of the Americas, including Canada. It was inclusive and joyful and celebratory.
Bad Bunny’s performance happening during Black History month is not just a coincidence. While the NFL does have say in the performers, it’s Jay Z’s Roc Nation that find the musicians. That partnership was formed in the wake of Colin Kapernick’s kneeling for social justice during NFL games, and his subsequently being blacklisted by the NFL. Some in the NFL, notably Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots who actually played in the Superbowl, though not well, recognized that their organization was not picking up on “social issues” and brought in Roc Nation to address the dissonance in an organization dominated by Black athletes on teams owned by white billionaires.
No Ethical Billionaires
Now, I’m not one to give billionaires credit and that includes Jay Z and Robert Kraft. We have all seen too much about what links the billionaire class to trust to that they are benign and benevolent. That said, the links between Bad Bunny Bowl and Black History month tell an interesting story.
12PointFive Minutes – Bad Bunny Bowl edition
I cannot credit my podcast co-host Jared Kelly enough for connecting these dots for me. He and I get much deeper into those links, what the halftime show represents, and more in our Bad Bunny bowl episode airing this month. Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify or Youtube to hear more on this.
A Family Tradition
As a family that night, though, we just took in the spectacle. The adults knew it was a big deal but the kids in my family talked about the good vibes of the event. They asked if we could go to Puerto Rico because it looked like so much fun. And I know that the choice to portray that joy was not because everything’s fine. Just the opposite. Joy is itself an act of resistance.
On a similar but very different note
On that note, I will leave you with something that stuck with me which highlights the importance of art, particularly in a time when the real world is so fraught. Here’s a link of
Actor Alan Cumming describing the split between what’s happening in mainstream culture versus political reality in talking about the show Heated Rivalry and how art reveals and redefines our lived experience.
