I don’t really do much to celebrate Black History Month or Kwanzaa. If I had children I would go all out. We would be reading books, writing reports, visiting museums, watching documentaries…the whole nine. (Ya’ll should be glad I don’t have kids, ’cause I would probably be raising little Black Panthers, but anyway…). Since its just me, I choose to honor this month by educating myself. So, every February I choose a book to read. It is usually a classic like Up From Slavery, Miseducation of the Negro, or The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

This year after watching Prince Among Slaves, a documentary airing on PBS this month, I decided to read the memoirs of another African torn from his home, Olaudah Equiano.

According to the book jacket he was a “sailor, adventurer, entrepreneur, author” who after being enslaved eventually made it to England where he worked in the abololitionist movement.

So, that (along with a couple of other books) is what I’ll be reading for the rest of the month.