I came across the story of Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 32-year-old filmmaker who documented his one-man, cross-country campaign to end Black History Month on Facebook. It seems like a question that rolls around in the black community every February — what does it mean that recognizing black history is relegated to the coldest and shortest month of the year? Shouldn’t “black history” be incorporated into “American history”? Tilghman’s movie, More Than A Month looks at these questions through an earnest and comedic lens.

I had the pleasure of speaking with the Tilghman for a Q&A with The Root (he was insightful and witty over the phone despite being sick). The interview has generated a lot of buzz on the site (251 Facbeook likes and 432 comments/tweets thus far), but space constraints didn’t allow for readers to see the entirety of our conversation. Although I make it a point to avoid reading comments online, I felt I needed to at least make the full interview available to address these critiques: Tilghman isn’t a self-hating black man and he does understand the importance of recognizing black history. He’s just presented a counterpoint to what black history means to African Americans and America and wonders out loud what the next step is, while the rest of us pass through February in a red, black and green fog.

What we’re talking about is not ending it because it’s passe, or because it’s irrelevant or anything like that. It’s because the ultimate goal is to not need a Black History Month… It’s sort of like giving someone a crutch for a certain amount of time. The goal is not to keep the crutch, the goal is to get rid of the crutch so you can walk.

For the full interview (with a few edits here and there for clarity sake), read on…
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