A white friend of mine told me his 9-year-old son asked him, “If February is Black History Month, then when is White History Month?” My friend replied, “The other 11 months.” That’s why I take this opportunity to use my blog to promote some of the most notable and influential African-Americans in American history. As much as I support and encourage the idea of Black History Month as a way of bringing to attention some otherwise overlooked and neglected historical figures, we need to make sure that Black History Month isn’t merely a closet that’s opened once a year to display these people as oddities, like a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. Instead, we should use Black History Month as a launching point to continually educate all Americans about the diversity of their history—and how because of that diversity we are the great nation we are today. February is when the bookstores and libraries and educational stations remind the world that history is multicultural, but it’s up to the rest of us to keep that spirit alive the rest of the year. After all, our ultimate goal should be to one day make Black History Month unnecessary.