As some of you may know, and some of you may not, February is Black History Month, and contrary to what some believe, it’s not just for black people. It is important for all people to participate in Black History Month. While it may be the history of black people, this is history that has changed our nation, our society and even our lives.

It’s hard to imagine what some things would be like if black people hadn’t made some of the progress they have. What would sports be like if Jackie Robinson had never found his way into Major League Baseball? We may have never seen Michael Jordan slam dunk a basketball from the free-throw line, or seen Tiger Woods take the game of golf to a whole new level. What if black people had never been allowed the freedom to play, record and share music? We may have never heard Louis Armstrong tell us what a wonderful world it is, or heard Stevie Wonder sing “My Cherie Amor.”

While those are certainly important contributions to the society we as Americans have built, they are trivial in comparison to some of the larger contributions black people have made to our nation. The world would be quite a different place had it not been for Martin Luther King Jr., and not just from the perspective of civil rights, as he has been an inspiration for countless others in various other fields. Even more contemporarily, imagine if we didn’t have someone of a minority running for president like Barack Obama, who may be the first candidate of any ethnic minority to really have a strong chance at a major party candidacy. Surely his efforts are a great example to people of every race around the country of people’s ability to defeat adversity.

So while it may not seem like Black History Month has a large amount of relevance to those who aren’t black, it’s important to realize that the history of black people is a rich and important one that has affected almost everyone. I’m not asking you to take a class, or even read an entire book. You don’t have to do anything extravagant or time-consuming to celebrate Black History Month. You can simply take a little time out of your life, even if it’s just reading a Wikipedia article on somebody who’s affected black history, because regardless of whose history it is, a little knowledge can go a long way.