February is America’s and Canada’s“ Black History Month.” It is the month that Americans have dedicated to celebrating the history and milestones of black America. Typically, the celebrations consist in the veneration of African-American historical personages whose valor and commitment influenced the course of African-American life.

Read more: Tribute to my (African) American family in Atlanta

What follows is a sample of the messages I received from readers in response to the above article. Some of the messages were sent to my email address. Others were posted on my Facebook page, and yet others were left on my blog. I encourage people who leave comments on my blog to please identify their names. As always, the views expressed here are those of the authors’, not mine.

Read more: Re: Labor’s treachery against the “Occupy Nigeria” revolt

For people who are not familiar with the lingo of social media, viral messages are onlinemessages that are so popular, so compellingly poignant, and so creative and thoughtful that userscompulsively share them with scores of friends and family members across multiple platforms—email forwards, Facebook, Twitter, text messages, blogs, YouTube videos, etc.—thereby extending their scope and power beyond the bounds of traditional notions of space and time.

Read more: Two viral social media messages on subsidy

Many of my friends think the last unprompted mass revolt against President Goodluck Jonathan’s cold-blooded economic war on Nigeria’s middle- and working-class families was a damp squib, as the British call something that turns out to be a disappointment after good expectations. I can see the basis for their disillusionment. Here was asplendidly promising, spontaneous, unscripted, and unexampled mass insurrection against anevil ruling class. Its promise—and initialsuccess—filled us all with renewed faith and enthusiasm for our fatherland.  For the first time in Nigeria’s history, a broad scope of Nigerians across our traditional primordial fissures of religion,region, ethnicity, etc. united in the face of a common threat from a greedy, unimaginative, and unconscionable elite that is dedicated to exterminating the masses of our peoplepiecemeal. There is no parallel for that historic coalition of the oppressed in Nigeria.

Read more: Labor’s treachery against the “Occupy Nigeria” revolt