Celebrating U.S. Black History Month

The following article is authored?by our foundation’s Black Philanthropic Partnership (BPP) employee resource group. BPP is dedicated to supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and professional development at the foundation.? ?

This year’s Black History Month theme is African Americans and the Arts.?

As of now, in schools, our children cover Black History Month that includes Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But this Black History Month we also make space to remember and acknowledge those African Americans who, through the platform of art, revolutionized the world—of politics, science, and humanity itself. ?Katherine Dunham, Alvin Ailey, Arthur Mitchell, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Octavia Butler, Langston Hughes, Hattie McDaniel, Nikki Giovanni, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, and so many more resisted the pressures of their present-day to make way for our brighter future.?

African Americans have never existed in the U.S. without needing to resist what the dominant culture tries to make us. We have had to artistically maneuver through trauma and even create our way out of violent narratives and stereotypes to fully realize our hope and prosperity. Our art of resistance seems to be both in our DNA and our lifeline.?

When Black History Month was recognized in 1976 by President Ford, he called on the U.S. to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Those accomplishments were and are still hard-fought. Those embers of perseverance, creativity, and influence are powerful and can never be ignored when addressing the whole of the United States’ history.?

We welcome you to further explore African American history—which is U.S. history—and reflect on those accomplishments President Ford urged the public to respect. And perhaps even challenge yourself and your communities to unpack why teaching U.S. Black history is considered controversial and why intentionally ignoring its victories is so prevalent. ?Our ancestors’ struggles were real, which is embodied in our brilliance which we put on full display this month.?

May our embers create new paths of unity and opportunity and may you find yourself there.?

Happy Black History Month.?