Facing history with courage

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. -- Maya Angelou.?

As a society, what we refer to as ‘our history’ are the stories we tell each other. What we often choose to share are the parts of history that confirm the dominant view of what our culture is today, what we feel matters most and who we are as a people.?

What we say or don’t say about our history reveals who we are and what we intend to do next.?

Black History Month exists because the facts about and experiences of Black people have been missing from our history. We have overlooked achievements and contributions, covered up the abuses and violence, and ignored the cultures, triumphs and challenges of everyday lives. This, in turn, diminishes how our society sees, values, and empowers Black people.

White people learning these parts of history often find it uncomfortable. Those seen as heroes may be knocked from their pedestals. We may learn that respected institutions that are the pillars of our society have crimes to answer for. If these acts happened in our name, or to our ultimate benefit, it can shake our sense of identity.??

That’s okay. We should have strong feelings to learning about terrible events. Acknowledging what we have done wrong doesn’t take away the things we’ve gotten right. We’re just wiser now, more capable of building a better tomorrow.?

But we cannot afford to be na?ve in understanding how history is crafted or told. For months now we have witnessed cynical attacks on “Critical Race Theory,” an academic concept that studies the ways racism is embedded in the policies and institutions of our society. Even now, laws are being written and passed that will punish those who teach history that makes white people uncomfortable. What we call ‘our history’ reveals what we are likely to do next. These deliberate efforts to hide parts of history show us that there are a few who are afraid of the changes we will make to our society if we are honest about what has happened.?

We must move through discomfort, to appreciation, to action.

Black History Month is a time to learn what has not been taught, and to hear the stories that have not been told. Restoring the hidden parts of our history helps us undertake the work that must be done today.?

We are on this journey at Livewire. Our team is becoming educated on the history of bias in society and its impact on Black people and those who fall into other protected status categories. We are working with experts to review and correct our policies and procedures for the systemic barriers they may present. And, in all our employee communication work, we are considering how bias may be influencing its creation or reception. In general, the communications industry has much we could improve on in this regard and, this Black History Month, we are looking to understand more specifically the experience of Black communicators.?

Facing our history frees us to make a better future, together. Indeed, there is no other way.??

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