Honoring Black History Month
On behalf of the Black Professionals Group and State Street leadership, I would like to take a moment to honor and celebrate Black History Month in the US. Black History Month was officially recognized in 1986 as a call from President Ronald Reagan to understand the “struggle for freedom and equal opportunity” that Black Americans face. It has since become so much more. Today, Black History Month is a time for reflection, celebration, commitment, and honoring the contributions of Black Americans.
As author James Baldwin put it, “The history of Blacks in America is the history of America.” While there are many instances in our industry’s history that have contributed to our nation’s tragic legacy of racism and inequity, there are also inspiring examples of Black Americans who refused to accept a racist status quo. The theme of this year’s Black History Month is “Black Resilience,” and examples of Black Resilience in action are abundant.
Take, for example, Maggie Lena Walker who, in 1903, opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank to offer lending and liquidity that Black businesses were denied from White-owned banks. In doing so, Walker became the first Black woman to establish and serve as president of a bank in the United States. Or consider O.W. Gurley, who created an ecosystem of Black-owned businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as “Black Wall Street,” that offered economic stability and growth to an entire community before being burned down in the horrific Tulsa Race Massacre. More recently, I have been inspired by Clifton R. Wharton Jr., one of the first Black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company, who served at the helm of one of our client organizations, TIAA-CREF, from 1987 to 1993 before becoming Deputy Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton. Beyond our industry, Mary Jackson,?Katherine Johnson,?and Dorothy Vaughan worked at NASA as "human computers,” calculating orbital trajectories. It was their brilliant mathematics that safely propelled the first American, John Glenn, into orbit in 1962.
These examples of leadership in the face of inequity shine a light for the betterment of all of us. The stories of these leaders also underscore the sheer magnitude of ingenuity and fortitude required of Black Americans over the years and across generations. We all deserve better. And we all have to work at it.?
Through initiatives like the 10 Actions against Racism and Inequality, the Civil Rights Audit, our sponsorship of The Embrace memorial, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s (MLT) Equity at Work certifications, we are working to make progress towards eradicating racism and building equity. I have been pleased by our progress thus far, though more work remains ahead of us. While we sometimes may feel overwhelmed by what it will take to achieve true equity – in our industry and in the world – we must recall the fortitude and leadership of exemplars like Walker, Gurley, Wharton, Jackson, Johnson, Vaughan, and others who paved the way through their actions and their legacy.??
I hope that you, too, find inspiration and peace this month.?