Black History Month: Honoring Legacy, Supporting Present Leaders and Uplifting the Futurists Working Towards Collective Liberation
Each month I plan to highlight a different topic, this month I'd like you to join me in celebrating Black History Month. Let me start by wishing all Black folks a Happy Black History Month! I hope you take time to celebrate joy, community and rest. Shout out to Tricia Hersey creator of The Nap Ministry and her work Rest Is Resistance. For the rest of us, it’s time to roll up our sleeves to do the work of learning our shared history from Black voices and unlearning unconscious biases that persist in all of us. I’d like to briefly highlight some iconic voices and perspectives I deeply admire.
Building Bridges
February is the month of Black History and a time to appreciate, celebrate and learn about Black History. When I reflect on what’s shaped my worldview, it has come from many prolific Black writers, visionaries and sustainability pioneers. Daily, I strive to co-create a world that Fanny Lou Hammer advocated for when she said, “nobodies free until everybody’s free”. Talk about a civil rights and sustainable icon, she set up the Freedom Farm Cooperative, a community-oriented project to buy land for the Black and under-served communities to farm that also supported the basic human needs including housing, free food and education.
Making Waves
Maya Angelou, one of my favorite authors and poets once said, “when we know better, we do better”. As individuals it’s imperative for us to acknowledge the deep history of harmful policies and actions throughout the United States. From discriminatory housing practices (redlining) to lack of access to financial lending leading to the persistent wealth gap, this country has not given equal access, safety or opportunity.
Planting Roots
To better understand one another, we need to learn about our collective history through the lens of folks who haven’t been afforded the opportunity to have their voices and stories told. This month I hope you will join me in doing one of the following things:
- Educate yourself, read a book by a Black author, watch a movie, show or documentary about Black History and Black Joy. I recommend you start with my good friend, Alice Jasper's show Color Out Here, a program focused on sharing stories and connection of the BIPOC community and the outdoors. If you’re working in the professional space, check out Ovell Barbee, SPHR and Jerry Price, NDCCDP, B.S. who are doing great work around building inclusive leadership and work culture.
- Support Black-owned businesses. Identify some existing businesses in your community and make a point to spend some money with them. Not just this month, but every month. I’ve been incredibly inspired by Alita Kelly work at Jade Rabbit and reclaiming space in the sustainable food world. Some of my favorite local Black-owned businesses include We Are Lit, Daddy’s Dough available at many grocers in Grand Rapids, Last Mile Café (also a B-Corp), Black Queen Bee Honey, Mosby Popcorn, Emme’s Plantain Chips and Chez Olga.
- Donate time, money and skills to support community organizations that provide solutions to systemic problems faced within the Black community. The Urban Core Collective is doing great things to uplift the voices of the under-resourced and tackling climate justice issues that matter most to the people most impacted.
- Advocate for policies and uplift voices of organizations working towards collective liberation.
