I started February off in dismay, contemplating why and how centuries of structural violence toward a people, my people, can persist without acknowledgement and action for repair.
This month is often framed as a time to celebrate Black American History. But “celebrating” this month without accountability feels hollow to me. Certainly, Black people in all of life’s time have left a powerful legacy and so many reasons to celebrate. Yet here we are, the sum of us, standing tall with firm postures in resistance to a political administration that has a goal of dismantling six decades of every civil liberty that bears the sweat, tears, and blood shed of our African American ancestors. They fought with their lives for expanded freedoms, equal justice under the law, and a commitment to equality for ALL people. Celebration is important, but it is hard to do when the fatigue from navigating racism with grace sets in.
This year, Black History Month was my invitation to reflect and to account for the heroes; not just acknowledging the great contributions of legends like Dr. King, Harriet Tubman, Garrett Morgan, or Thurgood Marshall. Black history is more influential than a limited number of names, a handful of familiar quotes, or moments. Yes, those stories absolutely matter, however they only name a fraction of the people; those whose names we know, and those we’ll never know. They are the people who navigated the systems that were not built for them, but built to confine them and harm them. Yet they still found ways to build families, thriving communities, experience joy, and contribute to make positive impacts. This month is about those sacrifices that made my own opportunities possible. The unsung heroes like our grandparents and parents, aunties, uncles, and yes—us! There are a sum of us who are living in the fierce urgency of NOW with unwavering conviction to uphold justice for all and to reform what subjugation and oppression in this country has cost humanity.
When Carter G. Woodson founded what was then Negro History Week in 1926, 100 years ago, it was not ceremonial or for celebration. It was to correct history! He understood that the erasure of Black contributions was a form of violence and that truth-telling was a form of resistance. What has become Black History Month was not intended to be an audacious remembrance. It was meant to be an intervention for selective omission.
This month Community Solutions for Health Equity’s Black Leadership Committee made time to honor the Black history that lives in everyday leadership—in community care work, in organizing, in creativity, and most importantly in survival. From arts, music, and science to justice movements and to the daily courage it takes to vocally activate for systems change; to be seen, felt, heard, and acknowledged. It lives in and through the people and organizers who show up every day—despite the barriers, despite the repetition, despite the fear, and despite the fatigue.
At CSHE, honoring Black History Month means honoring Black liberation and being clear about our responsibilities to future generations. We do not approach equity as a trend, a grant cycle, or a talking point. We approach it as a commitment to solidarity, community power, accountability, and transformation.
Black History Month reminds us that equity work has been led by Black communities for centuries—and it is the work we are called to continue to advance.
This month reminds me that honoring Black history is a call to action. It means supporting Black futures through equitable policies, community investment, and a willingness to challenge comfort and complacency. It is a call to action for people that work within the systems that were built on the pillars of structural racism. It means listening more than speaking, learning more than assuming, and understanding that allyship is not an identity but a practice. Be unafraid to follow Black leadership, invest in it to support how it shapes the future we are building together.
You must be aware that this commitment to humanity requires your courage even when it is inconvenient or uncomfortable. It requires people to challenge institutions to redistribute power and to remain grounded in community-connected practice and wellness.
Black History Month is a time to honor the persistence, brilliance, resilience, and the cultural contributions of Black people who have influenced this country in ways that are commemorated and in ways that are perpetually overlooked.
Black history is not and will never be a sidebar to the American story. Black history is American history, 365 days a year.
Karla Walker
Founding Executive Director
Community Solutions for Health Equity