Celebrating Black History

An Act of Defiance

This article was originally published in the Claim Yours newsletter. You can read it for free here.

As the beginning of Black History Month approaches, my heart is heavy.

Even as another one of our sons was brutally taken from us by the police, elected officials are working tirelessly to erase Black history from our schools—the very history which explains how the police system is working exactly as designed.

But I want to go into February with hope. We are not helpless. Dear reader, you are not helpless.

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker

We have the power to keep Black history alive and to point out the ways in which our systems are preventing the United States from living up to its proclaimed ideals.

We have the power to educate ourselves and our children. We can equip them with the knowledge of what this country has been and what it can become.

“Truth is powerful and it prevails.” — Sojourner Truth

If you have ever felt discouraged about the slow progress, lack of progress, or straight-up regression of our society, then this message is for you: you are an agent of change.

There are enough of us who believe, as you do, that this is not the right path forward. But we can change our trajectory. And that trajectory, over time, always points in…