Black History Month: Giving visibility to an invisible population

February, Black History Month, marks a time for acknowledging the contributions and influences that African Americans have made in the building of America.  

We celebrate Black history to give awareness to the storied legacy of a people’s perpetual persistence to have accurate representation and relevance in the true story of American history – a history that is constantly denied or manufactured to a selective reality.  These flagrant actions serve as a reminder that history is written through the penmanship of “power” and “choice.” 

As I reflect on Black History Month from a historical perspective, I celebrate the remarkable journey of a people who faced generations of denied choice who continued with persistence toward the freedom of self-determination.  

What is freedom? The question was recently raised at a gathering of friends from diverse backgrounds and identities. After a lengthy conversation, it became apparent to the group that the concept of freedom – though commonly applied to the American experience – is filled with greater complexity.  

As I listened, I began to surmise that freedom is not some universal application but is best understood by people’s degree of choice. Freedom is having the privilege of choice to be seen and unseen. Freedom is having the privilege of choice to determine historical relevance. Freedom is having the privilege of choice to seamlessly enter spaces. Consequently, Black history has its importance in recognizing the achievements of Black Americans, whose story is catalogued through a close-to-400-year history of denied choice.    

Black History Month exists to give visibility to a population that remains invisible 11 months of the year. Although the many contributions of Black scientists, engineers, doctors, explorers and scholars are evidenced in our modern-day comforts, their names and faces remain uncelebrated – and invisible.   

These experiences recall the writings of Paulo Freire, who references that the great call of all humanity is the quest to become a more complete human. In this quest, the oppressed and oppressor are themselves interwoven in the struggle to find not just their own humanism but each other’s.  

Humanism of Black experiences is intertwined in an American history that refuses its humanistic relevance. Black History Month is designed to raise the curiosity of the conscientious minds of people who dare to seek a greater education on the lived experiences of Black Americans, beyond the scope of the sanitized teachings and heroes traditionally highlighted. 

Black History Month creates the pathway for humanism to develop and prosper among marginal and dominant cultures whose life stories are interwoven within a common American history. 

Warren Dukes joined United Way as the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion in 2021. In addition to leading internal and external efforts to develop and implement DEI-related strategies and programs, Dukes leads United Way’s employee resource group dedicated to ensuring that diversity, equity, inclusion and belongingness are embedded in United Way’s culture.