“History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.” — James Baldwin
History isn’t just what’s written in books. It’s the story we choose to remember—and the choices we make every day that shape who we become. In our homes. In our workplaces. In voting booths. In moments where action (or silence) becomes legacy.
Black History Month always brings this into sharp focus for me. My great-great grandparents were enslaved in the American South. My grandparents did what they had to do to survive Jim Crow—a time when the law of the land was intentionally meant to make them feel less than human on a daily basis. My parents became “immigrants” within their own country, leaving Alabama for Illinois when they were teenagers as a part of the “Great Migration” in search of dignity, safety, and opportunity—for themselves, and eventually for me and my brothers.
I carry deep gratitude for the Black Americans—known and unknown—who sacrificed, resisted, and built futures they would never fully get to experience.
Remembering their stories matters, especially when there are attempts to erase them. Because when we erase Black history, we erase proof of human ingenuity, resilience, and brilliance.
If we’re not willing to remember the truth—good, bad, and ugly—then we’re choosing comfort over progress. And that choice has consequences.
We can, we must, we will do better.