All We Need Is Hope. And For That We Have Each Other.
Happy Black History Month!
And absolutely, yes, every month is/should be
Black History month.
It's all OUR history.
I’ll rise up.
Rise like the day.
I’ll rise up.
I’ll rise unafraid.
I’ll rise up.
And I’ll do it a thousand times again.
And I’ll rise up.
High like the waves.
I’ll rise up.
In spite of the ache.
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again.
For You.
Andra Day
This song has been in my head almost every time I wake up lately – which is sometimes several times a night. I can’t think of one that is more fitting for Black History Month.
So many Black people and other People of Color have kept and do keep rising up and finding hope in spite of unbelievable suffering.
As a dear friend said to me recently, after reading my piece For the Women Who Were Silenced and for My Father , “for a person of color, sometimes there isn’t always good in the midst of pain, sometimes it’s just pain.”
Sometimes it’s just pain and yet for centuries and Black women (and men, but today I’m especially thinking of women) have kept and keep rising up one more time.
And finding hope.
All we need.
All we need is hope.
And for that we have each other
And for that we have each other.
Whatever your racial or ethnic identity, I encourage you to add this song to your playlist. And to play it as a reminder of these courageous Black women.
To honor their lives (your life if you are one of them).
And to encourage and challenge yourself…
To keep finding hope.
To keep finding others to help you find hope.
And to keep rising up against the racism that persists in and around all of us.
While you’re at it, I hope you’ll also check out an older post of mine - Helping Kids To Be Who They Were Made To Be - And Growing Up Ourselves In The Process - especially if you’re a teacher or a parent whose trying to support some kids of color to keep rising up and finding their way through the challenges of life. It highlights some of the ways that unconscious biases can get in the way of our best intentions – biases about race and other biases too.
And at the bottom of that post you can read about Amanda Berry Smith one of my favorite unknown heroines – born in slavery, limited to work as a washer-woman, she kept rising up and ended up traveling overseas, starting a school, and publishing her autobiography in the late 1800s!
Or check out this article highlighting 23 Black History Heroes You May Not Have Heard Of.
Or learn about Dr. Kizzmekia Corbet a modern-day heroine, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbet. Corbet was one of the leading scientists who created the formula for one of the two highly successful COVID-19 vaccines. A vaccine that very well might be one that you or your loved ones have taken to help protect you from the disease.
Get inspired! And then I invite you to tell someone else about one of the women you learned about today.
Here’s to thriving – and equity. And the power of our stories. Our histories.
Deb
SIDE NOTE: Lest you think my comment about Dr. Corbet is meant as a stance on vaccination vs. not. I want to acknowledge that I know a number of African Americans who chose not to get vaccinated for COVID - in large part due to the history of Black bodies being used for experimental research of vaccines or other medical procedures. I also know that Black people have been disproportionately impacted by COVID and these vaccines undoubtedly protected many. It's my perspective that though I may have an opinion and reasons for it, there's no one right way to approach complicated decisions during a complicated time.