Our History Is Our Power: Why Black History Month Matters Now More Than Ever

This week, we remember the life and monumental contributions of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a tireless champion for civil rights for Black Americans and human rights for all Americans and people around the globe. Through his organizations Operation Push and Rainbow Coalition, he was an energetic advocate for the underserved.  

February is Black History Month—and Black history is American history. It’s the story of courage in the face of adversity, perseverance in the face of barriers, and hope in the face of systems designed to silence it. 

Rev. Jackson spread courage, perseverance, and hope in his rallies, where he would recite and demand a callback of the refrain “I am Somebody,” reminding us all of our worth in a world that can at times appear cruel and unjust. 

At YWCA Greater Cleveland, we stand in solidarity with the generations of African-American trailblazers who, alongside allies of many races and creeds, shaped this nation—civil rights leaders who marched despite violence, scientists and educators who innovated despite exclusion, artists and entrepreneurs who contributed culture and community despite erasure. Their contributions are not mere footnotes—they’re foundational to the birth and history of this nation. 

This year marks one hundred years since renowned historian Carter Godwin Woodson launched “Negro History Week,” created to ensure that Black achievements would not be ignored or distorted. That recognition grew because people demanded it, refusing to let truth be buried. By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the Civil Rights Movement and a growing awareness of Black identity, President Gerald Ford officially designated Black History Month, beckoning all Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” 

And today, we are called to do the same. 

Across the country, there are renewed efforts to minimize, sanitize, or remove truthful history from classrooms and public life. This threat isn’t just an academic debate—it’s a moral one. When we erase history, we erase lessons hard won through trauma and sacrifice. Sacrifice that often included lives lost. When we distort history, we distort our understanding of justice, democracy, and who we are as Americans. 

History isn’t a collection of distant dates and terms a teacher forces us to regurgitate—it’s a living force. It’s horrific events that have happened in our lifetime. It teaches us what happens when hatred is normalized, when power goes unchecked, when communities look away. It reminds us that progress is neither inevitable nor permanent, and it must be protected. 

We need only think of our own childhood lessons learned to realize that not taking stock of the past invites the woeful repetition of yesterday’s blunders, as summed up in the oft-iterated maxim: “Those ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it.” Indeed, major historical events provide us with critical insights into who we are as individuals and as a society. Forgetting—or intentionally suppressing—history means losing, even effacing, what we learned from both our past triumphs and failures. 

The horrors of being governed by terror, the consequences of unchecked political corruption, the devastation of economic collapse—these aren’t abstract case studies. They’re warnings. They show us what happens when societies forget their values, silence truth, or fail to hold systems accountable. 

But history doesn’t only provide warnings—it also summons a collective wellspring of strength. 

In a country as diverse as the United States, our shared understanding of history binds us together. History shapes our personal and collective identities, anchors our values, and reminds us that justice has always required active community participation—by all, not just any one group.   

At YWCA, honoring Black history is inseparable from advancing justice for every individual. But celebration without action isn’t enough. We commit every day to ensuring that every member of our community has what they need, not just to survive, but to thrive: a safe place to sleep, nutritious food, access to physical and mental health care, and quality education. Each and every one of us has the capacity to further our country’s promise of freedom and equality for all, and YWCA won’t give up the fight.