Black History Month 2022
A message from Melanie Hart, Senior Vice President for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice and Chief Diversity Officer
As we honor and celebrate Black History Month 2022, we find ourselves rejoicing at the progress of Black people, while marveling at the recalcitrance of anti-Blackness, racial stratification, and white supremacy. With the nationwide protests and organizing of the Black Lives Matter resistance in 2020, we witnessed a third so-called âracial reckoningâ in America that has yet to produce the equity, inclusion and social justice for which Black Americans have struggled for over 400 years. Structural barriers and attacks on the rights, resources, health and the very lives of Black people continue. And yet, there is reason for hope. The hope is not strictly in unfounded optimism. The hope is in the strength, the brilliance, and the power of Black people and the allies who remain committed to true equity, inclusion and social justice. Hope not for empty statements or performative gestures, but hope for liberation because change and progress are in the choices of people, and we are the ones that we have been waiting for.
In 1978, poet June Jordan presented to the United Nations the poem entitled For the Women of South Africa. It was presented in commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who on August 9, 1956 presented themselves in bodily protest against apartheid. It is the last line of that poem in which Jordan reminds us that we are the ones that we have been waiting for; not just the titular leaders and governmental authorities. While there is struggle to be had against structural oppression, there is power in each person, and collectively in communities and institutions. There are those great activists and leaders whose names come to mind and are mentioned every Black History Month because their vision, work, and effort changed the landscape for thought, discussion, and action around Black freedom. But to be sure, there are countless unnamed others who have made progress possible.
This Black History Month, I encourage each and every person reading this message to locate and use your power in support of ending white supremacy, anti-Blackness, and racial stratification, and instead build practices and spaces of equity, inclusion and social justice. Thankfully, our tools include but also extend beyond bodily protest into the daily decisions and choices we make of how we will wield our personal power, impact our communities, and stand for equity and social justice.
The Office of Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice is here to support our efforts. The Office celebrates and honors Black History Month and the Black people for whom it is meant to honor. Far too often the idea becomes greater than the people, but we would like to ground all of our work in the people and for the people.
Join Us in Conversation with Maya Wiley February 17 at 5pm EST
As a contribution to the many Black History Month events hosted throughout the university, the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice will host an educational and inspirational discussion with our very own renowned civil rights lawyer, activist, and former New School leader Maya Wiley on the current state of racial equity and the journey ahead.
Register for the event here.
Additional New School Black History Month Related Events and News:
- Black Beyond, exhibition. Now through March 18. Learn more.
- How to be the Change You Want to See in the World, event. February 10. Learn more.
- With a Cast of Colored Stars, gallery exhibit. Now through March 1. Learn more.
- The history of Black History Month, through the lens of a Black university president, PIX11 interview. Learn more.
- Dwight McBride on fighting racism, Times Higher Education interview. Learn more.