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2024 Black History Month Theme: African Americans & the Arts

Black Inclusion Group Committee

James Freeman

Maren Caldwell

Michelle Cockrell

Imani Mosley

Chantella Willis

Sojournia Oates

Nicole Mctootle

Nicole Mctootle.png

David Coelho

African American art is infused with African, Caribbean, and the Black American lived experiences. In the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression, the African American influence has been paramount. African American artists have used art to preserve history and community memory as well as for empowerment. Artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism, have been led by people of African descent and set the standard for popular trends around the world. In 2024, we examine the varied history and life of African American arts and artisans.

Supporting African Americans and the Arts through Bridge Gives in recognition of “the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more”.

This February we can honor the integral role of Black Americans in the culture of our country, and all other aspects of life in the US. 


Make a donation here.

Juneteenth 2024

Our goal is to cultivate a diverse and inclusive work culture for Black employees at the firm and provide a platform for Black employees to bring awareness to their focused initiatives.

It started as a week...

Carter Woodson:

The Father of Black History

February was chosen

for a reason

A week becomes a month

Honoring African-American

Men & Women

In 1915, Harvard-educated historian Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse Moorland founded what’s now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. That organization established Negro History Week in 1926, which strived to inspire schools and communities to organize local celebrations and host performances and lectures.

Woodson was tireless in his lobbying to establish Negro History Week as a program to encourage the study of African-American history. He dedicated his career to the subject and wrote many books on the topic. His most famous volume is The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933), which has become required reading at numerous colleges and universities.

Negro History Week was the second week of February. Why? To coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. President Lincoln, of course, was the 16th U.S. president and paved the way for the abolition of slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation. Douglass was an escaped slave turned activist and author, and a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement to end slavery.

The civil rights movement of the 1960s helped elevate Negro History Week to national prominence… and turn it into a month-long celebration. As a result, in 1976, President Gerald Ford made things official, proclaiming February to be Black History Month.

You don’t have to look far to notice the many impressive achievements of black men and women in the fields of science, politics, law, sports, entertainment, and many others. Here are some of the most notable names you’re probably hearing celebrated this month. Learn more here.

Featured Figures

Underground Railroad "Conductor" and Civil Rights Activist

Chemist

Singer, Dancer, Civil Rights Activist

Baptist Minister and Social Activist

Civil Rights Activist

Scientist, Mathematician, NASA's first Black female engineer

Civil Rights Activist, Author, Poet

First African-American U.S. Surgeon General

U.S. Secretary of State, Four-Star General (U.S. Army)

U.S. President, U.S. Senator, Lawyer

Photographer

Blues musician

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