Black History Month celebrations in a time of erasure
By Jiaxu Liu
While Black History Month is observed this year in Boston and beyond, the Trump administration has taken actions that many say attempt to erase aspects of Black and other histories.
In January, the administration directed the National Park Service to remove an exhibit on slavery from a site in Philadelphia. Last year, the president issued multiple executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion policies on college campuses and workplaces. In response, this year’s Black History Month celebrations have taken on an added tone of determination and resistance.
As organizers prepare for Women’s History Month next month and Asian-American and Pacific Islander heritage month in May, those celebrations are also taking on new meaning this year.
During a recent service at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, ministers and worshipers said preserving and sharing Black history is more important than ever.
“This is definitely a time where we're doubling down,” said Isaiah Briggs, a minister of the Twelfth Baptist Church during a recent interview. “We’re saying …you know our history. Although they’re trying to erase it, you can't erase the legacy and the way that it's impacted us today.”
He said it’s important that the church and others who celebrate Black History “keep this history alive” and that they can no longer rely on the government “to preserve our stories.”
“We as the community, and particularly as a church, have a sacred obligation to not just preserve the stories, but to tell them to the next generation in a way that can encourage them, [empower and guide] them in a time [when it’s most needed],” said Briggs.
The church has taken on a recent effort, by introducing a “luncheon storytelling” program that allows senior members to take the stage and share their personal experiences. One speaker described participating in bus boycotts in Alabama; another recalled attending segregated schools in Massachusetts, where she had to walk through white neighborhoods to reach the high school where her mother worked cleaning the bathrooms. Others described life in the segregated South, where Black customers were prohibited from trying on shoes before purchasing them.
“I do think that Black folks and communities are always going to create a way,” said Dzidzor Azaglo, an artist and activist who helps organize the storytelling luncheon. “They’re always going to build what we need. We’re always going to contribute and speak out of the type of world that we want to live in.”
During the February service, Bodrick emphasized that reflecting on Black history is also a way to confront present-day inequalities and work toward a more just future.
“We [have to] keep speaking to the ancestors, so we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past, so we don’t misdiagnose the problems of the present, so we don’t shrink our imagination because the God we serve is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can ask,” Bodrick said.
