EQUiPP on Ways to Celebrate Black History Month

Happy Black History Month! 

EQUiPP (Equity in Public Policy) would like to send our appreciation to the Black-identifying members of GSPP’s community. Black History Month is not nearly enough time to truly commemorate and recognize their contributions to GSPP, a community that has not done enough to include and celebrate Black individuals.

This year’s theme of Black History Month is “African Americans and the Vote.” It has been 150 years since Black men were legally able to exercise their right to vote, and 100 years since Black women were legally able to exercise their right to vote. And yet, Black people are disproportionately disenfranchised and lacking political power today because of mass incarceration, gerrymandering, voter ID laws, and many other exclusionary and racist policies. 

As policymakers, it is incumbent on us to actively work for anti-racist policies. Just one of the ways you can do this is to get involved with the census and redistricting process to ensure that the Black community is accurately counted and represented in the next decade. The California Black Census and Redistricting Hub is a network of over 30 Black-led and Black-serving organizations aiming to do just that. If you’re interested in getting involved, please e-mail Lisa McCorkell. 

In addition to the important work of the Black Hub, please see below for a list of community events, exhibits, and media celebrating Black History Month, as well as several things in the call to action section that you can continue to do, not just this month, but throughout your life. Many thanks to Rachel Wallace for putting this list together, and we hope that in future years, our community can proactively center and uplift Black History Month without relying solely on the Black-identifying members of GSPP.

Community Events

• 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice events
• Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) events
• San Francisco Public Library events
• Berkeley Public Library events
• Black History Month: A Celebration Of African Heritage At EOYDC
• Black History Month: Kalil Wilson & The Good Luck Trio
• TLGB Black History Month Film Screening: "Paris Is Burning"
• Black History Cinema: Harriet (2019) Film Screening
• Black History Month: Kim Nalley Sings Black Broadway
• Inside the Black Panther Archives: An Evening with Fredrika Newton

Exhibits

• "Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983" at the de Young Museum in SF
• "Question Bridge: Black Males" at the Oakland Museum of CA
• "Black Power" at the Oakland Museum of CA 

Media

• Podcasts: Noire Histoir, In Black America, Everyday Black History, Code Switch Playlist for Black History Month, Historically Black, Witness Black History, Primary Sources Black History 
• Movies/Documentaries:
  • Just Mercy (2019) - now in theatres
  • Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
  • Black in Space: Breaking the Color Barrier

Call to Action

• Support Local Black-Owned Businesses
  • Here are some resources for exploring the Bay's Black-owned businesses:
    • 2019 Black Weekenders Guide | Bay Area
    • Your Guide to Black-Owned Eateries Around the Bay Area
    • A Day in Black-Owned San Francisco
• Support Black-Led Organizations
  • Visit https://www.ebcf.org/blocommunity/ for a full list of Black-led organizations in the Bay Area. Explore the page and connect with organizations to volunteer your time, skills, and/or finances in support of their work.
• Support Black Youth
  • The student-founded Black Student Union at Envision Academy in Oakland is in their inaugural year and is organizing a trip for young Black scholars to attend a Black Heritage Tour in Washington, D.C. over Spring Break. Please support their efforts by donating here if you are able and sharing with your networks!

In community,

EQUiPP

EQUiPP (Equity in Public Policy) strives to equip students with the tools needed to advocate for and advance equity as students and policy professionals, as well as in our everyday lives. EQUiPP aims to create a new generation of policy professionals that understands the way that power, privilege, racism, and oppression intersects with our lives and our work. We do this by grounding ourselves in the knowledge and understanding of the current and historical systems of oppression, through experiential learning, and by hearing from practitioners who are currently advocating for equity.