“Since 1976, every U.S. President has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. This is a time dedicated to reflecting and publicly thanking those African-Americans who have gone before us – showing strength and perseverance for what is right.
We are grateful for our ancestors’ optimistic attitudes, which were difficult to maintain during extremely challenging times in our history. Optimism and believing that things were going to be better have enabled us to move forward toward change. Our ability to believe in ourselves to overcome adversity has been a strength and testament to our will.
Black History is not just about learning about the challenges we as a people have been through. It is about our ability to have integrity, leadership, and determination in the face of our struggles. Crisis does not necessarily develop character, but it certainly helps to reveal it. Adversity creates strength in character and determination—a lesson to learn and celebrate as we chart our continued progress.
Black History Month provides us with a moment to celebrate and rejoice in the tremendous changes we have experienced. At the same time, it is imperative that we recommit and learn from our past as to what has worked successfully so we can clearly identify what we still need to do. We want to take our rich history and reach beyond to inspire the next generations to continue to create and sustain positive change. This applies to working in human services- such as providing foster care, adoption, and other family and children support services.” Quoted by Dr. Charles Archer, One Hope United CEO and President,
