“For Black women as well as Black men, it is axiomatic that if we do not define ourselves for ourselves, we will be defined by others — for their use and to our detriment.” — Audre Lorde, feminist, writer, activist.
This February, the Woods Fund Chicago Team commemorates Black History Month and honors the countless contributions that Black people have made to this country in multiple ways — socially, culturally, artistically, politically, scientifically, to name a few. Black Americans are foundational to this country’s history, present, and future. Black history is American history, and American history is Black history.
Often, public commemorations and discussions about Black History Month tend to focus on the racial injustice that Black people have experienced in systems and interpersonal interactions. Single individuals, both living and dead, and their groundbreaking or notable accomplishments are elevated and celebrated. Although this type of recognition is well-intentioned and well-deserved, Black people and our history are more than the discrimination we experience and fight against or the single individuals who get shout-outs. Our lives and collective history cannot and should not be defined by how other people have seen and treated us.
In February and all year round, Woods Fund Chicago honors the agency, diversity, and self-determination of Black communities. We support the leadership of Black organizers and advocates, and the communities they work with who determine for themselves the change they want to create and who center community members’ assets and aspirations, instead of their actual or perceived deficits. Over the past year, we welcomed several Black-led organizations into our portfolio that challenged and expanded Woods Fund Chicago’s view of what community organizing looks like. We have had conversations among the staff and with grantee partners about the role of anti-Blackness in our organizations, coalitions, and communities, and the subtle and insidious ways that anti-Blackness manifests. We remain committed to prioritizing Black-led and/or Black-focused organizations whose work is about not only confronting white supremacy, but about transforming systems and structures, and envisioning new ways of thinking, being, working, and living.
This envisioning and co-creating requires agency, courage, creativity, persistence, and resilience.
An organization that embodies these attributes is Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC), which we are honored to feature in this month’s Grantee Partner Spotlight. Happy Black History Month to you all in February and all year round!
— Kelly Suzanne Saulsberry, Woods Fund Chicago Program Officer
