Black History

Black History Month: Black Women Remain the Backbone of the Struggle

WASHINGTON INFORMER — For years, Black women have had to rise above adversity, exude humility and care for others.

Published

7 years ago

February 2, 2019

By Stacy Brown

For years, Black women have had to rise above adversity, exude humility and care for others — all while not appearing tired, hurt or showing the struggle.

Though almost inarguably the most discriminated and oppressed of all people, Black women might be the single-biggest reason to celebrate Black History Month.

“What a Black woman can do seems easy to the naked eye but rarely do others consider what it takes for them to get there — overcoming stereotypes about women, Blacks and who they are in general,” said Terri Broussard Williams, a Cornell University graduate and founder of the Movement Maker Tribe, which aims to inspire others to create change.

Black women are the backbone of the Black family — college-educated and business-oriented individuals, said Jamila Choyce of Choyce Plus Size Models.

“I believe that the media does such an injustice when we are portrayed as the stereotypical, high school dropout, eyes rolling, trash-talking, ass-kicking, loud-talking b—h,” Choyce said. “We voted for our families, communities and for our future. Our legacy is to use our vote as our voice for change.”

Choyce said Black women spearheaded the Women’s March and created the #MeToo movement.

“We watched CNN, CNBC, and even Fox News, and decided #NOMORE, #MeToo, and #TimesUP for racism, disenfranchisement of our community, being raped, sexually assaulted, and being less than white women and all other women,” Choyce said.

As an African-American woman and therapist, Ginger Lavender Wilkerson said she believes Black women play a huge role in African-American history.

They are the storytellers, record-keepers and, in many homes, the matriarch, she said.

“As we have seen with women empowerment movements in general, women are tapping into their voice and their ability to influence through power,” Wilkerson said. “Many African-American women are stepping out of the shadows of their Caucasian counterparts and standing in their own light and power. They are no longer subscribing to the world’s standards of beauty and power.

“In addition, to their own shifting, the world is beginning to recognize and embrace Black women as true equals and acknowledging their contributions to enhance the world of business, politics and leadership,” she said.

Wilkerson said many Black women have begun to look within for validation and are shunning accepted societal standards of beauty and worth.

“There is a sense of collective power which has supported Black women growth,” she said.

In Texas last month, 17 Black women made history when together they were sworn in as judges in the state’s most populated county. It’s widely believed the women are the largest group of Black female judges elected at the same time in the history of Harris County, which includes Houston.

In January, California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, a Black woman, announced her candidacy for president on the anniversary of Shirley Chisolm becoming the first Black woman to win a seat in Congress.

Many experts said the blue wave of the November midterms would not have been remotely possible without Black female voters.

And in January, the Congressional Black Caucus welcomed its largest membership ever — a 55-member group that includes a number of Black women such as Lauren Underwood of Illinois, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Jahana Hayes of Connecticut.

“What a Black woman can do seems easy to the naked eye, but rarely do others consider what it takes for them to get there — overcoming stereotypes about women, Blacks and who they are in general,” Williams said. “So it’s no surprise that we don’t truly honor the phenomenal women that they are. People like Stacey Abrams are bringing the struggle to the forefront and with a narrative that others are beginning to understand.

“Abrams was the more prepared candidate and clearly won an election,” she said. “Because of movements like the Women’s March and #MeToo, society is finally realizing the role that Black women play in shaping our economy, communities and country. This is extremely important, as the success of many in our country was built off their back.”

This article originally appeared in the Washington Informer.

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After 10-Year Wait, Fillmore Heritage Center Reopens in San Francisco

After serving as the economic and cultural hub of the Fillmore’s historically Black community for more than a decade, the center’s closure ended what was called the “Rebirth of the Cool,” referring to the neighborhood’s role during the height of Black Jazz in the United States.

Published

1 hour ago

June 10, 2026

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Rev. Amos Brown of Third Baptist Church addresses community members at the Fillmore Heritage Center ribbon cutting. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington, Special to The Post

Last Saturday morning, the cloudy skies cleared just as the highly anticipated ribbon-cutting ceremony began, marking the reopening of the Fillmore Heritage Center at 1330 Fillmore and Eddy.

The complex – which had once included Yoshi’s Jazz Club, the Lush Life Art Gallery, the Koret Heritage Lobby, a 54-seat microcinema, and the Black-owned 1300 On Fillmore restaurant – shuttered in 2015.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announcing the reopening of the Fillmore Heritage Center. Erika Scott, owner of Honey Art Studio, looks on with pride. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

“The Fillmore is the most important neighborhood in San Francisco’s history for centering Black culture, music, business, and community, and has shaped this City and influenced the entire country,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to the gathering of more than 100 community leaders, business owners, and public officials. “This building reflects the deep roots of the Fillmore. Urban renewal left deep scars that are still felt today. This Center celebrates a strong Black community that continues to shape San Francisco. I am proud to join the community as we reopen the Fillmore Heritage Center.”

Although the previous stakeholders will not be returning to the center, spaces are available for nonprofit organizations and ventures, such as Fillmore native Ericka Johnson’s Honey Art Studio.

“This Center will be an economic engine and a thriving venue that shines a light on the Black-owned businesses in this neighborhood and lifts the entire district,” Lurie continued. “Our City is committed to this community for the long term.”

“We’re excited to collaborate with the City to finally reopen these doors,” said Ken Johnson, a videographer and community leader who’d been lobbying for the reopening of the center. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the entrepreneurship and creative spirit of this ‘Harlem of the West’ and the ‘Rebirth of the Cool,’ grounded in our uniquely gifted Fillmore community.”

This month, through its Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the city will begin renting the building’s noncommercial spaces for pop-up events celebrating local talent, arts, and entertainment primarily centered in the Fillmore.

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Arts and Culture

COMMENTARY: Black Music is the Sound of Black Freedom: Let Us Reclaim Both This Juneteenth

Black Music Month started when Black Music Association members Ed Wright, Kenny Gamble and his wife, journalist and radio host Dyanna Williams were able to persuade President Jimmy Carter to establish the observation on June 7, 1979.

Published

24 hours ago

June 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Robert Johnson (1911-1938) is thought of as the godfather of blues music, especially Delta blues. The 29 songs recorded by him during his short life have been of massive inspiration to guitarists and musicians over the last 80 years. Public domain photo.

By Wanda Ravernell

Black Music Month and Juneteenth are inextricably linked – Black music is the sound of our freedom.

From the plaintive moans of the enslaved Africans’ ‘sorrow songs,’ to the fields of Civil War battle where Black soldiers picked up abandoned bugles, to the upright piano played in juke joints on Saturday night and churches come Sunday morning, our ancestors’ innovation in the face of want, fear, degradation, and hopelessness has yielded genres of music imitated ’round the world.

In 2000, Congress made it official. In 2009, Pres. Barack Obama changed the name to African American Music Heritage Month and in 2023, Pres. Joe Biden changed it back to Black Music Month, two years after he declared Juneteenth a national holiday, the result of a movement led by Opal Lee.

Our ancestors battle for freedom over these last 400 years and the music that allowed them expression of their humanity deserved to be honored.

But we may be losing sight of the value of their sacrifices.

‘Sing a Song Full of the Faith That the Dark past Has Taught Us…’

Along with the long-known exploitation of Black musicians whose recordings were stolen by record companies, the commercialization of Juneteenth feels like another kind of theft.

I had never heard of Juneteenth until I moved to the Bay Area from my hometown of Philadelphia. I didn’t know it was one of many freedom festivals celebrated by descendants of enslaved people in the United States.

Emancipation Day was Jan. 1 in Pennsylvania, April 16 in Wash., D.C., May 20 in Florida, and Aug. 8 in Kentucky. But Juneteenth, June 19, has the most renown, known in Texas as the ‘colored peoples’ Fourth of July.’

It was marked by parades, beauty pageants, rodeos, backyard barbecues and church picnics.

Yes, church.

The formerly enslaved began the day praying in thanks for their freedom just as they had prayed for Jubilee – the day of freedom – when they had chains on their feet and hands. They ‘testified’ about their past suffering and how they had managed to overcome.

And they sang.

Although, we will not hold it this year, Omnira Institute’s Juneteenth Ritual of Remembrance recalled this part of Juneteenth with prayers in the languages of the African captives. In the middle of the ceremony, a soloist would lead us in singing “Many Thousand Gone” while we took turns reciting portions of the Emancipation Proclamation, the news of freedom that took more than two years to reach Texas – two months after the Civil War ended.

“Many Thousand Gone” was famously recorded by Black luminary Paul Robeson in 1947:

“No more auction block for me,

No more, no more

No more auction black for me

Many thousand gone.”

Other verses refer to the ‘pint of salt’ and the ‘driver’s lash,’ the realities of enslavement that they had survived.

‘Sing a Song Full of the Hope That the Present has Brought Us’

All of the genres of African American music have at their root songs like that, the essence being, as Stevie Wonder, wrote, “the joy inside our pain.” So Black music is not just music. It is our story, our history, our very strength.

During the Civil Rights Movement, which peaked 100 years after slavery ended, the people testified that it was the freedom songs – based on spirituals – that gave them the heart to march, face attack dogs, fire hoses, beatings, and shootouts with vigilantes.

The music reminded them that power was in the people. That music, our music, can do so again. We don’t have to accept the commodification of the products of our culture.

The power of those songs is showing a resurgence across the South as we battle again for the right to self-determination through the ballot box.

Those songs are the voices of our ancestors, voices forged in their blood, their sweat, their tears, joy and, above all, faith. Those songs, those prayers live in our blood and our very breath.

This Juneteenth, let us reclaim those holy voices expressed in Black music for ourselves. It is our birthright. It can neither be bought nor sold. No more. Never again.

Wanda Ravernell is the executive director of Omnira Institute, sponsor for 18 years of the Juneteenth Ritual of Remembrance and Oakland’s 11^th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival, which will take place on Sept. 12.