In 1976, Americans formally began observing Black History Month each February.
In the decades since, some have celebrated the month dedicated to making sure Black history is visible. “Too much of our history has been paved over, gone through urban renewal, gentrified, or unidentified or un-acknowledged,” wrote Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Black History Month continues to serve us well.”
Others have spoken against it. Actor Morgan Freeman has told media outlets over the years that he detests the idea of Black history’s celebrations being relegated to a single month and has said many times over, “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.”
I find both points compelling. But as a news organization, the RN&R had to choose: Do we observe Black History Month?
The decision started with a conversation I had with Sarah Russell—an RN&R contributor and a close friend—in January. The gist was this: On one hand, I felt the RN&R had no business asserting that stories about Black Northern Nevadans should be relegated to a special issue. On the other hand, there are a lot of stories about Black locals that haven’t been told yet, or haven’t been told enough. Sarah had a long coffee meeting with Reno-Sparks NAACP President Patricia Gallimore and asked her which stories she thought we should be telling—maybe in February, and definitely all year round.
Gallimore had a wealth of ideas and contacts for us—and this month, we’re going to share a few. We’ll introduce you to Lonnie Feemster, who experienced segregated neighborhoods firsthand growing up and played a role in de-redlining Reno and Sparks; Donald Griffin, co-founder of Black Wall Street, the homegrown aid organization; and Mitch and Gieshula Moore, owners of M&M Café, who not only serve up delicious fried catfish, but provide spiritual counsel and basic necessities at the church next door.
And we’ll keep telling stories of people from every part of our community, all year long.