Black History Month 2023: Celebrating the History and Impact of Black Culture

In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month. During this recognition, he asked the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” This recognition was set 50 years after the first celebration of Black history.

The celebration of Black history started in 1926 as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson, a historian who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life & History (ASNLH). This week was celebrated in February and received an overwhelming response from the African American community. As years went on, many cities began to adopt and recognize Negro History Week, but the true awakening struck as the 1960s Civil Rights Movement shifted the focus of all Americans on the contributions of African Americans in our history. This prompted the implementation of Black History Month which has been celebrated every year since President Ford’s call to action.

During Black History Month at Gilbane, our Black/African-American Employee Resource Group (ERG), UJIMA, dedicates a theme to each week throughout February to acknowledge and celebrate the history and culture of Black/African Americans.

Week 1 – The History & Impact of Black Culture

During the first week of February, we will celebrate the role that Black culture played in our history. First, we will kick off our month-long Bucket List Challenge of the many activities we can participate in around our local communities to encourage exploring Black cultural impact, supporting Black-owned businesses, and experiencing new things. Secondly, we will showcase Black music through a trivia game for people to research more about Black culture. And lastly, we will have a lunch and learn discussion to dive into the importance of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and the impact they have on Black culture.

Week 2 – What’s Happening Now

Week two will focus on current events that are relevant to the Black community. To this day, African Americans are still being recognized as the “first Black person” to achieve an honor in various areas from awards to competitions. This week, we will spotlight a few of today’s history makers, from Black athletes to Black judges, to acknowledge and celebrate their recent achievements.

Week 3 – Honoring Fellow Contributors & Trailblazers

During week three we will highlight Black trailblazers within Gilbane as well as Black trailblazers within the industry. We are advocates of our peers and must make sure that we acknowledge those who have paved the way for Black/African Americans to have the opportunity to have careers in the construction industry and those who continue to set the example for our next generations to come. During this week we will spotlight our Black employees who have left an impact on their peers, their projects, and their communities. We will also highlight minority owned firms and architects that have paved the way and made contributions to the construction industry.

Week 4 – United We Stand/Divided We Fall

We will close out Black History Month by focusing on the importance of allyship. To build up our communities we must stand together and be united. In construction, the most successful projects are when everyone works as a team. This week, we will provide articles and videos that showcase the power of allyship and how it brings people together. We will also hold a movie viewing of ‘Hidden Figures’ to showcase a powerful role of Black women in the STEM field. Finally, we will end the month promoting a team building activity across the company.

Our UJIMA ERG stands for “collective work and responsibility.” This is a reminder to all of us that we must collectively work together and be responsible for fostering inclusion and building up our communities to make the world a better place!