The month of February serves to reaffirm and uphold Black peoples’ historical importance in America. Due to the pandemic and the country’s general modernizing, in 2021, this national holiday will unfold on most digital platforms. With this month’s learnings being promoted on our Instagram and Twitter feeds, and content curation expanding on dedicated Pinterest boards, it can be easy to forget other alternative ways to support digitally.
Here are a few ways to enhance your Black History Month celebration and make an impact digitally.
Content Sharing
Content sharing is probably one of the most popular forms of celebrating Black History Month, but it’s essential to do this intentionally and thoughtfully. Whether you are on the sharing or receiving end of the content, it’s your responsibility to fact check and ensure its accuracy – especially before passing it on. We have a great responsibility to retell the stories of those that came before us, but it’s critical to ensure accuracy and honesty.
When creating content to share with your networks, ensure that it is inclusive and thoughtful to the entire Black community. Remember to share content that is intentional in empowering Blackness in every shade, size, sexuality, and gender. It’s important to celebrate the many facets of Black culture and not limit the knowledge that you plan to circulate with your networks.
Shop Black
This is the perfect time to dedicate your purchases to Black-owned businesses; major chains like Target have dropped Black History Month collections, but buying from Black-owned companies is also incredibly important. Celebrate Black History Month by pouring into the Black communities that you can impact in real-time.
Here are a few companies you can shop for celebratory merch:
Melanin Apparel: Melanin Apparel is a company focusing on bringing pride to the Black community. This brand encourages all people of the African diaspora to celebrate their cultural differences while highlighting the beauty of Blackness and melanin’s power.
My Black Clothing: They are dedicated to using their platform to give back to those that need it the most. They do this by donating a portion of proceeds to organizations fighting for the very causes they stand for – combating social injustice and inequality against African Americans.
Melanin Is Life: Melanin Is Life is a Black-owned, socially-conscious lifestyle brand. It was founded to promote the “POWER of BLACK UNITY and the BEAUTY of MELANIN.”
Donate to the Community
Invest in the critical work being done by activists across the country by donating and encouraging your networks to support the vital organizations that are sustaining the wellbeing of Black communities. While making your donations, consider signing up to be a member of organizations that resonate with you. Charity Navigator is a great source to find an organization that fits your interests when donating.
Here are a few organization to support in 2021:
National Civil Rights Museum: The National Civil Rights Museum chronicles the American civil rights movement, examines today’s global civil and human rights issues, provokes thoughtful debate, and serves as a catalyst for positive change.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund: Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) provides scholarships, capacity building and programmatic support, and advocacy for students and public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
NAACP: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s vision is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.
As we move through Black History Month, let’s embrace our history, no matter how problematic it has been. And remember that we are our history, so as you look back at the past, remember how you can impact the present.
Corinne Dorsey is a DC-based freelance writer and journalist, currently studying journalism at Howard University. Most of her work focuses on black womanhood, social issues, culture, and music.
