VRLC Reads: Freedom Dreaming – Black History Month

VRLC Reads: Freedom Dreaming – Black History Month

VRLC Reads was first established at VRLC in 2020 with the aim to hold space for discussions on various social issues through an anti-racist framework. Informational resources are sent out to foster a more robust conversation. We invite you to follow along with us as we learn, reflect, engage, and grow in anti-racist, anti-oppressive thinking. How we move through the world matters.

For a full list of all VRLC Reads posts, click here.

Happy Black History Month! This year’s national theme is African Americans and the Arts. While every month is a time to celebrate Black history, Victim Rights Law Center reflected this month at our staff meeting on the robust and expansive influence of Black creatives in the United States; pioneering and expressing creativity throughout a range of mediums. While there is so much to watch, read, listen, and experience, our Anti-Racist Book Club facilitators chose to offer staff a multitude of resources to lead folks down a path of individual exploration and celebration of Black History. Staff were required to choose at least two resources but were encouraged to engage as they pleased with the following: 

In addition, staff members were asked to share the brief biographies of Black figures that have been influential in any walk of life, but especially in the arts (paying mind to this year’s theme). We shared their background, intention of their art, influence, challenges, and our personal connections as to why we chose that person. We had the honor to discuss and discover the works of Ivor “Jerry” Moore, Big Freedia, N. K. Jemisin, DeFord Bailey, Jasmine Guillory, Kathleen Battle, Tiffany Hammond, Amber Ruffin, Taraji P. Henson, Alvin Ailey, Misty Copeland, Leah Hawkins, Willi Ninja, Tourmaline, Clint Smith, Solange Knowles, Melissa Ward, and the timeless Nina Simone. 

We root ourselves in knowing that the best way to learn and celebrate Black history is by listening, consuming, and learning directly from the experiences of Black individuals and communities. While our all staff meeting took the time to sit with the incredible contributions of these Black Americans, we understand that Black history is American history. Activist/artist Tourmaline, who coined the concept of freedom dreaming, reminds us to consistently contribute to Black liberation, which is subsequently liberation for all. We all have a part to play in actively creating a world that is more free. What would that world look like, specifically for Black Americans? What can we do to make that happen? 

If this month you are celebrating yourself, family, heritage, community, ancestry, history, or all of the above, we hope you can prioritize and center joy, care, celebration, and love…as with every other day of the year! 

For nonblack folks celebrating Black History, learning is important but so is action! Listen to, hold space for, and practice love and care toward the Black people in your life. Foreshadowing our next Book Club meeting on reparations, we also encourage you to engage in your own practice of reparations: shopping at Black businesses, supporting Black artists/creators, donating to grassroots organizations that center Black communities, and more.  

Finally, a quote from Marsha P. Johnson, an activist and drag queen performer notably known as one of the leading trans women who spearheaded the renowned Stonewall uprising: 

“History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” 

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