Black history is really about the future … for all of us!
By Carol Cheney
Photo of American Pride Rises Leader Stacey Abrams speaking from a podium at the February 3, 2026 Oregon Freedom Funders event. Credit: Jason Hill
I hate to admit it, but in the past, I’ve felt that history months celebrating different communities were a bit odd. First, we only get a month?! Second, the policies we enact as a nation don’t match the care we show during these heritage months. So … here we are in another Black History Month.
Lately though, I have been thinking about it a little differently. Stacey Abrams, President of American Pride Rises helped me pull it all together. She spoke in Portland last week at an event hosted by the Oregon Freedom Funders, a group of foundations supporting nonprofit organizations in the wake of the dismantling of Affirmative Action and the criminalizing of diversity, equity and inclusion. American Pride Rises is an organization dedicated to protecting pathways to the American Dream by fighting for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive America. Abrams was a two-time gubernatorial candidate for Georgia (the first Black woman to hold such honor), a tireless advocate for voting rights, winner of countless awards and recognitions, founder of numerous justice-focused organizations, and author of 17 fiction and non-fiction books.
During her talk, Abrams made a hidden truth plain - the attacks on DEI are an attack on democracy. They are also an effort to erase history and the promise of what is possible in a multiracial democracy.
I was captivated by her remark, “We cannot demand what we deserve if we cannot dream of what it is.”
Chewing on that statement and thinking about Black History Month, I began to consider that so many of those we honor during Black History Month were actually dreaming of the future. Take Carter G. Woodson, born in 1875 and the only person whose parents were enslaved in the United States to obtain a PhD in history. In 1926, he launched “Negro History Week,” a precursor to Black History Month. He understood the importance of recognizing Black History as a way to ensure the achievements of Black people would not be undermined and forgotten … in the future!
Malcolm X also dreamed about equitable education. He said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Marsha P. Johnson, a Black Transgender woman and early advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, dreamed that people would stand up for each other stating, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” And of course, there was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, who shared his dream so eloquently. This list could go on and on.
It feels hard to dream right now, but it’s something I hold dear about the communities we serve. Every day, I witness the strength and resilience of people who, despite fear and incredible violence and harm, dream of a better life for themselves, their children, and their community. They give me strength.
In the words of the great Langston Hughes,
Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.
To the dreamers past, present, and future - thank you for dreaming and taking action for justice. May we continue to dream and make a better future a reality for all of us.