Dr. Glaude shows us the pattern: Every 50 years, America celebrates itself while trying to erase us. 1876 — Reconstruction killed. 1926 — the Klan rising, but Woodson started Negro History Week anyway. 1976 — busing riots, a Black man beaten with the flag. Now 2026, and they’re still trying to make us invisible.
But here’s what they don’t understand: Our story doesn’t need their permission to live. Morrison’s children came asking an old woman to make something with them, not to give answers, but to create meaning together. That’s what we’ve always done. When they redacted Randolph’s speech in 1926, we kept talking. When they rewrite history now, we keep telling the truth.
This moment — USA250 and 100 years of Black History Month — is our invitation. The bird is in our hands now. Not a finished thing, but a question: Will we make something together? Will we build what comes next, side by side, full-chested, with love lit by rage? That’s the task. That’s always been the task. Will you sit with us and help build it?
Dr. Glaude shows us the pattern: Every 50 years, America celebrates itself while trying to erase us. 1876 — Reconstruction killed. 1926 — the Klan rising, but Woodson started Negro History Week anyway. 1976 — busing riots, a Black man beaten with the flag. Now 2026, and they’re still trying to make us invisible.
But here’s what they don’t understand: Our story doesn’t need their permission to live. Morrison’s children came asking an old woman to make something with them, not to give answers, but to create meaning together. That’s what we’ve always done. When they redacted Randolph’s speech in 1926, we kept talking. When they rewrite history now, we keep telling the truth.
This moment — USA250 and 100 years of Black History Month — is our invitation. The bird is in our hands now. Not a finished thing, but a question: Will we make something together? Will we build what comes next, side by side, full-chested, with love lit by rage? That’s the task. That’s always been the task. Will you sit with us and help build it?