Celebrating Black History Month: Black Iowa News invited Black Iowans to share their feelings about the importance of teaching Black history, voting rights and more — in their own words.
Here’s the next installment from Courageous Fire, who is founder and executive director of Courageous Fire LLC and Courageous Access, organizations dedicated to bringing awareness and healing to, and advocacy for, Black women victim-survivors of domestic violence.
Larry Twitty, a diversity consultant and podcast host in Des Moines, discusses the importance of understanding the past.
Black History Month is almost over, but Black history is ongoing. Thanks so much to everyone who shared their views and helped celebrate with Black Iowa News for Black History Month 2022.
‘There was a time that I really didn’t know much about Black history except Martin Luther King Jr. and ‘I have a Dream’
As I thought about how to articulate its importance, what came to mind was how impactful the absence of my history was to me at one time. There was a time that I really didn’t know much about Black history except Martin Luther King Jr. and “I have a Dream.”
At that point, I didn’t truly understand how valuable my culture, my people, our innate power, our royalty is because I didn’t know about them at all.
As I have come to learn more and more about who I am through understanding my people in our history, my self-love has skyrocketed, my confidence has soared, and the beauty that I behold in my own face as I see the spirits and strength of my ancestors in it, has caused me to be able to celebrate who I am in ways that I never did before I understood who my people were.
If I’d had a better understanding decades earlier, I believe it would have made a big difference in the way I used my voice — or not — throughout my earlier years. My daughters are learning these things now and I am seeing the changes it has already made in who they decide to be and how they decide to show up simply because of knowing who their people are.
It matters.
The importance of Black history
Larry Twitty, diversity consultant, host of The Only Chip In The Cookie Podcast
Black History Month inspires me to remind everyone that Black history is American history, and that understanding our past is paramount to obtaining the future we all dream of.
