By Lisa Holder, President, Equal Justice Society

We commemorate Black History Month in 2024 just a few years shy of its 50th anniversary, having first been observed in 1976 by President Gerald Ford.

In his brief presidential message, Ford alluded to the observance of Black History Month being a “message of courage and perseverance” that may have been understood at the time as referencing the oppression of Black people since 1619.

A message of perseverance is needed today more than ever. Hate, cynicism, and apathy are rapidly expanding outside of the political sphere into mainstream society and are driving the disruptive and destabilizing anti-democratic January 6 insurrection, legal and cultural attacks on affirmative action, DEI, Critical Race Theory, reproductive choice, and other progressive polices.

W.E.B. Du Bois once said: “Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States.” The latter is unacceptable. Our pursuit of the former requires the fortitude to fight on despite the challenging times that bear on us.

Fortunately, we can draw inspiration from our forebears on how to sustain our movement.

Du Bois developed a vision for his life by rejecting the boundaries of discrimination, reflecting on a childhood moment, he felt “shut out from their [White] world by a vast veil. I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows.”

The legendary Prof. Charles Ogletree, EJS’s founding board chair, taught us that sometimes we must be champions of the oppressed, even at great risk. “Charles had a difficult decision to make,” said Anita Hill of Ogletree’s decision to represent her. “He was up for tenure. He had a lot on his plate, and being involved, on my behalf, in a sensational public hearing may have made some faculty uneasy. He really had his job and his career on the line, but Charles agreed. I know of no one who is more generous, more principled, more unpretentious, and more intelligent than Charles Ogletree.”

From California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber, we learn the importance of paying attention to the fundamentals, such as voting: “Oftentimes, people in my community will talk about things I’ve done, like reparations, lethal force and all those bills that were hard to pass. But they’ll still say that voting doesn’t make a difference. And I ask them, ‘Do I make a difference?’ They’ll say ‘Oh, yeah, you make a lot of difference.’ So we can see that voting makes a difference but we just get frustrated because we want things to move faster. And I understand that because I’m frustrated often.”

At EJS, we also draw inspiration for perseverance from our co-counsel and colleagues at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein who are incredibly dedicated to advancing social justice, and to our partners in the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth who continue to give lessons on advancing the movement: California Black Power Network, Black Equity Collective, Live Free, and Catalyst California.

You can be a part of Black History Month’s message of courage and perseverance. Share this newsletter with your family and contacts. Ask others to sign up for updates from Lieff Cabraser (https://www.lieffcabraser.com/hair-relaxers) and EJS (https://equaljusticesociety.org/contact/subscribe). Spreading the word about our efforts helps us move forward together.

It is difficult to persevere during challenging times, but with your support and partnership, I am confident that we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Black History Month in 2026 much closer to fulfilling the promise of America.