In 2020, “Black Lives Matter” ranked No. 10 in the most searched terms in the News category as per Google News LAB. In related searches, “how to be anti-racist” was searched more in 2020 than “how to be a millionaire”.
The “Black Lives Matter” movement has officially become mainstream and, consequently, has broken through racial lines. The movement has evolved so much in just 1 year. “Black Lives Matter” has become an expression synonymous not only with anti-racism, equality, social justice but also peace, unity, and even compassion.
As a direct result, it’s only been about a week but Black History Month 2021 already feels quite different this year. The continued interest or curiosity is great for the Movement but especially as it addresses the lack of Black history content in the global education curriculum.
Every year, it gives everyone a chance to revisit and learn about the lives and events that marked not only Black History but World history. There’s often an emphasis on the leaders who have affected Black history on different levels. Familiar names include Toussaint Louverture, Harriet Tubman, Viola Desmond, Rosa Parks, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, James Baldwin, Kay Livingstone, Angela Davis and Barack Obama.
Every era has a leader. Every movement has a leader and today is no different. We’ve heard from a lot of them since June 2020. The importance of good leadership is crucial to any movement.
We are in a new era, where the interest on Black History has increased significantly. There are now more non-black businesses and organizations celebrating Black History Month.
We, at Support Black Charities, want to celebrate Black History Month by honoring the black leaders in our communities within the charitable sectors. Charity , non-profit and organization founders and executives are the modern day local leaders championing change, opening doors and giving opportunities to the people they serve. Most historical leaders started in their own local community and made a difference based on their passions, life experience and beliefs. The same can be said about the numerous non-profit leaders that SBC has connected with over the last 2 years. They share a common tread: creating an inspiring vision of the future, motivating and inspiring people to engage with their vision and most importantly ready to lead while placing love for social justice and humanity over love for money and publicity. History has shown us that these are the qualities of the leaders that we will remember and celebrate in future years.
Some of the current known future leaders who have sparked a movement are:
- Van Jones & James Rucker, Co-Founders of Color of change
- Kimberly Bryant, Founder of Black Girls Code
- Tarana Burke, Founder of the #MeToo movement
- Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi & Patrisse Cullors, Co-Founders of Black Lives Matter
- Vanessa Nakate, African Environment Activist & Founder of Youth for Future Africa
- Colin Kaepernick, Founder of Know Your Rights Camp
This is just scratching the surface as there are thousands of other lesser known local leaders including some listed on our directory or others gone too soon like Marielle Franco, an Afro-Brazilian & LGBTQT human right activist who was sadly assassinated 2 years ago.
Therefore during BHM 2021, SBC celebrates all the charity, NGO and non-profit leaders who are working behind the scenes to create their own movement and advocate for change locally.
Join us as we recognize the work that these future local leaders are doing to positively elevate their respective black community and make history. They are already leaving footprints to be followed, and we remain hopeful they are emerging new leaders who will soon emulate the great leaders of the past. Be a part of the change today; please support your local non-profit leaders!