Black History Initiative – Unveiling the Stories

Just because Black History Month is over doesn’t mean we should ignore black history.  Many stories have been lost to time, and bringing light to those stories is the goal of the Black History Initiative (BHI). Dr. Lindsay-Law, a former Salem teacher, and current Virginia Beach City Public Schools Equity and Opportunity Coordinator is one of the organizers of the event.

“The inspiration for this opportunity is we have a rich history in Virginia Beach,” said Lindsay-Law.  “We need to know and understand our local history and how it informs our present actions and future aspirations.” 

I was given the privilege to be a part of the “Black History Initiative: Unveiling the Stories” Zoom event on Saturday, February 12th, and it was a truly eye-opening experience. After hearing their goal of “honoring individuals who have made an impact on our past, present, and future,” I knew I was in for a treat. The focus was on unity, inclusion, and advocacy.

During the main portion of the event, individual members of the BHI shared stories of different people they personally interviewed or researched. Each story contained knowledge that would only be found from the passing of personal experiences from one to another, further personifying the goal of the BHI.

After those stories were shared, the Zoom call was split into eight groups, each with a student and staff representative of the BHI. We then proceeded to engage in an activity titled “Mutual Harmonization: The power of one word.” In our different groups, we each gave a word that we thought of based on a separate given word. After that, we made connections between the words everyone gave. This helped make the different people in the call connect by comparing their ideas to make a new or mutual idea. It was truly amazing to see staff and students talk to each other on equal footing about very real issues.

After we finished that activity, everyone returned to the main room and the event closed with two members of BHI repeating the words we wrote in different tones. This was to show the way words can be interpreted based on how they are said. 

It was truly a phenomenal experience. The organization of the different parts of the event and the curiosity I gained from learning these different stories. I had no idea the Black History Initiative was taking such a large step in making sure everyone’s story was told and honored. Everyone has a story and those stories have effects in places people may not think. 

The hope is that this will be an annual event. Students interested in getting involved can fill out a student interest form here. Learn more about the Black History Initiative on their website.