Crispus Attucks. Lorraine Vivian Hansberry. Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable. 

Do their names ring any bells? 

They are all notable Black Americans who made their mark on US history and culture.  

On March 5, 1770, Crispus Attucks, along with a group of other sailors, gathered to protest British taxation and military occupation of Boston, Massachusetts. The British opened fire, shooting Attucks and making him the first American patriot to give his life for the United States.  

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was the first Black American woman to have her work produced on Broadway. Her semi-autobiographical play, A Raisin in the Sun, also helped her become the first Black American to win the New York Drama Critics’ Award. As a young woman, she worked with W.E.B. Du Bois at the Pan-Africanist newspaper Freedom in New York.  

Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable liaised between white and Indigenous people. He managed a successful trading business. He helped enslaved people buy their freedom. And after marrying Chikiwata, a Potawatomi woman, he moved in 1772 to Eschikagou, founding the present-day city of Chicago. 

Three people. Three lives. Three stories in a long, rich lineage of Black Americans moving history forward.  

When we study Black history, we gain a better understanding of the full picture. And we uncover role models our children can look up to. 

That was Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson's vision 100 years ago. 

He and his colleagues founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) to record and preserve the history of Black Americans. 

Because when we learn the stories of the people who came before, we enrich our sense of identity. We build each other up. We strengthen and unify our community. 

Each day the sun rises is a new opportunity to learn about each other. To connect. To grow closer. 

This morning, as the new sun shines warmly on us, as it illuminates our path with its soft rays, I encourage you to start your own journey of learning. 

How will you build community this Black History Month? 

As we celebrate Black History Month, I invite you to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X, or LinkedIn as we share uplifting stories, celebrate Black history and Black excellence, and build community. 

For further reading, check out the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture’s 2026 Black History Month online exhibition at https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/moments/black-history-month. 

You can also find a wealth of educational resources on the Library of Congress’s Black History Month website here: https://blackhistorymonth.gov/index.html. 

In community, 

Alicia Nuñez 
President & CEO 
Chicanos Por La Causa