Alice Vol. 7 No. 3

our ancestors and all the Black heroes
and heroines. We celebrate their wins and
contributions to our Blackness and for us
to be seen and celebrated. As the late Rosa
Parks once said, “I had no idea that history
was being made. I was just tired of giving up.”
Black History isn’t just our past, it’s also our
present. In 2020 Black Lives Matter became
the biggest movement in U.S History. In
January 2022, MJ Rodriguez became the first
openly trans Afro-Latino to win a Golden
Globe. Marsai Martin became not only the
youngest Black executive producer but the
youngest executive producer ever. These
Black individuals are people we look up to,
people we are close in age to, people who are
making history right before our very eyes.
Black History Month is a time where we
observe the greatest achievements,
inventions and moments of Black people.
It is a reminder of where we’ve been and
where we are going. We’re all familiar with
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa
Parks, Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou,
but there are so many others who led the
way. For example, George Crum invented
the potato chip. It’s a reminder that the
success of Black people is the reason we have
stoplights, ironing boards and home security
systems. Some of us may not even realize
how much one Black individual has changed
the way we exist in our everyday lives. Yes,
King has a dream, but Henrietta Lacks’
cancer cells are the first-ever immortalized
human cell line and continue to be studied
in science and medicine today, even for the
development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Our Black History is rooted deeply in
who we are and what we represent
as Black people. From Hattie McDaniel
becoming the first Black person to win an
Oscar to Tracey Norman becoming the first
Black transgender female to make it in the
fashion industry. Black History is rich and
unforgettable. It’s sacred. We celebrate
our ancestors and all the Black heroes
and heroines. We celebrate their wins and
contributions to our Blackness and for us to
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