Black History Month 2020

Hi all! Happy Black History Month! We're closing off this month with our annual Black History Month list which, as in past years, has some action items. Then, we're incorporating a bit of history/critical thought from Tirzah Thomas, who has written a portion of the Black History Month list for three years. This year, she wrote about Black media.
So let's kick it off!

{Past Black History Month lists:
2018
2019}

Illustration by Megan Saenz

Part I: Bills to Support!

For background, we recommend reading our Black History Month list from last year. In it, we explained a lot of the key issues that these action items relate to, like mass incarceration, policing, etc. Those explanations still apply this year, so check it out!
Also included in that list: Info & action about nonviolent de-escalation tactics with police & more on the End Racial Profiling Act

Federal: The End Racial Profiling Act: H.R.4339, the Racial Profiling Act, was introduced in the House on September 16, 2019. The goal of the bill is “to eliminate racial profiling by law enforcement, and for other purposes.” If passed, the bill would both outlaw racial profiling but also establish paths by which to remedy to the issue, such as allowing those who had been racially profiled to file a civil action suit against the law enforcement agents who did so. In addition, the bill would require that government agencies’ policies combat racial profiling, and that federal law enforcement agent training be organized to prevent racial profiling by those law enforcement agents. Earlier last year, the bill was also introduced in the Senate as S.2355.

What You Can Do: Here’s a script you can use to call your Representatives and Senators to help convince them to support the Racial Profiling Act:
Number: 202-224-3121. You can call either your Senator or Representative about this and you can reference the bill using the numbers above (H.R.4339 for the House and S.2355 for the Senate). One helpful thing can be to see if your senator is co-sponsoring the bill or not. If not, then you should explicitly encourage them to co-sponsor (especially if you think they'll vote for it already).
Senate Cosponsors

Hi, my name is ___________, a [student/your job/etc.] from ___________ and I am calling to urge Senator/Representative _________ to support H.R.4339/S.2355, the Racial Profiling Act, by co-sponsoring it and voting for it. American institutions have been rooted in racism since before our country’s founding, and it is essential that we take steps to combat institutionalized racism, such as racial profiling. As a constituent I hope Representative _________ will be on the right side of history in supporting this act. Thank you for your time.
(Need help knowing how to call? Check out our Basics page)

New York State: Safe and Supportive Schools Act: A description from NYCLU: "School districts across New York State rely heavily on exclusionary punishment and police involvement to control student behavior. New York’s current laws favor harsh punishments, including mandatory suspensions and suspensions that can last for an entire school year. The result is that vulnerable student populations, including students of color, students with disabilities and LGBTQI students are pushed out of the classroom and into the web of court involvement. The Judge Judith S. Kaye Safe and Supportive Schools Act would address this issue by encouraging schools to use education-based, age appropriate, proven alternatives to suspensions. In addition, it ensures that police officers who work in schools are trained to be part of a healthy and supportive school climate. Finally, the bill limits the length of suspensions and formalizes processes to ensure that students who are suspended are able to stay on track academically."
This bill would be a big step in ending the school to prison pipeline that relies on over-disciplining and punishing students of color.
More info on the bill from the NYCLU can be found here.
Currently, the bill has been introduced as A1981 in the NYS Assembly and S767 in the NYS Senate. In both, it's currently in committee. 

What You Can Do: If you live in New York State, call your state senator or assembly member and ask them to support the bill and vote for it when the time comes.
Click here for finding your state senator; here for your assembly member. Then, find their number by googling "[their name] office number"

​Script: Hi, my name is ___________, a [student/your job/etc.] from ___________ and I am calling to urge Senator/Assembly Member _________ to support S767/A1981, the Safe and Supportive Schools Act, by co-sponsoring it and voting for it. The school to prison pipeline is one of the foremost forms of institutional racism in the US and in New York, and this bill would do a lot to combat it. As a constituent I hope Representative _________ will be on the right side of history in supporting this act. Thank you for your time.
​(Need help knowing how to call? Check out our Basics page)

The Crown Act

• Over the summer, California became the first state to ban discrimination based on hair styles (which predominantly affects Black people) with the Crown Act! It's also now law in NY, NJ, Cincinnati, and Montgomery Country, MD. It's been introduced in a number of other states. Click here to see the map, and if it's been introduced in your state, you can call your state senator or rep and ask them to cosponsor/vote for it! To find your senator/rep, google "find my [your state] state senator/assembly person." Then, google their office number, and then use this script to call them:
  Script: ​Script: Hi, my name is ___________, a [student/your job/etc.] from ___________ and I am calling to urge Senator/Assembly Member _________ to support The Crown Act by co-sponsoring it and voting for it. Discrimination based on hair styling has affected mostly African American people and has been preventative of fair treatment at school and working, creating a bigger opportunity gap. As a constituent I hope Representative _________ will be on the right side of history in supporting this act. Thank you for your time.
  ​(Need help knowing how to call? Check out our Basics page)
  
• Don't have time to call? Sign the petition!

The Crown Act movement's logo and mission statement

Part II: notes on Black Media

This portion of the list is written by Tirzah Thomas.

The unique history and culture of Black people across the globe is something that is in some way likely incorporated in your everyday life and is undoubtedly something worth acknowledging. The importance and prominence of Black media is wonderful and necessary to celebrate;  Without celebration, a lot of the hard work and dedication of Black folks would go unnoticed and overlooked. There is so much danger that comes with that-- it makes the movement for Black equity stagnant. So let's celebrate, and also think about how much further we have to go.
Black media originated from negative experiences. Historically, talented Black artists were not being recognized in mainstream media, so Black folks took it amongst themselves to create Black media. Media where they would recognize each other, praise each other, and trailblaze with each other. Black-specific platforms such as BET (Black Entertainment Television) were created, with BET launching in 1979. 

Over the years, BET has had a variety of roles. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Academy Award, for Gone With the Wind, but she was asked to not attend the show and receive her award. 
Because the experiences of Hattie McDaniel and other Black actors who have not been represented at awards shows, it was a triumph when BET created the BET awards in 2001, in which the nominees, award winners, and audience are all Black. Another similar event is the NAACP Image Awards, which first started in 1967.

The strides of the Black community in media is something that needs to be acknowledged because it allows for the younger generations to understand that they too can make strides that are bigger than what is mostly presented to them in mainstream media. Instead of only seeing frequent and historical tropes in mainstream media that criminalize and sexualize Black people, media created by and for Black people will allow for a broader range of perspective. 
The accomplishments of Black folks with Black media is something that is appreciated all throughout the Black community. But just like any great mode of expression, it is still something that needs work. The use of the Black media is something that needs to be analyzed and criticized by the Black community themselves. It is of course wonderful to watch the Black awards show and the Black news but we have to think, how are we allowing other people to see our accomplishments? How can finally diminish the stereotypes in mainstream media while also embracing the reality of Blackness in Black media? How are Black media and mainstream media overlapping? These are questions that we have to think critically about. 
Happy Black History Month!

The cast of Black Panther at the 2019 NAACP Image Awards

Hattie McDaniel with her Oscar in 1940

Part III: Organizations to Support & Look to For Action

The Kalief Browder Foundation: www.kaliefbrowderfoundation.com/
The Trayvon Martin Foundation: www.trayvonmartinfoundation.org/
The Garifuna Heritage Foundation: www.garifunaheritagefoundation.org/
Equal Justice Initiative: www.eji.org
Black Women's Blueprint: www.blackwomensblueprint.org/
Close Rikers: www.closerikers.org/
Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity: boldorganizing.org
Southern Poverty Law Center: www.splcenter.org
Western States Center: www.westernstatescenter.org/
Youth Over Guns: www.youthovergunsny.org/