Sure, Chicago Pride overflows for our skyscrapers, our food and our 44th President, but did you know: Another great reason to love Chi-Town is for our ties to the origin of Black History Month.

It was Carter Godwin Woodson who, after earning degrees from the University of Chicago and becoming the second African American to earn a PhD at Harvard, found great purpose from his experiences in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and at the Wabash Avenue YMCA—then a bustling hub for the city’s Black community. Woodson’s time here inspired his founding of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1915.

In 1926, Woodson and the ASALH promoted the first Negro History Week, coinciding with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass in February, to encourage the coordinated teaching of the history of Black Americans in the nation’s public schools. It wasn’t until 1970, at the proposal of Black educators and students at Kent State University, that the weeklong tradition was expanded to span the month February, as we know it today.

As an ally to my Black friends and colleagues, I’d like to utilize this forum to highlight a few opportunities and resources I’ve found useful in supporting Black excellence, celebrating the past, present and future. Happy Black History Month!

Revere History

Take a guided tour of the historic former Wabash YMCA, where the Father of Black History dwelled and found motivation to start the ASALH. Tours are free and are offered twice a month, including this Saturday, Feb 26.

Celebrate Today

Right on our block in the West Loop, the beloved Haymarket Pub and Brewery is in the midst of a residency by five different Black-owned Chicago breweries, including Moor’s, Turner Haus, Black Horizon, Harold’s, and Funkytown Breweries. Stop in to taste the Chicago Uncommon, an epic collaboration brewed by all residency brewers with Haymarket, and enjoy special evening programming through March 13.

Blacks Who Design is an online directory for Black designers representing myriad specialties in the tech industry and beyond. Conceived by a college senior design major from his frustrations over the lack of connection to and support from other Black designers, this directory quickly gained appreciation from the industry for elegantly and effectively bringing attention to Black professionals, creating opportunity for employment and mentorship. It’s an impressive feat of ingenuity and problem solving. Anyone can use it, free of charge, to bring valuable Black talent to your team.

While it’s a reality that racial disparities in health care endanger Black people disproportionately, there is one medical student doing his part to increase the representation of Black patients in medical illustrations for textbooks and other teaching materials. Chidiebere Ibe, a first-year medical student from Nigeria, taught himself digital illustration to counter the fact that even in Africa, the public health pamphlets given to his community only showed white patients. It’s work like Ibe’s that will not only help Black people finally see themselves, but also open the eyes of all doctors to more fully see their Black patients.

Invest in the Future

As of January 14, at least 27 states are considering more than 250 bills with restrictive provisions for voting which would disproportionately impact voters of color. 

The Voting Rights Alliance is a growing non-partisan network of organizations, activists, and legislators working to restore and protect voting rights and to have the votes of disenfranchised communities fairly counted.

Last week I attended a webinar hosted by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), “Empowering Black LGBT Entrepreneurship” which brought together a panel of Black professionals to discuss wellness, financial opportunities and networking. In addition to actionable advice about those three areas (the whole webinar can be watched at the link above), panelists also gave great advice about intersectionality.

Mental health therapist Kendra Kelly affirmed the realities of societal pressures to be a “Strong Black Woman” or “Strong Black Man”, et cetera, which overlap with familial pressures and expectations for a business owner. Her own journey of tackling non-productive narratives involves being able to ask for help and making her own definition of being successful, well, and supported as a Black, LGBT entrepreneur.

Chicago’s own Brian Thompson (Brian Thompson Financial) echoed that sentiment, saying he had his own journey to living authentically as a business owner whose face and life is out there representing his business.

“What I’ve really learned about being an entrepreneur is it’s a lot about the internal work, like dealing with my own hang-ups, whether it’s money scripts, or whether it’s imposter syndrome, insecurity, fear, all of those things that have really gotten in my way about being a genuine person and being a business owner has all come to head because it’s me making this go.”

He’s found value in discovering “how to really be authentic and show up as a complex human being. I don’t have to be perfect, I can make mistakes, I don’t have to know everything. And being able to really sit in that discomfort and being able to work through that has been very helpful for me.”

Hear more discussion between Brian Thompson’s and his entrepreneur guests on his Mission Driven Business podcast. 

Find more resources for minority LGBT-owned businesses through the NGLCC’s Communities of Color Initiative (CoCi).