Black History Month is a time to reflect, particularly as our country faces uncertainty and renewed attacks on equity, accountability, and access to justice. The 2026 theme, A Century of Black History Commemorations, marks 100 years since our country first formally recognized Black history, following years of Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s advocacy. It underscores the importance of remembering the past and understanding how history is preserved.
Black history is woven deeply into Chicago’s identity. Black history is Chicago history. During the Great Migration, Black families shaped the city’s neighborhoods, culture, and civic life, with areas like Bronzeville emerging as centers of art, entrepreneurship, journalism, and political organizing. Leaders such as Ida B. Wells advanced national conversations on civil rights and accountability from Chicago, demanding change through truth, advocacy, and the law.
The legal system has served as both an instrument of exclusion and a mechanism for progress for Black communities in Chicago, who have long utilized legal advocacy to challenge discriminatory housing practices, advance labor rights, and protect civil liberties. These efforts reinforce a lesson that remains critical today: civil rights are not self-sustaining. They require vigilance, informed advocacy, and institutions willing to act when equity and access are at risk.
This Black History Month, HSPRD honors this legacy and reaffirms our responsibility within the legal system. Chicago’s Black history shows that meaningful progress begins locally, is strengthened through collective effort, and endures when the law is used to serve people with fairness and integrity. As we mark a century of Black History Month commemorations, we do so with an understanding that honoring history requires carrying its lessons forward.
