Black History Month Resource Guide

I.
Your every day is a pilgrimage.
A blue hubbub.
Your days are collected bacchanals of fear and self-troubling.

And your nights! your nights.
When you put you down in alley or cardboard or viaduct,
your lovers are rats, finding your secret places.

II.
When you rise in another morning,
you hit the street, your incessant enemy.

See? Here you are, in the so-busy world.
You walk. You walk.

You pass The People.
No. The People pass you.

Here’s a Rich Girl marching briskly to her charms.
She is suede and scarf and belting and perfume.
She sees you not, she sees you very well.
At Five in the afternoon, Miss Rich Girl will go home
to brooms and vacuum cleaner and carpeting,
two cats, two marble top tables, two telephones,
shiny green peppers, flowers in impudent vases,
visitors.

Before all that there’s the luncheon to be known.
Lasagna, lobster, salad, sandwiches
All day there’s coffee to be loved.
There are luxuries
of minor dissatisfaction, luxuries of Plan.

III.
That’s her story
You’re going to vanish, not necessarily nicely, fairly soon
Although essentially dignity itself a death
is not necessarily tidy, modest, or discreet.
When they find you
your legs may not be tidy nor aligned.
Your mouth may be all crooked or destroyed

Black old woman, homeless, indistinct —
Your last and least adventure is Review.
Folks used to celebrate your birthday!
Folks used to say ‘She draws such handsome horses, cows
and houses.’
Folks used to say ‘That child is going far.’

GWENDOLYN BROOKS

A public interest lawyer dedicated to promoting justice for all, Bryan Stevenson’s account in Just Mercy illustrates principles that he often cites as critical to being agents for change – “being proximate” to the community and those in need, being willing to do what might be “uncomfortable” to effectuate change, “changing the narratives” that sustain societal injustices, and “remaining hopeful” in the midst of what might otherwise seem hopeless. Such principles are reflected in the work we do at the Coalition to address injustices of those who are unhoused or precariously housed.

DISCOVER THE BOOK

In connection with acknowledging that violence experienced by Blacks and other communities of color is not addressed by police, Becoming Abolitionists explores how violence takes the form of environmental blight, poverty, housing insecurity and homelessness. Her argument against police is a constructive plan for more care work, especially the work that we do at the Coalition to connect vulnerable populations, disproportionately Black individuals and groups, to housing and other vital resources.

DISCOVER THE BOOK

An inspiration for the struggle against mass homelessness, economic injustice and social inequity in which the Coalition engages each day is the Civil Rights Movement and its persistence toward realizing the goal of bending the long arc of the moral universe toward justice. Eyes on the Prize tells the story of that movement and reminds us of the importance of the Coalition’s work.

WATCH NOW

We recently honored Afrikana and its founder Adama Bah with our Compassionate Communities Award for their work assisting asylum seekers and other new arrivals. This Black History Month, we particularly honor Afrikana’s tireless commitment to uplifting the often overlooked needs of Black migrants whose struggles are further compounded by systemic racism and lack of language access and immigration relief extended to migrants from other parts of the globe.

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