By Ronnie Galvin, Managing Director of Community Investment

Black history is a living and breathing story of struggle and overcoming. It is both ancient and in process now. It is the summation and multiplication of Black people’s capacity for innovation and the will to survive and thrive in the face of relentless violence against our humanity. Our story is chronicled over thousands of years of Black existence—beginning with the bones of Dinknesh, the great Mousian library, and the civilizations of Mali, Songhai, Kush, and Aksum. It has been likewise expressed in the untold revolts by those who were enslaved, and Black people’s persistent march toward liberation and freedom.

And, we are making history right now. The largest protest movement in the history of the world was birthed on these shores by our people who have declared that Black lives matter. Black people, and Black women in particular, saving the best prospects for democracy in the last election cycle is yet another testament to this fact.

Placing Black history in this context of past and present affirms that it does not begin with slavery (as this country is wanton to do all too often). This point of departure is also a reminder that history should not be merely relegated to the past; but that in this very moment we are making history in a way that will impact the kind of future we will have together.

With this level-setting as a backdrop, I’d like to draw your attention to a set of questions that I’ve been reflecting on in the advent of this new year. They are questions that invite us to courageously reflect on our history, to be informed and intentional about the decisions before us today, and to embrace the idea that what we do now will impact the future we have together.

Looking back at generations past, what if:

African civilizations never encountered the European invaders and colonialism?
Black people actually received their 40 acres and a mule?
Slavery or Jim Crow never happened?
Race riots in places like Tulsa, Memphis, Atlanta, and Chicago never happened? FDR made stronger and more explicit provisions for Black folks in the New Deal?
The wars on crime and drugs—and the resulting rise of mass incarceration never happened
There was a way to revitalize our neighborhoods without gentrifying them and displacing Black people?
The murders of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Emmitt Till, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, Felycya Harris, Mia Green, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Trayvon Martin never happened—and they were still alive?

Asking these questions in this way not only opens our imagination for what might have happened if people living during these times had chosen to do otherwise. It also invites those of us who are living in the present to consider the critical choices that are before us now—what they will require of us, their impact, and how people 100 years from now will reflect on what we do in this present moment. Given this, we are left to consider the ‘what if’s’ of our time.

What if we:

Became a democracy that leads with racial equity and racial justice?
Closed racial income and wealth gaps?
See poverty (particularly Black poverty) as a systemic and societal failure rather than an indictment on individuals?
Embrace a comprehensive reparations program for Black people that redresses America’s history of racism and allows us (and the entire nation) to heal?
Convened truth and reconciliation commissions at the national and local levels?
Design interlocking systems of education, health, civic participation, and economy that produce racial equity and racial justice?
Established a new paradigm for wealth-starting with Black wealth?
ALL Black lives really mattered?

At the Greater Washington Community Foundation, we are working to turn these ‘what if’s’ into ‘right now’s’; and right now’s into a just and equitable future for Black people—and for all of us. We are doubling down on our obligation to make our organization, and the entire Greater Washington region, a more equitable and inclusive place for everyone to live, work, and thrive. As we speak, we are mobilizing every aspect of The Community Foundation family to rise to this aspiration.

Through our internal REI Working Group, we are engaged in our own learning journey and work to build a community of support and accountability that will advance these efforts. We are also in the midst of retooling our strategic framework so that every aspect of our work is aligned with what the past has taught us, what the present is revealing to us, and what the future is demanding of us. We look forward to sharing more—and doing more with each of you—soon!

“How we engage history will determine the solutions we will choose to pursue with each other.” -Nicol Turner Lee

Pumoja Tutashinde (Together We Will Win)