Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future.

By Marcus Harden

Thurgood Marshall’s words embody what Black History Today has always been about: a tribute to the people making history in our midst. As they receive their well-earned flowers, we all benefit from celebraing their love, their light, and their courageous leadership. In expressing gratitude for their gifts, we receive the gift of their inspiration yet again.

I’ve long believed in the power of gratitude and acknowledgement. My love languages center around acts of service and words of affirmation, and since the first installment of the Black History Today series on Rise Up for Students in 2018, this platform has often spoken the sentiments of my heart. These moments of clearly expressed gratitude and honor are often fleeting, and they are typically reserved for monumental occasions like birthdays, weddings and, too often, funerals.

Yet we all know that life happens constantly – in those big moments, yes, but even more so in the unseen in-between. It brings me great joy to share the unheard and often unrecognized contributions of ordinary people continually living extraordinary lives in service to others, cultivating an ecosystem of history-makers with stories that I am so honored to be able to tell.

As a man who’s been blessed to have his “gift” be to collect amazing people in his own sphere, it’s my paramount duty to showcase the beauty of the garden of greatness that I’ve been so fortunate to witness grow. So it is with this in mind that I present to you the 2024 installment of Black History Today: a new essay every day that lifts up and glorifies the everyday heroes and unforgettable leaders among us.

This year’s series will feature social justice change-makers, educational icons laying their own green print, political legends who’ve shaped an entire generation, a soul songstress whose voice is the rhythm to people’s souls, and a power couple that has turned marriage being hard into marriage being worthy.

In these “surprise odes” to their greatness and impact on my life and the entire Black/African-American ecosystem, I hope the words do justice to the historical lives they’ve lived and the legacies they’re currently building. As the iconic Chadwick Boseman once said when honoring the equally iconic Denzel Washington, “Let he who waters, be watered.”

What a beautiful garden their humanity has built. Please join me in celebrating our collective bountiful harvest as we once again celebrate those making Black History… Today!

-Upendo!

MLH