OPINION

February is Black History Month and the theme this year is, The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity. How important is diversity and cultural representation to you and how do you plan to engage with Black History Month?

Polly Carter

Southern New Hampshire

“In the last couple of years, and especially the last year, if it’s shown us anything it’s that representation is very important. In terms of how I’ll be engaging in Black History Month, as a white female I’ll be taking it as an additional opportunity for further learning and awareness and listening. Listening to where I can educate myself more and how I can become a better ally. I think representation is really important and it shows what a society is valuing and what they’re paying attention to and who they’re listening to.”

Molly Parish

Asheville, North Carolina

“We raised our children in metro [Washington], D.C., and we loved all of the diversity that was there. The way that we will engage with Black History Month is, now we live in a small town that’s not very diverse. I love showing my children the movies like “Hidden Figures” and “Remember the Titans.” We don’t just pick February to watch Black history movies, we celebrate Black history, white history, Asian history, all types of history every month of the year, so it’ll be just like another normal month for us.”

Hanna Powell

Big Sky, Montana

“It’s more important than ever in our current climate of our very diverse country. We, as Americans especially, need to open up our hearts and minds to people that are different than us, and see the beauty of it, rather than being inspired by hatred. If there’s anything I could do [to] celebrate Black History Month, it would be to speak on behalf of my African American brothers and sisters, my Native American brothers and sisters, that I love them and I support them and their cause and I believe that their lives matter.”

Josephine Erickson

Big Sky, Montana

“I’m Filipino. I was born and raised in Hawaii and I lived there for 40-some-odd years before coming here. Caucasians were one-third of the population, [and] twothirds of the population were Japanese, Chinese, Samoan, Filipino, Korean and actually very few African Americans, until later on in [Hawaii’s] history. Although we all realized that we were different ethnically, it wasn’t anything deliberate that any of us did to mix and involve each other in our lives, there were so many of us that it just happened. … When you live in a really diverse culture like that, it just happens naturally.”