African American History Month, 2025

2025 got off to a really shitty start for respecting, appreciating, and celebrating the incredible diversity of the American people, but while the US government may have decided to pretend like we're monolothich, I was fortunate enough to be in a workplace that cares. So, "official" observances were canceled but in our work Slack, I posted these cool bits of African American history that are meant to show that African American history is integral to every aspect of American history – not just the big things, but the everyday parts too.

February 3

Today is the first business day of African American History Month, and there is no American history without African American history. (Well, no US history, at least. There was an America before Europeans arrived, after all.) I think of African American History Month as a time to recognize the way Black Americans have been deeply integrated into the building and sustainment of our country since literally the very beginning. I mean, yes, there are the significant figures of history – Harriet Tubman; Frederick Douglass; W.E.B. DuBois; Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King, Jr. – but there are also the everyday people, showing up and building a country together.

African American history is US history, and we do our best work when we are together. United we stand; divided we fall.

February 4

The 1920s saw the Prohibition era, when liquor was outlawed. As any social movement is, it was a complicated and long process, but one of the many perspectives were African American temperance activists who were less concerned about the souls of the drinkers and more concerned with the economic trap of alcohol dependence. After all, they noted, Black people had only recently gained their freedom from the plantation; why should they surrender it again to the bottle? They revealed concerted efforts by unscrupulous White liquor producers to get Black patrons drunk, either to enrich themselves or, often, to hold up the drunk Black person as an example of Black “savagery.” Temperance, then, was a means of protecting Black Americans from attempts to disparage them and to help them on the journey to economic freedom.

While we recognize today that outright prohibition wasn’t the best solution, we still see the exact same struggles playing out today with things like the opiod epidemic, where an unscrupulous business profited off addiction, and those who fell into addiction have become demonized. I am grateful today for the Black voices of the past who showed us what predatory capitalism looks like and I hope we learn their lessons.

Happy African American History Month!

February 6

One of the great successes of the American experiment has been the amount of stuff you can buy. I mean, okay, that's obviously bad in a lot of ways, but the enormous diversity of the consumer marketplace means that whoever you are, you can probably find products that are designed and meant for you. This scale of market wouldn't exist without the diversity of business owners, product designers, and shopkeepers making and selling goods which, relative to the entire market, might be niche. Take, for example, Madam C.J. Walker. In the early 1900s, she built a business empire by manufacturing hair care products for African American hair.

The Black market was a relatively small portion of total sales, so most hair care makers just ignored Black customers' needs. Madam C.J. Walker's brothers were barbers and taught her some tricks for keeping her scalp moist when she experienced extreme dandruff and even hair loss. Drawn to hair care from that point, she then took a job with another Black woman who sold a line of her own products door-to-door. Taking the experiences from her brothers and combining them what she learned about business, she launched her own brand, and within a few years, she became America's first Black self-made millionaire.

The dream of a magnificent market that can serve the needs of everyone in America is a pretty nice one, and we're only as close as we are because of the contributions of Black business owners.

Happy African American History Month!

February 10

Last week at 18F Team Coffee, we spent our time celebrating team wins. It’s important to remind ourselves why we do this work, after all. And there was so much pride on display. The civil service gives us a lot to be proud of, and being the goober that I am, I was reminded of this scene from Blazing Saddles:

transcript: Woo, look at that start! Ooo-ee, Civil service!

African Americans have long been a staple of the civil service, often compromising disproportionately large share of the workforce compared to the general population. Black Americans have been delivering mail as long as there has been American mail to deliver, first under slavery and then under the postal system. Indeed, a great number of postmasters have been Black, going back to at least 1867! But like all of us in the civil service, African American public servants have long understood the enormous weight of the job, using their positions to uphold the law and increase equity across the nation. Today I want to specifically thank Blacks in Government (BIG) for its long tradition of fostering and supporting Black participation throughout the civil service, which has necessarily made us better and stronger.

Happy African American History Month!

February 11

Reading about Madam C.J. Walker last week got me thinking, we don’t really talk a lot about the African Americans who have shaped healthcare. Like Dr. Patricia Bath, the first Black American to complete a medical residency in ophthalmology. She then cofounded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness and invented the first laser therapy for cataracts. Instead of manually grinding cataracts out of eyes, doctors are now able to zap them with lasers, resulting in higher success rates, lower rates of pain, and faster recovery.

Also Dr. Charles Drew, whose discovery of a method for preserving and reconstituting blood plasma led to the creation of blood banks and has saved countless lives. Rather than having to store “whole blood,” which is not only bulky but also difficult (the cells tend to break down; whole blood is usually stored refrigerated, which slows down the cellular process and allows it to be stored for up to 3 weeks), dried plasma can safely be stored at room temperature. Dried-plasma technology was abandoned in the United States after WWII, but it is seeing renewed interest as the DOD recognizes the value for field medics who may not have access to refrigeration.

And let’s not forget Dr. Jocelyn Elders, the first Black Surgeon General of the United States, a determined and outspoken proponent of sex education and contraception. When President Bill Clinton told aides to fire her for talking about condoms, she refused and demanded that he tell her to her face. Not only did she educate a generation of Americans about safer sex, but she forced the president of the United States to confront her directly rather than go quietly. (Learn more about Dr. Elders in this wonderful episode of Science Vs).

All of this to say, healthcare the world over owes a lot to American physicians in general and African American physicians in particular. As ever, African American history is American history.

Happy African American History Month!

February 12

The Super Bowl is over, y’all. And what’s a Super Bowl party without the snacks?! Everyone loves the game day wings, some nice ranch dressing to dip them in, and some chips on the side, right? Even outside of football, these are staples of Americana.

Potato chips were invented by George Crum, a Black chef in New York in the early 1800s. Oh sure, the restaurant had fries, but people complained “oh they’re too thick, oh they’re too starchy.” Crum, in faux-frustration, decided to slice his “fries” super thin and fry them up, and potato chips were born. They were an instant success and now they live forever in American pantries.

Ranch dressing was invented by a Black cowboy in Alaska in the 1940s named Steven Hanson. Cowboys tended to cook for themselves, and Hanson had a dressing recipe that he served alongside his meals. He kept working at it until he landed on what we know as ranch today. It was so well-liked by the other cowpoke that he started the Hidden Valley Ranch company, and one of America’s most-beloved condiments was born.African American history is American history. There’s nothing about American culture that is untouched by Black influence and innovation, and we’re a better, happier, tastier place because of the contributions of African Americans.

Happy African American History Month!

February 13

Sometimes people like to sweep things under the rug, but that's just hiding the dirt. The dirt's still there. But in 1897, African American inventor Lloyd P. Ray filed a patent for a brand new device to provide an alternative to hiding the dirt: a dust pan. No, I'm not kidding. Yes it really did take until nearly the year 1900 for someone to have the idea of picking up the dirt. Anyway, Ray's invention was an iron scoop box attached to a pole so you could sweep dirt into the collection box without having to bend over, and the box was designed to be big enough that you didn't have to empty it every few seconds. Basically, exactly the dust pans we have today! No longer was it necessary to hide unsightly truths: Ray gave us the power to actually clean it up and make it better.

On the topic of helping create a healthy environment, Joseph H. Smith, another Black inventor, patented the first lawn sprinkler in 1897 as well. A healthy and vibrant lawn needs care, and Smith's invention helped lawns flourish. Instead of leaving lawns to dry and die of neglect, the people in charge could turn a tap and nourish the lawn with a healthy flow of rejuvenating water. While history has given us reason to reconsider the lawn's place in a healthy ecosystem, there's no doubt that Smith gave us all the chance to have healthy ones.

And you know what else is healthy? Well-preserved food. Until the 1940s, the only way to move food over long distances without it spoiling was by loading the container with a butt-load of ice and hoping for the best. But African American Frederick McKinley Jones, a WWI veteran and engineer, developed truck-mounted refrigeration units to help us get fresh fruits and veggies all across the country. (He'd previously invented a device to automatically synchronize the video and audio portions of a movie, which he sold to RCA. We can thank him for movie night, too.) An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but only if it's unspoiled. Thanks to McKinley, that's a realistic option!

Happy African American History Month!

February 14

We work in tech here, and we love (love?) tech, right? We just love hopping on a uick Meet or Zoom call to work on gnarly problems impacting the public experience of government. Even if we were all in offices, there’d be no escaping the need for telecommunication. And for this, we have to thank Dr. Marian Rogers Croak. Dr. Croak, an African American engineer, spent decades at Bell Labs and AT&T. Among the many things she did while managing a team of over 2,000 other engineers and overseeing 500 projects, she essentially invented Voice-Over-IP, the immediate precursor to modern video chat. We couldn’t Meet without Dr. Croak! And as if that world-changing innovation wasn’t enough, she – along with colleague Hossein Eslambolchi – invented the use of short SMS codes to donate money to charities. Yeah, that’s right. If you love those “text 12345 to donate $50 to my kidney transplant” messages, Dr. Croak gave us that too! Cynicism aside, this technology raised over $40 million for relief efforts following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. She saved lives.

You know what else we love? Wanting to go somewhere and knowing how to get there without unfolding a 20-foot-wide Rand McNally paper map. GPS has profoundly changed how we move about our world. Enter Gladys West, an African American mathematician and computer programmer. Starting in the 1950s, she worked at the US Navy as a computer programmer, but she wasn’t content to just program the computers. In the 1960s, she proved that Pluto’s motion was regular relative to Neptune, which is pretty cool, but she then parlayed the techniques she used into studying the shape of the Earth itself. Using data from NASA’s young satellite program, she was able to program a computer to calculate a much more precise mathematical model of the shape of the Earth, taking into account tidal, gravitational, and other cosmic forces. The geoid she developed was crucial to accurately identifying points on the surface of the Earth and literally made GPS possible. So the next time you’re going across town and you’re not sure how to get there, thank Gladys West for getting you directions!

We’d be living in a wildly different world without the contributions of just these two Black Americans. They’ve made our lives better and easier by advancing our scientific understanding of the universe and applying that knowledge in practical and useful ways. African American history is American history!

Happy African American History Month!

February 18

There’s nothing more American than rock and roll. An amalgam of American musical traditions before it, rock and roll fused jazz, the blues, gospel, country, and more. The concept can be traced as far back as a 1867 African-American spiritual that evokes the phrase, “rock my soul,” serving us a meaning of “rock” that’s still well-understand today. By the 1940s, the term “rock and roll” was used pretty frequently to refer to dancing along with rhythm and blues. It wasn’t until the 1950s, though, that rock and roll emerged as a distinct musical style.

Chuck Berry, an African American guitarist, musician, and singer, is often credited with taking piano riffs from the rhythm and blues scene and playing them on guitar. In one step, he gave us the immediately-identifiable sound of the rock guitar and beat. He’s also sometimes credited as the creator of rock and roll, both for his contributions on the guitar and also for the formation of his band. One historian claimed that Berry’s band was the first time “all the essential pieces” of rock and roll came together.

Another major influence on rock and roll were the Coasters, a Black singing group that broke the charts in the 1950s with their hits like Charlie Brown, Poison Ivy, and Yakety Yak. The Coasters introduced new musical devices, such as comedic bass replies to lyrics. Their innovations were picked up by other rock and roll bands throughout the 1960s. Their impact on the development of rock and roll music is undeniable, and in 1987, the Coasters became the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Previously all hall inductees were individual musicians.) And the Coasters are still touring! (Albeit, the membership has changed several times over the years, and none of the original members are still with us.)

Anyway, I love a good rock song. It is such an American cultural phenomenon. And it’s a great example of how all of American history is entwined with African American history; how all of us – White, Black, Native, Asian, etc. – are telling the same story. From different perspectives, yes, but still just one story. African American history is American history.

Happy African American History Month!