February is here. 

And if you’re black like me, that really means one thing – Black History Month! 

What began as 'Negro History Week' in 1926 and was officially designated Black History Month in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, February is our time to reflect on and honor the accomplishments of Black Americans.

So many famous inventions that we still use today are credited to Black Americans, including the gas mask, the traffic light, automatic elevator doors, America’s first clock, and countless others. The contributions of Black Americans are as significant as those of any other ethnicity and culture in our society. Black History Month provides us an opportunity to spotlight and celebrate the achievements of Black Americans in this country, despite the history of racism and oppression.

But while we take the time to honor the past, we also need to celebrate the present and the future.

Working within destination organizations can at times feel lonely as a Black American. Often, we find ourselves as one of the select few, and sometimes the only one, in our offices who look like us. This can lead to struggles with feeling welcome and being our true selves. Sometimes, the only other black person we see is when we travel to a conference or tradeshow. During my time working at destination organizations, I consistently struggled to find another person in marketing and communications who looked like me. It’s an issue that we see throughout this industry, particularly in the C-Suite and Executive offices.

In recent years, our industry has seen a renewed focus on creating welcoming and belonging destinations, as well as diversifying the workforce to include more people of color. As we continue to spread this message and do the necessary work, here are five ways that destination organizations can celebrate Black History Month:

1. Bring in a guest speaker. 

Often, people don’t know where to start when it comes to celebrating a culture that is not of their own. Hosting a guest speaker from your community to talk about Black History Month is a great start. The intimate setting of a speaker and your staff can eliminate any misconceptions and provide valuable insights into what Black History means to your community.

2. Recognize your employees. 

Stop waiting on the local business journals to celebrate your staff. Be proactive and highlight your staff and their accomplishments. The impact of seeing the success of Black Americans is crucial, so don’t take your staff or their work for granted. If they can see it, they can be it – so think of this as a way of inspiring the next generation.

3. Celebrate your local black-owned businesses. 

The barriers to entry for black entrepreneurs are vast, making the success rate of black-owned businesses even more challenging. Schedule a team outing to a black-owned establishment, whether that be a meal or team activity. Start being intentional about where you spend your dollars, where you host client meetings and where you send travel writers. Share the stories of local black-owned businesses with the local community and beyond.

4. Volunteer with a local organization. 

Encourage your staff to volunteer at a local organization that is doing work within the black community, as a matter of fact, make it a team activity. As destination organizations, if you want people to better understand what you do and the benefit you bring to the community, you need to make yourself visible – and that means visible to all. 

5. Create a networking day. 

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. It is said that only 4% of black-owned businesses make it past the start-up phase and 80% of black-owned businesses fail within the first 18 months. As a destination organization, create an open-house style networking event so that your staff and the local business community can meet one another, creating opportunities for growth.

When Carter G. Woodson created “Negro History Week” I doubt he ever imagined that a week-long celebration would turn into a month-long celebration. But this month-long celebration really is a life-long celebration. February is not the only month you can celebrate Black History. After all, Black History isn’t just Black History, it is American History. We are celebrating the shared history that belongs to all of us as Americans. By collectively and consciously celebrating black history, we can rewrite the narrative of our nation.