Celebrate Black History Month!

Each February we celebrate the African American story in our country. Honoring the history and culture and learning about those who contributed to the growth of our country is the foundation of this important month.

African Americans and Labor

For 2025, the theme for Black History Month is “African Americans and Labor.” This theme focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds—free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary—intersect with the collective experiences of Black people.

One of the most significant organizations in the African American labor movement was the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) led by A. Philip Randolph in 1925. Although many predominantly Black unions had risen and fallen over the years, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the largest union of Black members to receive a charter from the American Federation of Labor (AFL), now known as the AFL-CIO. Of the many people who contributed to the movement, the fascinating Mary McLeod Bethune was appointed director of African American Affairs by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for advocating for education for all. Even today, labor rights are alive and well with people like Chris Smalls, whose activism helped unionize Amazon workers.

Read about five Black leaders that helped shape the labor movement in the U.S.

American House celebrates our residents who have earned their place in this month of honor:

There is Bobbie Steele of American House Oak Park, who was named the 32nd President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
Darline at American House East II was a member of the Detroit Police Department from 1985 to 2000.
Mary, a resident at American House Brentwood and music-lover from childhood, became a Fisk Jubilee Singer.