Black History Month at the Brown School 2025: Land and Labor Acknowledgement

The Black History Month Committee at the Brown School is dedicated to honoring and amplifying the history, culture, and contributions of African Americans.  Through our programming, we strive to educate, inspire, and engage in dialogue that centers on the resilience, achievements, and struggles of Black Americans and enslaved people throughout history. Our work is grounded in a commitment to social justice, equity, and the ongoing fight against systemic oppression, as we aim to foster a more inclusive and just future for all communities.

In alignment with these values, we acknowledge the ancestral lands of the Indigenous peoples upon which we gather and recognize the profound debt we owe to them—not only for the stewardship of this land but also for their labor, which has often been appropriated and unrecognized. We further recognize the labor—both stolen and coerced—that has built and upheld this nation and whose contributions have profoundly shaped St. Louis and our institution. This includes but is not limited to the earliest Africans in the Americas, enslaved and trafficked individuals of African descent, Chinese immigrants who laid the railroads, Japanese Americans unjustly imprisoned during World War II, and Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers. We honor the contributions of immigrant and American-born workers of Black, Asian, Central, and South American descent and Caribbean and African immigrants, whose labor and creativity continue to enrich our communities.

We also recognize the persistent refusal of U.S. institutions, as well as other institutions across the globe, to fully acknowledge the humanity of these individuals and the ongoing impacts of these injustices. These include economic disparities, social inequalities, and cultural erasure that have been perpetuated not only by governmental and economic systems in the United States but also by colonial, imperial, and oppressive regimes worldwide. The Black History Month Committee at the Brown School urges all to commit to repairing historical harms and addressing the ongoing trauma these communities face, domestically and globally.