The Work in This Season

This Black History Month, I’m returning to voices from the civil rights movement that shaped how I think about justice, identity, and responsibility. I’m starting with James Baldwin.

Baldwin came to mind during a moment of reflection. I was sitting with a feeling somewhere between disappointment and sadness, and in moments like that, I turn to writers who refuse to soften what needs to be said. Baldwin has always offered that kind of honesty.

His work still feels relevant. That is how I often experience Black History Month. The month can invite us to summarize and commemorate, but Baldwin resists that. His writing reminds us that Black history is not confined to one month. It lives in our questions, our discomfort, and our becoming.

Reading him feels less like looking back and more like checking in.

Through his essays, novels, and public commentary, Baldwin challenged systems that denied Black people dignity and full participation in society. His 1965 debate with William F. Buckley, Has the American Dream Been Achieved at the Expense of the American Negro?, remains one of the clearest examples of his willingness to name injustice directly. He did not soften his observations. He told the truth as he saw it and understood that awareness was necessary for change.

We are living in a time shaped by distraction. Much of what we see is designed to keep us reactive. Policies that once aimed to improve the quality of life are being challenged, questioned, or rolled back under the cover of confusion and unrest.

Recognizing this is only the first step.

What Baldwin reminds me, and what this season requires, is discernment. There is work to be done that calls for steadiness, unity, and participation. Civic engagement is not optional. It is responsibility.

And responsibility begins with attention.

If you are unsure where to start, begin small and stay consistent. Read past the headlines. Notice whose interests are centered and whose are missing. Learn how local decisions shape your daily life and your community.

Civic engagement does not have to be loud. Often, it looks like preparation, follow-through, and presence.

In this season, agency looks like staying present, even when the work is long and hard.

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