Katura J. Hudson

No Skips.  You know the times you listen to music all the way through, not wanting to miss a song? That's what BlackWeek was like. Stage after stage of powerful content thoughtfully curated to help advance opportunity and economic growth in Black and Brown communities and “move the culture forward.” One of the things that stuck with me when I first heard about BlackWeek: they offered pay equity pricing in acknowledgement of the pay disparities between women, women of color and male counterparts. That intentionality showed up throughout the entire event, from the onsite barber services by Bevel to the BlackWeek app, which I'm still revisiting a week later. Congratulations and THANK YOU to the BlackWeek founders and planning team for this much-needed space, vision, and the greatness it’s inspiring!  Learn more. Photo description: 1. Joe Anthony, Dabo Che and Gabrielle Shirdan present at the “Black Lemonade” panel. Gabrielle is standing near a large screen displaying a slide that...

 Yes, February is Black History Month in the US. However simply *learning* about Black people’s contributions wasn’t the original intent of the observance. Founder Carter G. Woodson advocated for year-round study of Black history. He wanted Negro History Week (precursor to BHM) to be a celebration of all we had learned throughout the year!  I think of Black History Month as less of cram session, more of a graduation.  A few things I learned this past year: Freedom House, a Black ambulance service founded in Pittsburgh inspired today’s EMS system  https://lnkd.in/dJMSy8gt Every year BHM has a theme. This year it’s Black health and wellness. Last year it was the Black family. I’ve been celebrating for decades and had NO idea!  Entrepreneur Maggie Lena Walker, best known for being the first woman to own a US bank, was also a PR pro. She published a newsletter, pitched other media outlets to get coverage for an org dedicated to Black financial advancement, and used ...