Black History Month is often framed around the leaders we learn about in textbooks. Those leaders deserve recognition. But history is also shaped by everyday people whose persistence has protected and expanded democracy in quieter ways.

In our communities, that looks like Black elders whose births were never properly recorded, returning citizens rebuilding their lives after incarceration, and Detroit residents navigating housing instability while still showing up to vote.

For many Black families, access to documentation, housing stability, and full civic participation has never been guaranteed. The right to vote was fought for, defended, and protected in the face of poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and exclusion. Today, barriers can take different forms, but they exist within that same historical arc.

When a birth certificate was issued inaccurately, when records were lost or incomplete, or when transportation and access to government offices are limited, additional hurdles are created.

These realities reflect a long history of unequal access. Black communities have continued to organize, vote, and lead through every generation. 

Participation has remained strong and sustained across generations, in systems built to make access to civic power difficult to impossible.

Black History Month calls us to remember that civic participation has always required sustained effort. It has required organizing, education, and community support.

VAAC’s work continues that tradition by bringing voter education and civic access directly into shelters, reentry spaces, and community settings where access has long been limited or denied. The stories we hear reflect a long tradition of resilience and leadership in Black communities. They carry forward generations of organizing, persistence, and civic engagement.

This month, we honor not only the leaders whose names we know, but the everyday voters who continue to insist that their voices matter.