Celebrating the Black community shouldn’t be limited to Black history month. Instead, it should be all day, all year. But there’s something about setting aside a day or month. It allows us to spread the word about the said cause. It creates awareness that otherwise wouldn’t happen. Therefore, when we look at Black history month, in that perspective, the celebration is justifiable.

The black community should be appreciated, praised, and cherished for what they’ve accomplished, just like everyone else. Also, it should happen in all the places, including –workplaces. So this post discusses 5 ideas to celebrate Black history month at your workplace.

1. Make every employee take part in Black history month

If you have planned to organize events for Black history month, make sure that every employee participates. It is often Black employees that organize their own celebrations. So as a company, if you want to change something this month, change the inequality created. Make sure to assign tasks or duties for every employee to make this month a grand celebration to praise their Black colleagues and their proud history.

Or, if your company is still working from home, celebrating Black history month could be a challenge. But fret not, we’ve got ideas. You can giveaway Black community support packs for your employees.

It can include shirts with slogans such as “we support the Black,” “celebrate the Black,” or “It’s the Black’s month.” You can come up with something creative and motivational. Not only shirts, but you can also add things like Hat, Button Pin, Tote Bag, and Coffee Mug.

This will not only be interesting but also inspiring for other companies that are working from home.

2. Direct contribution to Black-led business

This could be one of the best ways that you can celebrate Black history month. When you support a cause directly, it goes a long way, and you feel good about doing it. Therefore, set aside a day or two to make your employees volunteer or engage with Black-led businesses in your area.

Maybe they could spread the word about the business or help them raise funds to support the business. When your employees collaborate with Black-led businesses, they gain more exposure and sense about the Black community. The longer we stay divided, the worse it gets. Thus, the best thing could be to unite and move forward.

You can partner with many organizations such as Black Lives Matter and SisterLove to spread love and awareness as a company.

3. Create a channel to share Black history facts (e.g., Slack)

If your employees are clueless about Black history month, they might not understand the importance of it. Although it is improbable that people wouldn’t know about the black community and black month facts, it is better to do your part as an employer.

You can create a channel for ‘Black history month’ and add your employees to the channel. Explain the cause behind this channel and make them realize the importance of talking about Black history and how they’ve been neglected for years. Talk about the Black community’s potentials and achievements.

Encourage employees to share the facts that they know about. If you have planned events to celebrate the Blacks, then discuss it in the channel created. You can also nominate a person to post about the history, facts, and achievements of Black history on this channel. It will execute the ‘learning culture’ at your workplace.

4. Make it an entertaining event without losing the cause

Lessons taught through entertainment hit different, so why not? Let your employees know why people are rooting for Black lives and #blacklivesmatter trends on Twitter.

Screening a film at your workplace could be a good option to make it happen. There are tons of films directed and acted by black that show the real pain and struggles. Some films bring out the successful roles played by Black people and achievements they shouldered.

For example, Black Panther is a classic example that anyone could come up with. It has won millions of hearts while educating people on the subject.

If your company is still following the WFH system, you can opt for streaming platforms. Netflix, Hulu, and Twitch are some of the streaming platforms that let you enjoy virtual movie nights with friends, family, and –colleagues.

You can implement this for your employees, and we assure you it will be fun and educational. This would serve the purpose, and you don’t have to worry about losing the cause.

5. Start a reading club if you haven’t already

There are workplaces with reading clubs. But if you don’t have one, this is the call you’ve been waiting for. Use this celebration to start a reading club for your company. Select a book or two to read in a month.

Maybe this month, you can suggest a book like ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou. As it is an African American autobiography that speaks about racism and growing up as a Black, your employees will get a better perspective about it.

If you are working from home, you can share the selected book’s PDFs with your employees. This will shed more light on Black history month. Employees will get the chance to get into the shoes of the victims to understand them better.

Take-away

We have included five ideas that you can execute at your workplace. If you don’t want to implement all the ideas, you can opt for two or three. If you ask us, we’d suggest trying all five because they are simple and easy to implement.

You don’t need money to execute these. They are incredibly cost-effective. Yes, cost-effective suggestions include our  Black community swag packs too because we make sure that our customers are satisfied with the products and prices, so worry not!