February is Black History Month, which is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. It honors all Black people from all periods of U.S. history, from the enslaved people first brought over from Africa in the early 17th century to African Americans living in the U.S. today.
To celebrate Black History Month, CCM’s DEI committee is organizing activities including all team members sharing historical facts that they think team members don’t know about Black history and culture. There have been amazing stories shared including how in 1804, Haiti became the first independent, Black-led republic in the modern world after it threw off French colonial control and slavery to the story behind “We are Penn State” to Ethiopian Black Jews in Israel. Other activities planned include a virtual field trip to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C to learn about African American artists and hear about the historical, social, and cultural events and experiences that inspired their work.
As part of our marketing efforts tied in with Black History Month, earlier this week we shared a new report, Building Wealth and Racial Equality Through Homeownership, which shares research and statistics on why homeownership is critical for reducing the racial wealth gap. Homeownership is one of the primary tools for building wealth, but homeownership has failed to benefit Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) homeowners as much as it has benefited white homeowners because of a long history of unequal treatment. Finding ways to increase homeownership opportunities for all income levels and ethnicities is critical to wealth building and for reducing the racial wealth gap that persists. We are hosting a webinar on 2/22 at 1pm to share details on the report and bridging the racial wealth gap.
We would love to hear how other firms are celebrating Black History Month. Please feel free to share your happenings with us via email at info@ccminvests.com.