Damita Miller-Shanklin, Editor/Writer

Growing up I remember every February in my class we would discuss Martin Luther King, Jr. He was the main focus for our Black History Month. That was it. I learned about our other heroes later as I read books and watched movies. 

This February, as I celebrate Black History Month, I feel a heavy weight on my shoulders. We are bombarded daily by racism, inequality, lies, and death. We hear about museums removing our black stories from museums, removing our accomplishments as culture and community and the list goes on. All of this chaos has made me focus more on sharing our stories and ensuring our future generations understand how and what our ancestors went through to make our lives better. Because in actuality, our history can’t be erased or ignored because the history of events happened. Slavery happened. Hangings happened. 

To lighten the mood, we took a different view of Black History Month. We decided to focus on locations Austin Landmarks that were important to me growing up in Austin. We hope our memories will spark some fond memories for you. 

Keep Blooming