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February 1, 2025
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Learn more about five historical Black leaders who confronted injustice, built movements and shaped the policies and reforms our grantees champion today.
Our progress toward justice and inclusion is built on the work of those who came before us. Throughout history, Black leaders have challenged injustices, forged new paths and laid the foundation for systemic change. Their stories offer powerful lessons that inform the work our grantees lead today.
As we honor the contributions of Black leaders throughout Black History Month, we are highlighting five Black leaders whose legacies continue to inspire our pursuit of justice. Their stories explore:
- The role of education in advancing justice and inclusion;
- The fight for labor rights and protections for domestic workers;
- Coalition building among Black and Jewish communities;
- The lasting influence of journalism in criminal justice reform; and
- The pursuit of racial justice and reconciliation in Tulsa.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Dorothy Bolden, John Lewis, Ida B. Wells and Julius Pegues are among the many Black leaders whose work throughout history reminds us that when communities unite and persist, meaningful change can take root.
1. Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the Power of Education in Advancing Justice
"Real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better."
Founder, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, often called the “Father of Black History,” understood that education was essential to shaping informed, empowered communities.
He saw how excluding Black history from curricula erased contributions, upheld inequality and denied Black students a full understanding of their heritage.
As the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Woodson advocated for an education system that would recognize the full spectrum of Black American experiences in its history curricula.
His efforts led to the creation of Negro History Week in 1926, which evolved into Black History Month, ensuring Black history remains a cornerstone of education for generations to come.
Today, Woodson’s work inspires grantees in our Education portfolio, along with the teachers and district leaders they support, by reminding us that to shape our future, we must fully understand our past.
2. Dorothy Bolden and the Movement for Domestic Workers' Rights
"Ask yourself. Get in the mirror and look at yourself and say, 'So what do I want to be, what do I want to do? Where do I want to go and how do I get there?"
Founder, the National Domestic Worker's Union of America
As a young child, Dorothy Bolden began working as a domestic worker. Like so many other women in the profession, she experienced firsthand how working in others’ homes left workers vulnerable and with little recourse to address abuse, wage theft and retaliation for speaking out.
These injustices were baked into the system. The Social Security Act of the 1930s, which established minimum wage and overtime protections, excluded domestic and farm workers—at the time, jobs primarily held by Black Americans as a legacy of slavery. As a result, those workers to this day do not have the same federal labor protections as all other labor sectors.
Adapting lessons learned from the civil rights movement to build collective power, Bolden founded the National Domestic Workers Union of America in 1968. Through the union, she organized thousands of women across the country to successfully advocate for better wages and hours for domestic workers and pushed for legal reforms to secure rights and recognition.
Bolden’s leadership helped ensure domestic work was recognized and valued—deserving of fair wages, legal protections and safe conditions. She changed countless workers’ lives and ignited a larger movement for gender and racial justice in the workplace.
Her legacy lives on through grantees in our Gender and Reproductive Equity portfolio working to ensure women have the support and protections they need to build stable futures.
3. John Lewis and Coalition Building with Black and Jewish Communities
"Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet."
Former U.S. Congressman and Activist
Former Congressman John Lewis understood that while progress is never easy, it is always possible when communities join together.
Beyond his activism in the civil rights movement—from joining the Freedom Rides to marching from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights—Lewis exemplified the power of coalition building in the face of adversity.
He believed that communities with histories of persecution and resilience, like Black and Jewish communities, could unite to create a more pluralistic society and a stronger democracy for all.
In 1982, Lewis put this belief into action by partnering with the American Jewish Committee to establish the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition, which later inspired the Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus in 2019.
Today, grantees in our Jewish Community portfolio continue Lewis' work of building a society where belonging and inclusion are paramount while upholding his core belief:
Together, we can create something greater than the sum of our parts.
4. Ida B. Wells and Her Impact on the Criminal Justice System
"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them."
Journalist and Co-Founder, NAACP
Ida B. Wells knew the cost of truth-telling. After she exposed the brutal lynching of her three close friends in 1892, a mob destroyed her newspaper office and forced her to flee her home in Memphis.
Rather than be silenced, she dedicated her life to exposing racial violence and demanding justice.
Through investigative journalism and advocacy, Wells challenged the systems that enabled violence and demanded protections for Black Americans. She fought for civil rights and women’s suffrage and co-founded the National Association of Colored Women and the NAACP. Her legacy is one of fearless organizing and an unshakable commitment to justice.
Grantees in our Criminal Justice portfolio build on Wells' efforts to end mass incarceration, advance restorative justice and hold systems accountable for violence against Black communities.
Her work continues to power movements that are reimagining safety and justice for all.
5. Julius Pegues and the Pursuit of Justice and Healing in Tulsa
"There is no magic solution, but if we continue to talk about it and work on it, one day, we’ll solve it... And that will make Tulsa a much better place to live for everybody."
Civil Rights Activist and Community Advocate
In the 1950s, Julius Pegues, a star high school basketball player from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was barred from playing at the University of Oklahoma; they did not accept Black athletes. Later, he made history as the first Black varsity basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh.
This experience of discrimination was not new to Pegues. He had grown up among a generation of survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and saw firsthand the deep injustices they endured.
Determined to bring healing to his community, Pegues spent his life working to advance racial justice in Tulsa. He collaborated with local leaders to desegregate public spaces, challenge discriminatory practices and establish a Tulsa chapter of the NAACP.
In the last two decades of his life, he created lasting spaces to honor the victims and survivors of the massacre in Tulsa.
Grantees in our Hometown of Tulsa portfolio continue Pegues' work for racial justice. They seek to build a future where all Tulsans—especially people of color, immigrants, families living in poverty and LGBTQ people—can thrive.
The stories we remember of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Dorothy Bolden, John Lewis, Ida B. Wells and Julius Pegues remind us that systemic change is born of persistence, collective action and an unwavering belief in a more just and inclusive society.
Each of these leaders saw injustice and refused to let it stand. Woodson ensured that Black history would not be erased. Bolden amplified the voices of domestic workers. Lewis advanced civil rights and built bridges between movements. Wells exposed the truth when others sought to silence it. And Pegues opened doors so future generations could walk through them.
Their lives call us to remember that change is possible—and that the pursuit of justice lives on in those who rise, organize and press ahead.
This Black History Month, we hold these stories close, knowing the work lives on through our grantees and in the actions we take every day.
