Celebrating Black History Month: “The Life, The Work, The Fight”

DULUTH, MN. -- The month of February is dedicated as Black History Month.

“I am excited to see Minnesota moving in a direction that recognizes, not just recognizes or tolerates, but celebrates differences,” said Ruby Nancy, a member of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial board. “It celebrates what makes us the community that we are.”

Art displays and memorials are on the walls of the Zeitgeist for the exhibit called: “The Life, The Work, The Fight: Black Duluth in History Art.”

“It covers history in Duluth from the early 1800′s and also focuses on our elders in the community now,” said Nancy.

Organized by members of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, they hope to use the month of February as a chance to memorialize the history and recognize the future.

“This is a great place for us to sit and talk about the role that African Americans have played in the city of Duluth in a historical sense,” said Dr. Rogier Gregoire, the assistant chairman of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial.

Looking to the victories made on Friday, after state holiday Juneteenth, and the CROWN Act were signed into law.

“This notion that this society has the capacity to inform itself about who it is and what it wants to do is really liberating and extraordinary,” said Gregoire.

A small win as it opens conversations of what Black History means to those in the state, and the city.

“Having Juneteenth celebrated as a holiday, it’s a way of acknowledging this history that many folks don’t want to acknowledge,” said Nancy. “Our memorial is a way of doing that as well.”

This exhibit will be open to the public for the rest of the month.

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