Through centuries of slavery, inequality, segregation, discrimination, and battles for rights and recognition into today, Black Americans have done the work to make their lives, and the lives of all Americans, better in both everyday and monumental ways. Despite trials and obstacles, Black Americans-even before the establishment was willing to call them American-continued to persevere, producing literature and art, forming communities around a shared existence and culture, and fighting for the freedoms of all people in the United States and abroad, even when such liberties were not fully available to them. We also acknowledge the hardships and setbacks that come with being Black in the United States, from the founding of the colonies through 400 years of enslavement, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, civil rights activism, ongoing social justice movements, mass incarceration, and more. Every February, we spotlight key figures of Black America from their arrival in 1619 to the present day, celebrating their achievements and triumphs.