Black History Month is an important celebration where everyone can come together to talk, share, listen, explore, and learn about the central importance of the black experience in American society.
For this installment, we talked with StockX team member Ryan, a sneaker authenticator on the Operations team in Tempe.
The following interview has been lightly edited.
What was your first experience with Black History Month?
My first experience with Black History Month was my exposure to it from my family. My grandfather, David Kittrell, is a big historian. He wrote Afrocentric novels including A.R.C. of ‘Sankofa’ and was always big into black history. But it first came from my family and from there I was told the resources where I can find more of this information on my own. I’m grateful I had these resources because this information is hard to find and many people are not knowledgeable about it.
How has Black History Month personally inspired you?
It makes me believe in change and it gives me a lot of hope. You can make something different from how it was in the past, so you don’t have to be stuck. It gives me a lot of hope that we got to this point in time and that we’re able to sit down and talk about black history. Having a month dedicated to black history and having it be a part of American history gives me hope, and I am reminded of where the black community has come from. The month reminds me that we can still make change and push forward for a more equal world.
Why do you think Black History Month is so important?
As I said before, this information is not really promoted or marketed. People don’t understand that there is black history out there to learn and I think Black History Month is dedicated to highlighting that information so it’s not something that people overlook. I think the beautiful part of it is that it highlights the culture and the whole meaning of not just being African American but just being a person of color.
Why is it important for StockX to honor Black History Month?
It’s an awareness thing. My grandfather was a big part of my life and would come to my school during Black History Month to give speeches and teach black history to not just me, but to my fellow classmates, and I thought that was very important. I think that’s what StockX is trying to do: spread awareness and try to teach people about black history. Maybe those reading these interviews will take extra steps after reading this and want to check out more about black history.
What do you think is Black History Month’s legacy?
Black History Month is beautiful now and has been since the time it was created, but in the future, Black History Month will be a testament to how far we’ve come as a society, and I think we are still heading towards a brighter future. The legacy of Black History Month shows where we came from, how we can still make change, and how we’ll evolve. I think that Black History Month will cease to exist and it will just become a part of American history, which will all coexist in the melting pot of America. I think the legacy of it will be viewed a little differently because there are steps we are taking and will continue to take that will change future generations and change the idea of how we are living today.
Be sure to check out more of our celebration of Black History Month.
