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 Squid from the customer service team.
The following interview has been lightly edited.
What was your first experience with Black History Month?
I was in kindergarten, and I think that’s when we learned about it and watched the movie “Our Friend, Martin.” I know it’s still a holiday today, but growing up, Black History Month was a legit holiday. It was a big thing in my school district, where they really took the time out to have us watch movies about it, learn about it, do presentations about it, and I learned so much because of that.
I knew about all that stuff since I was a kid, but school is what taught me about Black History Month first, before anything else. They educated me on Garrett Morgan, who invented the traffic light, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X, just all those people. I hope that schools keep it like that where they do something for the month, where they show appreciation. Every day they could teach about somebody new, regardless of when they were in history, you know? There are so many people who have done great things, even right here in Detroit.
How has Black History Month inspired you?
Black History Month inspires me because it embraces a culture 100%, and we can make everyone more aware of our culture. The month highlights a lot of people that are doing great things in the black community, from regular, local people to people like Kobe or Jay-Z. A lot of people do a lot of things, so I’m just glad that we have this specific month to highlight what’s been accomplished.
Why is Black History Month so important?
It’s vital so people everywhere in the world can really know our history, from slavery, segregation, to now. It’s important to learn about people that are doing so many great things, like being entrepreneurs and owning your own business. Black history month is important because it shows the rest of the world that there isn’t one way or one story to our history. It taught me a lot, beginning when I was little, that I could do anything I wanted.
Why is it important for StockX to honor Black History Month?
There are a lot of younger kids on our platform that, I feel, could be unaware of the actual background of the culture, so it is important to show them. We need to highlight the culture and month, and I know a lot of companies don’t do that. It also shows that we’re a diverse company, and diversity is something we embrace because a lot of what StockX is, is culture. We work with so many people outside of StockX on marketing and campaigns that are black. Like Joe Freshgoods, who is one of those people that touches a lot of black culture. Celebrating the month helps show that we do a lot of cool stuff with a lot of cool people.
What do you think is Black History Month’s legacy?
I think it’s going to be a more embracing event in the future. It’d be cool to see it more like a big festival, like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or more like Afropunk in New York. But I feel like it’s going to be more cultural where we do more stuff for and within the black community. I think it’s going to be a universal experience and looked at more like a holiday that people that are not black will look forward to and embrace.
Be sure to check out more of our celebration of Black History Month.
