February is Black History Month, a time when we honor the triumphs and tragedies throughout our history of Black Americans, some famous and some whose names are not known to us. Black history is not separate from American history but an essential part of it. You cannot learn American history without learning Black history. As Maya Angelou once said “Won’t it be wonderful when Black history and Native American history and Jewish history and all of U.S. history is taught from one book. Just U.S. history.”
Building on that theme, at WJCS, we are one agency. We may do our work individually but what makes us a special agency is not the effort of any one person but the contributions of all of us. One of my favorite quotes is from Senator Cory Booker who said, “We have had in our nation a well-celebrated Declaration of Independence. But our success as a country will depend upon a new ‘Declaration of Inter-dependence.’ A belief in how much we need each other, how much we share one common destiny.”
Our success as an agency depends not on what we do independently but on our interdependence. We all need to do our work but more than that we need each other. We are stronger and better able to do our jobs when we all know and feel every day the connection of others. That connection creates a sense that we all belong here.
As we go forward in this still new year let’s make our own history by making sure every person has a sense of belonging at WJCS. Without that, none of us succeeds and the people we serve who need us now more than ever will suffer. I look forward to working with you on this journey, which is inspired by the message of Black History Month and essential to our success as an agency.
