Last month, I had the opportunity to return to my maternal ancestral home Thomasville, Georgia, a small town located about 40 minutes outside of Tallahassee, Florida. Thomasville is frequented by college students seeking a day trip and those looking for quaint, southern charm and hospitality.

I visited Thomasville years before as a child, and then again as one of those same college students wanting a change of scenery. I knew that Thomasville was once the home of my grandparents, but on my most recent trip, I had a new awareness of my family history. I learned that in the 1800s, my great-great grandfather Alf Ross was born a slave in Thomasville at a place called Springhill Plantation.

This latest visit to Thomasville was fueled by my hunger for more perspective on my family history. I had the opportunity to visit the Jack Hadley Black History Museum, a small but impactful institution filled with rich artifacts from Black American history. There, I spent time with my parents, aunts,  and uncles soaking in the history of Black people in Thomasville and the plight of my ancestors. I was surprised to see that I even showed up in a picture or two alongside my grandmother.

During the insightful visit, I was able to confirm what I had always known. My great-great grandfather was born a slave on Springhill Plantation and after emancipation, his descendants worked on the plantation as sharecroppers. The next generations decided to leave rural Georgia in pursuit of a better life. My grandfather, Edward Ross, moved to Miami, Florida where my mother was born and where I reside today.

Having this new-found knowledge of my familial history puts Juneteenth into a whole new light for me. I, along with other Black Americans, see Juneteenth as a time to reflect and pay tribute to our enslaved ancestors. It’s a time to mourn their struggle, but also to celebrate their resilience and indomitable spirits.

When Juneteenth was designated a federal holiday last year, a day that was relatively unknown to non-Black Americans had suddenly become an opportunity to market to Black people. Juneteenth should be celebrated and recognized by all. Afterall, Black history is American History.

As we move past Juneteenth, we hope that you reflect on the holiday’s true meaning and use the momentum of the holiday as a reminder to live up to the values of and build the inclusive society we all desire to live in.

If we are lucky enough in this life, we may enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with one of our heroes – whether a person or an institution – who has made a lasting impact on the world and whose legacy transcends time and carries on with each generation.

That shining opportunity happened to me when FH4Inclusion, FleishmanHillard’s global pro bono initiative, and True MOSAIC, our DE&I practice, were invited to collaborate with The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change (also known as The King Center) based in Atlanta. During the past few years, we had the esteemed honor of working with The King Center’s CEO Dr. Bernice A. King and The King Center’s PR and communications team.

Our first assignment with The King Center was the BE LOVE campaign. In collaboration with BBDO and Hearts & Science, we helped rally support around creating the Beloved Community – a way of living and a place where we can all work and play in peace and harmony and be treated as equals. We also worked to position Dr. King as a thought leader on voting rights, following the passing of Georgia’s restrictive voting legislation last year.

Since then, starting this January, we worked with The King Center to launch its new digital offering Nonviolence365® (NV365), a learning opportunity that trains people how to use Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy and principles of nonviolence to fight for social change. NV365 was announced a week before MLK Day, which brought on a unique set of challenges for FleishmanHillard and Dr. King’s communications team who was already preparing for one of the most important days of the year for The King Center. We were also asked to promote Dr. King’s new children’s book “It Starts with Me.”

As a result of our efforts, Dr. King was featured on several talk shows and other outlets, including The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Real, BBC News and others.

In honor of Black History Month, our True MOSAIC global practice co-lead, Adiya Mobley, facilitated an insightful internal discussion with Chance Patterson and Mina Bryant from The King Center. The conversation introduced the broader FleishmanHillard community to The King Center and discussed the importance of creating a Beloved Community in the corporate environment, among other topics.

The King Center participated in FleishmanHillard’s TRUE Self x True MOSAIC process, a collaborative effort that helps to define an organization’s foundational narrative, positioning and messaging in context to key stakeholders. The team helped define and articulate the work and mission of The King Center over the course of several workshop sessions.

“The work we’ve done alongside The Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Justice has been some of the most rewarding for many of us at FleishmanHillard,” said Jerry Tolk, senior partner & general manager of the FleishmanHillard in Atlanta office. “We were able to raise the profile of The King Center and Dr. King both nationally and internationally and garner visibility for NV365– an online social justice program that is central to the institution’s mission and the legacy it’s constantly growing and evolving.”

We encourage you to sign up for NV365 at thekingcenterinstitute.org to explore MLK’s philosophy of nonviolence and to become a part of creating the Beloved Community we all aspire to live in.

The African Diaspora includes countries and communities around the world with descendants from native Africa. For most, the movement and disbursement was involuntary as they were stolen from their land as enslaved people. Many countries and communities have been deeply influenced, and often built upon African culture and traditions, due to this involuntary movement. We celebrate the diaspora and FleishmanHillard employees sharing their perspectives as members of it.

Celebrating Afrolatinidad

By Gaetane Gomes

This YouTube video speaks volumes to me. I can relate to this as I am a first-generation American, of multi-cultural heritage. I was born in New York and my family is from the Dominican Republic. I didn’t understand until I was much older why I was frequently asked to “explain” my background…and why if I grew up in the United States, how did I come to learn Spanish? Documentaries such as these (and I encourage you to watch) have helped me share with others the robust culture I am proud to be a descendant of. If something shorter is more your vibe, 1:03 – 2:05 will say it all for me.

Adolescence is not easy for most of us, yet today in 2022 we have so much opportunity to learn from and grow with each other. Someone’s name, complexion, accent nor first language tells the full and complete story of how dynamic and unique we each individually are.

I’ve been fortunate to have been able to spend significant time in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. I love to dance and am always in the mood for some Cuban salsa. And if you could use a dance break, I’ll leave you with this song – Los 4 con Alexander Abreu – “Yo Represento.”

Here are some of the song’s lyrics translated to English:

Wherever you are

Let our voices reach you

Our messages, our hands be proud of who you are

Isle of Spice

By Cheyenne Cameron-Pruitt

Grenada, 21 miles long, 12 miles wide, nestled in the West Indies, the southernmost of the Lesser Antilles, often confused for a city in Spain, known for its spices, beautiful landscapes and unique underwater sculptures. I know it as my home away from home, a place that has instilled in me so much of who I am, even halfway around the world. There is a richness to the culture, where a strong sense of pride and a love from the people can be felt like none other I’ve known.

I found my love for storytelling through listening to the oral history shared by my great-grandma, who is now 105 – stories of pride for a nation, fear of fallout from political discourse, accounts of the strength shown by Grenadians throughout the country’s development and our ancestors’ resistance and revolution in the face of colonization and enslavement.

I found the courage to question the things that weren’t right as I learned about how my grandparents fought for Grenadian independence through protest and civil disobedience, and allowed their children to march with them 48 years ago. My grandpa was the first to teach me that sometimes what we read in the history books isn’t true, and that revisionist history not only exists but can be extremely dangerous.

I am blessed to have a place where I can feel my roots, and to feel at home outside of what I know. I’ve felt the energy, love and pride for my little island, but know that isn’t the experience of all. As I’ve explored what it means to be a Black American while also identifying as Grenadian, I’ve realized that having this cultural influence is not something to take lightly. The bittersweetness of being a part of the diaspora is that while many of us have the great privilege of honoring the culture, heritage and ancestors that we know, we must remember to not take it for granted as the same privilege was stolen from millions of others and their generations to come.

Bon Jay Peni Mueh!