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Black History Month is a time that we pause and reflect, educating ourselves on the achievements of the pioneers in Black history who through determination and grit have enabled our communities to thrive and prosper.
Here’s how some of our hotels are celebrating and commemorating this month:
Date: February 25th, 2023
Events Include a Black Health Fair and hybrid discussions on managing relationships, jumping the broom ceremony and presentation of scholarships. The event will also host a gala which will showcase some of the nations most talented young artist. The gala will also have as their keynote speaker, Leon, famous actor, singer and director known for his roles in movies such as The Temptations and The Five Heartbeats and many more. The Gala will also recognize the Guest of Honor, Dr. Betty Kilby Fisher Baldwin, writer and activist.
The Harper Fort Worth is cultivating partnerships with our local museums, arenas, and tourism partners to showcase Black History Month Events and Showcases.
The Bill Pickett Rodeo honoring black cowboys and cowgirls is hosting their annual rodeo event in Fort Worth on February 18. This event provides an opportunity to host attendees and/or a private event in Refinery 714 or Il Modo, showcase their history and craft and provide access to our Guests to the Bill Pickett Rodeo Event.
One of our top initiatives in 2023 is local outreach to our Arts & Culture District – The Harper will aim to feature Black Artists to showcase their work in interactive art talks and meetups at Refinery 714.
Fort Worth Opera is highlighting A Night of Black Excellence featuring songs exclusively by Black and Aftro-Latino composers on February 12, 2023. The Harper will position itself as a local supporter inviting composers and singers to share their talent and stories at Refinery 714 while offering our guests a special package with Fort Worth Opera Tickets as an optional add-on.
This year we will be celebrating Black History Month by taking our Team Members on a field trip to the National Museum of African American Music Museum (NMAAM). We started this new tradition last year and it was a huge hit with our Team Members. This experience not only taught us about the huge influence African Americans have made on music but allowed us the opportunity to become closer as a team.
Black History Month is also a great time for us to shine a spotlight on local Black Owned Businesses. We love to follow up our museum field trip with a visit to a local BOB. This year we will stop in for a treat at Slim and Huskies. See the info below on this amazing, community driven restaurant.
“Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria is a fast casual, artisan pizza shop with a love for hip hop & R&B culture. With locally sourced ingredients and local craft brews, we build community by advocating the people and businesses that make every space great.”
The hotel will call attention to an event – the Newport Gilded Age in Color discussion on February 8 at the Newport Art Museum led by Keith Stokes of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society. As well, the hotel will promote visits to “God’s Little Acre”, a section of Newport’s Common Burying Ground, an historic location with the largest surviving collection of burial markers of enslaved and free Africans, all of whom contributed to the commercial, society and religious life of Colonial Newport.
We have partnered with the Newport Historical Society, as they are having a Creative survival walking tour. This tour allows people to discover the history of Newport’s people of color, enslaved and free. Explore the places where enslaved people lived and labored, along with locations where free African Americans built their enterprises and supported a new local industry. We will be working with them to get rack cards to hand out to both staff and guest to promote the tour.
We are also partnering with the Martin Luther King Center in Newport and donating children’s books that celebrate Black History Month. These books will be collected over the course of February and then donated at the end of the month!
We have reached out to the National Championship Bradley University Speech Team who has the number one Speech Team in the Country. They along with local high school speech teams will present poetry, prose, informative speeches, and oral presentations highlighting materials from the African Diaspora during our weekly standups.
Snowpine Lodge is partnering with local black business owner Rita Magalde of Sheer Ambrosia Bakery. She was featured in an article from the Salt Lake Tribune in 2021:
While thousands are making a statement about injustice at marches, protests and vigils, many Utahns have found an additional way to fight racial inequity. They are spending their dining dollars at restaurants, food trucks and bakeries owned by people of color.
“To have so many people, all at one time, find out about my business and want to support me, is exciting,” Magalde said, especially since she lost a large part of her business when restaurants closed due to the coronavirus.
Magalde said she is grateful for the support but also feels conflicted. She wants people to support her bakery because she offers a quality product. “We, as black people, don’t want to be victims,” she said. “We are strong, and we are proud people and hard workers.”
Rita Magalde is answering a few questions about her personal and professional journey as a black business owner that will be shared with our team members in February. Our employee celebration in February will include her delicious baklava as dessert!
Recently, a historic Black-owned publishing company, Third World Press, in Chicago faced a devastating flood and tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage. They lost an estimated 75% of their inventory, including thousands of books. TWP is the oldest independent, continuously operating Black publishing house in the nation. Some authors they’ve worked with are Gwendolyn Brooks, Chancellor Williams, Angela Jackson, Adelaide Sanford, and Useni Eugene Perkins. Third World Press has set up an online fundraiser in hopes to offset some of the losses they’ve experienced. Here at Hotel Zachary, we plan to host a bake sale to raise money to donate to TWP, 100% of our profits will be contributed to help them recover from this tragedy.
In addition, on February 9th, The Bar at Hotel Zachary will be partnering with Brown & Balanced + Diageo to host a bar takeover. Brown & Balanced is a community organization that celebrates and showcases Black bar and hospitality professionals. The Brown & Balanced organization raises money to support charities that focus on lifting up Black & Brown communities in cities where they host events. At the bar takeover, local emerging black guest bartenders will be featured as well as specialty curated cocktails. Some of the private spirit tastings include: Moors Beer, Alexander James Whiskey, Bayab Gin, and Vusa Vodka. There will also be an art exhibit that is featuring local artists from the area. All creatives at this event are local minority professionals that are coming together to celebrate and showcase culture, heritage, and history. 20% of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Brown & Balanced nonprofit organization.
To celebrate Black History Month, Le Meridien Houston is combining a local tradition, “Go Texan Day” and a bit of history, honoring the lesser know history of the African American Cowboys. The cowboy lifestyle came into its own in Texas, but what many do not know is that one in four cowboys were African American. Following the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to men of color who did not want to serve as elevator operators or delivery boys. This “Go Texan Day” the team will dress in their best cowboy/cowgirl attire, participate in cowboy inspired games, learn a bit of history, and have a western inspired meal. Our celebration will be held during our monthly Town Hall meeting on “Go Texan Day” Friday, February 24, 2023.
In honor of recognizing and celebrating Black History Month, Royal Park Hotel will be partnering with the Charles H. Wright, African-American museum located in downtown Detroit. We will be donating $1 from every dessert purchased from our restaurant to the museum throughout the month of February.
Hotel Zephyr is excited to partner with our local San Francisco MLK Foundation to recognize Black History Month. We are committed to furthering the unity and peace message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here at Hotel Zephyr. A few ways we intend to support San Francisco’s MLK Foundation is by providing free meeting space for events, monetary donations and hands on support at various Black History events throughout the month. Hotel Zephyr is also adding images and information to our lobby and break room TV screens with affluent Black figures throughout history. In addition, we are providing our guest with children balloons with various quotes (below) from African American Historical figures.