February is Black History Month. Join us this month to celebrate and remember Black contributions to history – and look ahead to the future. Image credit: SDOT Editor’s Note (February 1, 2022): This Blog post was developed in close partnership between our Communications Team and our Black Employees Support Team (BEST) Employee Resource Group (ERG), to directly center the voices of our Black colleagues while reflecting on the significance of Black History Month and how it relates to our work.
From everyone here at the Seattle Department of Transportation, we’d like to join you in recognizing and honoring the start of this year’s Black History Month, which runs from today, February 1 through February 28.
Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing stories to remember African American leaders who have contributed to our transportation system – and more broadly to our communities in general – through their public service, steadfast belief in the future, technological inventions, and dedication to a better life for all people.
Please stay tuned to the SDOT Blog and our social media channels as we share updates throughout the month to celebrate these achievements by Black innovators and community members.
We plan to share highlights both at a national scale and more locally in the Seattle and Pacific Northwest region, looking back through the years of history, while tying this foundational work back to our team’s focuses in the present day – and looking ahead to what the future could hold.
All of this directly relates to our department’s Vision, Mission, Values, and Goals, which are central to guiding our overall work to deliver a transportation system that provides safe and affordable access to places and opportunities – for ALL community members. Specifically, Equity and Mobility are two of our core values and goals. We’ve touched on each of these concepts in previous Blog posts. This includes our 3-part Roadside Chat series with Matt Howard from fall 2020 (part 1, part 2, & part 3) regarding his re-definition of what mobility means for the Black community. This kind of re-imagination of mobility and equity helps inform much of the work we do – in alignment with the work by our Transportation Equity Workgroup, which has been developing a new Transportation Equity Framework to help guide our additional steps forward – please stay tuned for future updates on this effort. We anticipate this work will allow us to be more responsive to the needs of Black community members, as well as other communities of color and other underserved communities in Seattle.
We’ll also link to additional resources including civic and non-profit organizations rooted in the African American community, such as the Northwest African American Museum – and many more.
Once again, thank you for joining us to honor Black History Month 2022!
