For many of us, Christmas is a time to exchange gifts, indulge in slices of sweet potato pie, and binge-watch movies like "This Christmas" and "Best Man Holiday" with family. But for Black Americans, spreading holiday cheer has also meant reflecting on the injustices in our society and actively working to do something about them.
Historically, Christmas was one of the only times when some enslaved Black folks were given time off from the grueling work of plantation life. In the 1830s, the large slaveholding states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas became the first in the United States to declare Christmas a state holiday.
As Solomon Northup wrote in his memoir "Twelve Years a Slave," Christmas was "the time of feasting, and frolicking, and fiddling -- the carnival season with the children of bondage. They are the only days when they are allowed a little restricted liberty, and heartily indeed do they enjoy it."
During the holiday season, some enslaved Black folks used their "little restricted liberty" to resist the atrocities of slavery by enjoying rest that was otherwise seldom afforded to them, while some traveled to nearby relatives to strengthen family bonds that slaveholders worked tirelessly to break.
For others, Christmas was an ideal time to plan their escapes to freedom. In fact, icon and leader of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, used Christmas Eve, 1854, to lead her three brothers to freedom in Philadelphia. And Ellen Craft disguised herself as a White man to help her and her husband escape enslavement on Christmas day, 1848.
Today, resistance may look a little different -- but it's still a strong Black tradition. According to a joint study from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, nearly two-thirds of Black households donate to community-based organizations and causes, totaling roughly $11 billion each year.
Despite having a lower net worth, Black households, on average, give away 25 percent more of their income per year than their White counterparts. Outside of financial contributions, Black Americans have taken charge of facilitating some of the most influential protests in the United States, from the 1963 March on Washington to the Summer of George Floyd in 2020.
If you want to make a meaningful change in your community this Christmas, support these Black-led organizations to help you get in the holiday spirit.