In the second part of this two-part series, members of the Surge staff reflect on a powerful piece of Black history they learned as adults. 

As we close out Black History Month, let us be reminded that history is made every day. And it’s vital that we tell our stories, uplift our voices, and pass our histories and rich experiences on to the next generations. 

Here are stories we wish we had learned at an earlier age. 

Homegrown but Parts Unknown

By Ulric Shannon, Executive Director, Surge Chicago

One piece of Black history I didn’t learn growing up was how deeply Chicago, and Illinois more broadly, shaped Black resistance and migration in this country. I didn’t learn about the role of the Chicago Defender in encouraging thousands of Black families to leave the South and come North, or how places like Cairo, Illinois, were central to both oppression and resistance. As a student, Chicago was presented as a place of opportunity, but not as one shaped by segregation, community organizing, and survival. Learning this as an adult shifted how I see the city, not just as where I live, but as a site of struggle, strategy, and movement. It also made me realize how much of our history is intentionally left out–especially the parts that show how we organized and fought against oppression. Our young people deserve to know that history, not just to understand the past, but to see themselves as part of a legacy of leadership and resistance. If we don’t teach that, we limit how they see their own power.

The Generational Wealth That Could’ve Been

By Dalonte Burns, Program Director, Black Principals Network

I wish I had learned about Black Wall Street when I was younger. As Carter G. Woodson wrote in his book, The Mis-Education of the Negro: “The same educational processes that inspire and stimulate the oppressor with the thought that he is everything, depress and crush at the same time the spark of genius in the Negro by making him feel that his race does not amount to much.” Growing up, I was taught the pain of our history, but rarely about its brilliance. I wasn't shown the stories where we built, thrived, and created wealth, institutions, and community against all odds. Learning about Black Wall Street as an adult disrupted the single story I had inherited about the Black experience in America. It revealed resilience, excellence, and collective power that had been hidden in plain sight. Our youth deserve to know not only what we survived, but who we have always been. I've learned that when you see evidence of Black genius, it becomes harder to believe the falsehood of limitation.