Celebrating Black History Month

Remembering pre-COVID Celebrations and Looking Forward to Being Back Together in Person

This February is different than past years in so many ways. One of the many things we’re missing is the annual celebration of Black History Month that CWA members in the Commercial Division do each year. Since that isn’t possible this year, we’re sharing with you a bit of the history of how CWA members in our Local have celebrated in the past, and what we hope we can return to soon.

Susan Nicholas, CWA Local 1101 Business Agent Eastern for the Verizon Commercial Division, describes how members celebrated Black History Month in past years. “We celebrated Black History in all the buildings – Valhalla, Second Avenue, 395 Flatbush, and Garden City. We’d ask for volunteers to sing, play drums, paint portraits, make art. It was a joint effort between management, craft, and people from the different union locals. Just knowing that we all had a part in making it happen, in our workplace, was a beautiful thing. Seeing everybody so excited about coming together and being united, no matter what ethnic background they came from, it was a great experience.”

“We had dance performances, fashion shows, singers, art exhibits” Susan said. “In 2019 we hired a gospel singer, who performed in addition to our members.” It wasn’t just Black History Month. “We organized events on Hispanic Day, Chinese New Year, and International Days as well. We tried to represent everyone who was there.”

Afori Bobb, Business Agent Northern for the Verizon Commercial Division and Local 1101 Parking Production Assistants described the 2019 event at 395 Flatbush Ave. “The event was a way to bring everybody together, to unify the whole building. There are so many different departments at Flatbush, so many different leadership structures. But in February everybody came together to celebrate Black history.  It made you proud to be a union member, to see everybody collectively sharing and being part of something bigger than themselves. Members would show their talents - talents that maybe you didn’t know they had! It was unity at its best.”

Karen Leemou, Commercial Staff Representative and Benefits Coordinator for Local 1101’s Commercial Division, described the events members held at the Valhalla Call Center every year. “We would have poetry readings, singing, and dance performances by managers and representatives. We’d hang up Black History facts, and pictures of people who contributed to Black History. We’d send out daily trivia questions pertaining to Black History and make it a contest so people would participate and win prizes. One of my favorite things we did was during that time was supporting Black Owned Businesses by having them cater our events.”

“We came together for the sole purpose of learning about one another, understanding that no matter what our ethic background we all shed the same color blood. Black History Month was the only time we openly, lovingly and happily expressed our love for one another, no matter the culture,” Karen said.  “What was unique about our Black History Event was we encouraged everyone, no matter your race, we want to hear from you, we want to know about your history too. We had our Call Center Manager, Rob Cioffi perform a song in Italian and break down Italian history and dialect. We had another team leader manager perform a rap song in Spanish and break down the history and dialect. So, although it was labeled as Black History Month, we embraced all cultures to come forth and share their history.”

Karen described one of her highlights. “One of my most memorable moments was participating in the Black History Fashion Show at 395 Flatbush. When Vice President, Maureen Hennessy approached me with the idea to perform in the fashion show, my immediate response was YES! I was honored. Considering my love and passion for Black History, I knew it was the perfect time to strut all my outfits down the runway. I loved and embraced every moment.”

That's Karen on the right. You can see photos of the events at all the locations from February 2019 in the slideshow here. Hopefully we can celebrate together in person next year.