Friend,

Today, we mark the end of February and Black Futures Month. Our partners at The Movement for Black Lives have reimagined this month from Black History Month to Black Futures Month — it’s an invitation to both celebrate Black history and look ahead to a radically just future.

In that spirit, I’m excited to share a new playlist I put together for our Bend the Arc community to reflect on this moment and rededicate ourselves to the ongoing sacred work of building a country that is truly for all of us. This collection of songs is a celebration of joy, hope, and reflection expressed by Black artists — a glimpse into what being in love with the future looks like.

Listen to the Love Letter to Black Futures playlist, embedded on our site.

In last week’s Torah portion, Vayakhel, Moses recounts the instructions for building the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary to travel through the desert after leaving Mitzrayim. A group of skilled artisans constructs the Mishkan using the gold, gems, and even dolphin skins taken on their way from the narrowness of Mitzrayim. In building our sacred spaces, we all bring something, and we aren’t all equally implicated. Bringing something to help build the Mishkan also means bringing something forward into a future when the present feels shaky and unclear. 

What can we learn from this parsha? I’m learning a new way of understanding what ancestor bell hooks (z”l) meant in All About Love when she wrote that love is “about the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth.” We can learn that working towards Black liberation, much like building the Mishkan, is a collective project rooted in love, where we bring what we can and follow the vision of those best suited to build.

Today, I invite you to listen to the playlist and reflect on this question: What are you bringing to our collective work of creating a future where Black people are safe, free, and thriving? 

At Bend the Arc, we’re committed to building a country where Black liberation is realized and all people are thriving. That means investing in Black Futures and Black love, in deep partnership and using all of our communal resources.

Check out our just-launched playlist for Black Futures now. May it be a soundtrack to your day, your work, and our movements for justice — not just this month, but into the future we’re building together.

L'shalom,

Graie Hagans

Vision Praxis Director, Bend the Arc

P.S. Watch and share Black Futures: An Ode to Freedom Summer, an Afrofuturist film from Movement for Black Lives that imagines a future when all Black people will be free.