Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Lacey City Council recognized February 2026 as Black History Month, honoring the 100th anniversary of national Black history commemorations.
The Pearl Foundation of Puget Sound, represented by Chairman Cliff Brown, President Timothy Allen and other members, accepted the proclamation from Mayor Andy Ryder during a council work session on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
This year's theme, "A Century of Black History Commemorations," celebrates the centennial of Negro History Week, initiated by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1926.
Woodson, a noted African American scholar, educator and publisher, founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1915. He selected February for the observance to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. The celebration was expanded to Black History Month in 1976.
Ryder said the proclamation was typically issued at regular council meetings but was moved to the work session after back-to-back council retreats canceled the first meeting of the month.
"We felt it was so important that we get this proclamation out to our community," Ryder said.
The city’s proclamation highlights the contributions of Black and African Americans to the nation's economic, cultural, spiritual and political development.
It also acknowledges the history of racist laws and policies that served to disenfranchise Black Americans from full political, economic, educational and social opportunities.
The declaration calls on community members to recognize the continued need to dismantle racism and build a more just, peaceful and prosperous society.
Allen said the Pearl Foundation is committed to promoting education, advocacy and cultural enrichment in the Puget Sound region through scholarships, mentorship programs, support for local businesses and community events.
He added the proclamation is a testament to the collective dedication of volunteers, partners and supporters, who champion diversity, equity and inclusion.
"As we commemorate Black History Month, let us recommit ourselves to honor the past, celebrating the present, shaping the future, where every voice is heard and every dream is within reach," Allen said.
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Honestyandrealityguy
Let's teach black history in this country. My relatives from Canada had to teach me the.
The first LEGAL slave owner here was a BLACK man, Anthony Johnson. Although there is still slavery around the world, indentured servitude (mostly from the Barbary Coast and Africa) was here. Once one worked off his servitude, they were given a plot of land, as was Anthony Johnson.
Then Johnson had his own indentured servants, one of which did not like working for Johnson and tried to switch folks to work for. It went to court and the judge ruled that Johnson owned him; hence slavery began.
Johnson then began buying/selling slaves to his family and friends, and then the natives, whites and others.
The north only allowed slavery for about 10 years. When a white Republican freed the slaves, thousands of black families owned slaves, tens of thousands of slaves were owned by the natives, and of course whites and others owned slaves.
About 300,000 whites and 20,000 blacks from the north gave their lives to end slavery in this country. I wonder if slavery would have ever been legal here had it not been for Anthony Johnson, a black man?
My Canadian relatives believe this is being withheld from us purposely. Why do you suppose?
Thursday, February 12 Report this
SecondOtter
Citations, please? I'd like to know where you got your information.
Because it sounds like cognitive dissonance to me.
Until Hegseth and his master disposed of any and all history that didn't praise white men, schools and the military had "Black History Month". It's where we learned of the many contributions people of color and females made to this country and continue to do so.
It's also sad that the current president is an outright racist and has no shame. But we see that on a daily basis.
Thursday, February 12 Report this
franiazgorski
Anthony Johnson was was not the ‘first legal slave owner,’ and he didn’t create slavery in America. Slavery was already developing in Virginia long before his court case, and the system that became race‑based chattel slavery was created, expanded, and enforced by white colonial lawmakers — not by one Black landowner.”
Johnson was an indentured servant who earned freedom — He arrived in Virginia in 1621 as an enslaved African under English rule. He later gained freedom and owned land, which was rare but not unheard of. . The 1655 court case did not create slavery, The case (Johnson v. Parker) involved a dispute over an indentured servant named John Casor.
A few writers took the Johnson v. Parker case and exaggerated it into “the birth of slavery,” even though:
• slavery already existed in Virginia
• the laws making slavery permanent and race‑based came later
• Johnson had no political power to create those laws
Berlin, I. (1998). Many thousands gone: The first two centuries of slavery in North America. Harvard University Press.
Breen, T. H., & Innes, S. (1980). “Myne Owne Ground”: Race and freedom on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, 1640–1676. Oxford University Press.
Friday, February 13 Report this
Snevets
@Honestyandrealityguy strikes again with his ignorance and bias.
Bravo Lacey for your progress.
Friday, February 13 Report this
CobraCommander
Honestyandrealityguy, it's time to stop posting your revisionist neoconfederate nonsense.
The Southern Strategy was a thing you intentionally leave out, where party platforms flipped in 1964, so the democrat slavers in the 1800s became today's GOP. This is why modern republicans fly confederate/nazi flags. You're all a bunch of pathetic racists.
Friday, February 13 Report this