Black History Month 2025

In 2025 we celebrate Black History Month with a theme of African Americans and Labor.

The 2025 Black History Month theme, African Americans and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture. Be it the traditional agricultural labor of enslaved Africans that fed Low Country colonies, debates among Black educators on the importance of vocational training, self-help strategies and entrepreneurship in Black communities, or organized labor’s role in fighting both economic and social injustice, Black people’s work has been transformational throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. The 2025 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of this work.

We encourage you to show your UCSF PRIDE by sharing your African American/Black heritage with your colleagues and friends. Here are a few ways you can share.

Change your social media and Zoom profile picture to reflect your African American/ Black Heritage
On Zoom use a virtual background showing your African American/Black Heritage (Bonus if the photo is one you took yourself)
Add "Black History Month" and/or an image showing your African American/Black Heritage to your Email Signature
Virtual Backgrounds for Black History Month can be downloaded here:

Additional Black History Month events are listed at the Multicultural Resource Center.

UCSF EVENTS

Black Joy Parade

Sunday, February 23, 2025 | 11:30 am - 2:30 pm

14th St & Franklin St Oakland, CA 94612

UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals is excited to announce its participation in the 8th annual Oakland Black Joy Parade. We invite everyone to join us and proudly represent BCH during the parade portion of the event. The Black Joy Parade exists to provide the Black community and allies a live experience that celebrates the community’s influence on cultures past, present and future. Join us on Sunday, February 23 (Parade begins at 12:30 p.m.) in Downtown Oakland.

BLACK INITIATIVES AT BENIOFF CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS

BCH Black Caucus

The group serves as a resource for advancing the social and cultural growth among African American care providers and staff through outreach, mentoring, networking, community service, and enrichment activities. Abdur Shemsu is the chair. BCH Black Caucus meets on the 4th Thursdays of the month at 4 pm - 5 pm.

Miller-Davis-Jenkins Society

Founded in 2020, MDJS seeks to foster community, support mentorship and boost academic success for Black and African American Students, Residents, Fellows and Faculty with a focus on the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. Taron Davis, MD and Julius Oatts, MD, are the co-chairs.

BLOOM: Black Love Opportunity and Outcome Improvement in Medicine

BLOOM is a space where Black babies and families are seen by racially concordant providers who understand and share their lived experiences. These families have access to world-class health care; receive screening for traumatic experiences and mental health wellness; connect with services that address unmet needs; receive financial assistance to establish college savings accounts; and benefit from lactation support and post-natal nutrition, among other services.

This is a groundbreaking effort. There is nothing comparable to this initiative in the United States. With the launch of BLOOM, we are building a model for Black pediatric primary care that can be replicated across the country.

BLACK PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES AT UCSF