A Celebration and Reflection on Growth: Black History Month 2023 Recap

This year for Black History Month, HUE—our Business Resource Group (BRG) that celebrates Black Talent and Allyship—coordinated weekly virtual and in-person events across North America. The events encouraged both learning and awareness of Black culture as well and celebrated the achievements and contributions of the global Black diaspora, navigating a history of racism and systemic oppression that has spanned generations. 

HUE National Co-Lead and Canada Chapter Member Tamara Raymond shared the reasoning behind this year’s chosen theme of Growth: “As we make moves that help shape our future, it is important to look back at where we came from. Learning about Black history—the challenges, victories, and change agents—helps us aspire to become the change we want to see in the future.”

The month’s events kicked off with a lunch-hour Black History Month Radio Show, featuring Black musicians and composers who helped shape and grow the music industry through the introduction of new sounds, beats and lyrics.

Next up was a virtual fireside chat with renowned Canadian media CEO Brandon Gonez, host of several engaging news and talk shows that have featured the likes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as musical icons like R&B sensation Jully Black.

Both the Atlanta and Toronto HUE Chapters hosted an in-person Black History Month showcase after-hours, an opportunity for colleagues to get together after work and explore a content lineup featuring Black authors, athletes, creators and changemakers with the goal of educating and inspiring the audience on the impact of Black people throughout history. This event was also hosted virtually to be inclusive of our many community members who couldn’t make it into the office.

Oftentimes the role of our BRGs involves the sharing and elevating of our people’s experiences and perspectives as a way to foster our culture of inclusion and intersectionality at Publicis Sapient. In creating a brave space to share their triumphs, challenges and hard-earned wisdom, several of our members participated in Empowerment as a Launch Pad to Growth, a Black Men’s experience panel.

Finally, closing out a full slate of educational and social activities for Black History Month was the launch of HUE’s first North America-wide book club, with the inaugural read featuring Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, winner of the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Fiction.

The month-long celebration of Black achievements, history and experiences is just one way in which HUE has influenced our company culture.  As Bates noted, joining HUE was a way for him to integrate further into life at PS. “I joined PS during the height of COVID and did not have the luxury of meeting my co-workers and project colleagues in the office or at the client site. HUE (and ultimately its steering committee) offered me an opportunity to connect with a group of talented and driven individuals who happen to look like me.”