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01.30.25 | Community

Laboring for Justice and Progress: Honoring Black History Month 2025

Black History Month invites us to reflect on the profound contributions and enduring resilience of African Americans. This year’s theme, announced by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is “African Americans and Labor,“ highlighting the central role work has played in shaping the history, culture, and identity of African Americans. At Sage Collective®, we embrace this theme as a powerful reminder of the strength, ingenuity, and community-building that have defined the African American labor experience—values that align closely with our commitment to vibrant living.

Historical Foundations: Labor as a Cornerstone
The African American relationship with labor began in the crucible of enslavement, where the forced labor of Africans laid the foundation for early American agricultural and economic growth. Post-emancipation, African Americans navigated new roles as sharecroppers, industrial workers, and entrepreneurs, contributing to the construction of America’s physical and economic landscape. Their efforts are woven into the fabric of American history, seen in the skilled craftsmanship that built iconic architectural heritage, particularly in the South.

Through these transitions, African Americans have continually demonstrated resilience and innovation. Despite systemic barriers, their labor became a form of resistance and empowerment, paving the way for future generations.

Trailblazers in Labor Movements
The fight for fair labor practices and economic equity is a vital chapter in African American history. Figures like A. Philip Randolph and Addie Wyatt remind us of the transformative power of collective action. Randolph’s founding of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, marking its centennial in 2025, was a groundbreaking moment in labor history. It demonstrated the strength of union organizing in advocating for better wages, working conditions, and dignity for Black workers.

Addie Wyatt’s tireless efforts extended these principles, focusing on securing equitable wages and workplace protections, particularly for Black women, while linking labor advocacy to broader civil rights struggles. Their legacies serve as an enduring inspiration, emphasizing that labor is not just about economic survival but also about justice and dignity.

Labor as Culture and Community
Beyond economic contributions, African Americans have historically used labor as a tool for cultural expression and community building. From voluntary work in churches and social clubs to grassroots organizing, labor has often been a means of uplifting entire communities. These efforts have laid the groundwork for social justice movements and institution building, leaving a lasting impact on American society as a whole.

At Sage Collective, we recognize that this spirit of community-driven labor aligns with our philosophy of fostering vibrant living. Whether through caregiving, mentoring, or creative pursuits, older African Americans continue to exemplify how work—paid or voluntary—can strengthen bonds, inspire progress, and enrich lives.

The Power of Reflection and Education
The 2025 theme, “African Americans and Labor,” encourages us to reflect on the multifaceted roles that African Americans have played in the workforce. It’s a call to honor the past, recognize ongoing struggles for equity, and celebrate the resilience and creativity that continue to shape the African American experience.At Sage Collective, we see Black History Month as an opportunity to honor the resilience and contributions of older African Americans. The lessons of history remind us of the power of work to inspire, connect, and transform. Through our programming, we continue to celebrate the role of older adults in shaping their communities, ensuring their voices and stories are uplifted for future generations.

As we prepare to observe Black History Month this year, let’s honor the enduring legacy of African Americans in labor. From the fields to the factories, from union halls to boardrooms, their work has been a testament to strength and ingenuity. This February, join us in celebrating this legacy and renewing our commitment to fostering equity, resilience, and vibrant living in all that we do.

For more information on the 2025 Black History Month theme, visit ASALH’s official website.

Workers in the offices of Samuel Plato, building contractor, Washington, D.C. 1943. Credit: Roger Smith. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives (https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8b06410/).

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02.09.21 | Sage Advice®

A Brief History of Bronzeville

Sage Collective has begun the process of renovating the first two properties we acquired, since selling Willa Rawls Manor, a 123-unit property we owned and operated for more than 40 years. The two properties are located at 4108 S King Drive and 4112 S King Drive. With the buildings located side-by-side in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville neighborhood, it will provide a tangible benefit to the community by celebrating and uplifting Bronzeville’s dynamic history, current-day culture and residents alike. In honor of this effort and of Black History Month, today we take a moment to look at a brief history of Bronzeville.

Becoming Bronzeville

With the Great Migration beginning in 1916, African Americans fled lynchings and oppression in the rural South for brighter opportunities in cities in the North. Though segregation was outlawed after the Civil War, racist practices in hiring and housing practices remained steadfast. Many African Americans in Chicago landed in what became the Bronzeville area, there facing higher rent prices and population density (at its highest reaching 300,000 residents strong).

Despite this, true to the African principle of ujamaa, Bronzeville residents created a tight-knit community that boasted a network of black-owned institutions and a cultural vivacity that, in its prime from the 1920s-1950s, even rivaled Harlem.

The community had been growing, but the name Bronzeville only entered the scene in the 1930s, suggested by theater editor for the Chicago Bee (an African American-led daily newspaper with national reach), James Gentry. Gentry posited that African American skin was closer to bronze than black, and selected the name as an empowering alternative to racist nicknames for the neighborhood that had emerged.

Center of Culture

Though the official boundaries of Bronzeville are often contested as spanning anywhere from 18th and 67th Street north-south to the Dan Ryan and Lake Michigan west-east, the pulsing heart of Bronzeville landed somewhere in the middle.

Dining, shopping, dance halls and nightclubs abounded. Jazz, blues and gospel were the sounds of Bronzeville, and when the Regal Theater opened in the 1920s, it attracted the country’s most glamorous and talented Black entertainers. Bronzeville also boasts being the home of renowned African American artists and intellectuals like journalist and social activist Ida B. Wells, jazz musician Louis Armstrong, poet Gwendolyn Brooks, women’s aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman, sociologist Horace Clayton and dancer Katherine Dunham.

WTTW put it best when they said businesses and community institutions like Provident Hospital (where Daniel Hale Williams, an African American, pioneered open-heart surgery), the Wabash YMCA (which established the first Black History Month), the George Cleveland Hall Library, Parkway Community House, Binga Bank (Chicago’s first Black-owned life insurance, realty, and financial institution), and more, “were more than alternatives to racially restricted establishments downtown”. They were pillars of the community which helped to instill pride and contribute to the upward mobility of African Americans.”

Through our vision for vibrant, high-quality and affordable housing for older adults, Sage Collective is proud to contribute to the legacy of African American culture, community and success that is the heart and soul of Bronzeville.

Mural under the “El” tracks in Bronzeville