The Partnership is honored to commemorate Black History Month with a guest column from William Brown of High Hope Freeport.
Black History Month is more than a celebration. It is a call to remember, to repair, to build, and to move forward together.
Its original purpose was to correct what had been erased: the achievements, struggle, leadership, and global impact of Black people. Dr. Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week in 1926 so Black history would be studied, taught, and honored as central to the American story. That observance later expanded into Black History Month, officially recognized in 1976.
So when we honor Black History Month, we do more than look backward—we commit to action in the present. We honor giants like Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Madam C.J. Walker—leaders who transformed faith, intellect, and entrepreneurship into engines of liberation and dignity. Their lives remind us that progress comes from organized courage, economic vision, and a refusal to accept injustice as permanent.
And here in Freeport, we have our own legacy of courage and contribution. Our city is home to the Oscar Taylor House, recognized on the National Register and documented as a site connected to Underground Railroad activity—evidence that this community is part of the long struggle for freedom. We also honor local Black excellence through leaders like McKinley “Deacon” Davis of Freeport—state champion athlete, University of Iowa standout, Harlem Globetrotter, and founder of NIU’s CHANCE Program, a transformational pathway for first-generation and underserved students.
At High Hope Freeport, we believe history is not only something we inherit—it is something we continue. Our mission to reduce community violence, strengthen neighborhoods, build youth pathways, support healing, and create community-centered opportunity is part of that same Black tradition of transformation: from harm to hope, from exclusion to empowerment, from survival to legacy.
My own journey is rooted in that same arc of transformation. And when I think about figures like Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, George Jackson, and Huey P. Newton, I think about evolution—about how lived experience, political awakening, and disciplined purpose can redirect a life toward service, institution-building, and community responsibility. Their stories challenged systems, but they also challenged individuals to become more conscious, more accountable, and more committed to collective uplift.
Black History Month exists so the next generation knows they come from greatness—and that they are called to continue it. If you are part of the Greater Freeport Partnership, you are part of this moment. We invite businesses to open doors through internships, apprenticeships, hiring pathways, mentorship, and opportunities. We invite nonprofits and institutions to align services and co-create solutions that address violence, trauma, and disconnection. And right now, we are asking you to take that commitment one step further by joining High Hope Freeport in the upcoming 2nd Annual 40 Days of Peace and Community Building. This is a direct opportunity to stand with us in visible, practical action through neighborhood engagement, healing-centered activities, youth-focused opportunities, and community unity efforts that help move Freeport forward together.
Let this Black History Month be more than remembrance. Let it be recommitment. Let it be organized hope in action. Together, we can build a Freeport where peace is practical, opportunity is shared, and legacy is lived every day.
William “Will” Brown
Founder & Executive Director, High Hope Freeport Inc.
