Black Liberation Month Highlight: Sharrone Blanck
KMUD News acknowledges that February is Black Liberation Month, a preferred term over Black History Month to emphasize the ongoing struggle for Black freedom, justice, and self-determination rather than solely reflecting on past achievements. While Black History Month highlights historical figures and milestones, Black Liberation Month centers present-day activism, systemic change, and the continuous fight against oppression. The shift in language underscores that Black history is not just something to be remembered but a movement that is still unfolding, with liberation as the ultimate goal.
This month, KMUD News will be highlighting community members who are making a positive impact in our region.
Black Liberation Month Highlight: Sharrone Blanck
As the nation celebrates Black Liberation Month, the Eureka chapter of the NAACP is calling on the community to get involved and support ongoing efforts for racial justice and equity. The Eureka NAACP was established in 1952 as the local branch of the national civil rights organization, which was founded in 1909 to ensure political, educational, social and economic equality for all people. “The local unit of the Eureka NAACP was established in 1952 here in Humboldt,” said Sharrone Blanck, the chapter’s first vice president. “The National NAACP was actually established by a group of people with all kinds of identities – there were Jewish people, there were black people, there were white people, there were Christians.”
The Eureka NAACP has several active programs that directly support the community, including a Legal Redress Committee that provides assistance with civil rights complaints and connecting individuals to legal resources. The chapter also runs an online group called Educators for Equity, dedicated to fostering equity in local schools. In addition, the Eureka NAACP partners with other organizations to celebrate events like Black Liberation Month, which Blanck says is a more accurate term than Black History Month. “Black History Month started as Black History Day, and then Black History Week, and then Black History Month, and now is Black Liberation Month,” Blanck explained. “And what all those different things mean is really important.”
Blanck encouraged community members to get involved by learning about local Black leaders and lifting them up within their own organizations. She also stressed the importance of supporting existing groups rather than creating new structures. “It’s an opportunity to join them with our time, with our resources, with learning – support what already exists, because there are people that have been doing this work a very long time,” Blanck said. Beyond attending celebrations, she advised finding ways to volunteer, donate, and participate in meetings and events organized by groups like Black Humboldt, HC Black Music and Arts Association, and the Eureka NAACP.
“Remembering that we’re supposed to do all this work together in groups. It’s not for any one person to carry the weight of any situation,” Blanck said. “Taking care of yourself, deciding what that looks like, allowing yourself to experience joy, even when things are really hard and challenging, celebrating each other and stepping forward into your own power, and stepping into those places where we have privilege and make a difference in the places that you can – that’s all any of us are being asked to do here.”
