As we welcome February 2026, I invite all students, colleagues, and communities of interest to pause and reflect on Black History Month. This time is especially meaningful for me as both an African American registered nurse, a nurse educator, and a board member of the Organization of Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) representing the Southeast Region. Black History Month represents a century of dedication to justice, truth, and progress in our country. A century ago, Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week, which grew into today’s celebration. His call for honest and complete historical learning is still vital.

Memory, Recognition & Resilience: Black History Month

Black History Month is about more than remembering; it is about recognizing the roots of resilience and the power of knowledge. From classrooms to clinics, boardrooms to community halls, and especially within nursing programs across the Southeast, this observance reminds us that the stories of Black Americans are vital to our shared understanding. Over these hundred years, we’ve built a tradition that doesn’t just celebrate excellence but demands that we confront injustice and lift up voices that are often pushed aside. This year’s theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” asks us to look back with gratitude and look forward with responsibility. We honor not only the icons whose names we know, but also every nurse, teacher, and everyday hero who has used their gifts to enrich our communities.

Serving as both a nurse educator and a member of the OADN board provides direct insight into the importance of ensuring that commemoration translates into meaningful action. Black History Month is more than a celebration, it’s a challenge to learn, empathize, and act. The lessons we take from February should echo throughout the year. By encouraging associate degree nursing students to embrace this history in all its complexity, we nurture dignity, foster respect, and strengthen our fight for equity in health care, education, and beyond.

Achievements in Nursing, Medicine and Science

Black history is American history. It is woven into the fabric of nursing, medicine, science, civil rights, and the arts. The achievements of Black Americans are foundational to our nation’s progress and to the future we still strive to create. In nursing, pioneers like Mary Seacole showed us how compassion and skill can change lives even in the most desperate circumstances. Mary Eliza Mahoney, our profession’s first Black nurse, set high standards for advocacy and excellence, even when opportunities were scarce. Della H. Raney shattered barriers in military nursing, making way for more Black leadership in health care. Today, leaders like Ernest Grant remind us that the work continues promoting equity, shaping policy, and upholding the dignity of every individual who needs our care. Serving on the OADN board, I am inspired by these trailblazers and by the students and faculty throughout the Southeast Region who will carry their legacy forward.

Our Commitment Going Forward

As we honor those who came before, let us also see the promise in those who follow. Black history is alive and it grows as new voices speak, new perspectives emerge, and new innovations take root. This centennial is our chance to re-commit teaching the truth, building unity, and creating space for every story to be seen and valued:

• Educate ourselves and others: Go beyond familiar stories. Explore the full range of Black experiences triumphs and struggles alike. Understand the barriers that have been overcome, and those we still must dismantle, especially within nursing education and practice.
• Elevate voices: Recognize and celebrate Black scholars, artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders every day, not just during February, and ensure these voices are heard within our nursing programs and professional organizations.
• Champion equity: Transform our ideals into real policies and practices that foster opportunity, belonging, and mutual respect in our schools, workplaces, and communities committing to diversity and inclusion across the Southeast and beyond.
• Engage in partnership: Work together to honor cultural heritage while advancing common goals, whether in education, health, justice, or economic empowerment. Collaboration within OADN and with other organizations is key to driving meaningful change.

Black History Month 2026 is a call to reflect deeply, act boldly, and nurture a future where every person’s voice matters. As nurses, educators, and OADN board members, let us stand together to carry forward the courage and wisdom of those who fought for recognition and justice. Our commitment to equity and hope can and must continue, in every classroom, clinic, hospital, and communities across the Southeast. Together, we honor a century of remembrance and pledge ourselves to a future rich in knowledge, dignity, and possibility.

Ruby Alvarez
Ph.D., MSN, RN
Director, Southeast Region
Dean of Nursing, Galen College of Nursing – Orlando, Florida