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Black History Month 2025

By | February 13, 2025February 14th, 2025

Written by Brennen Glover, Manager, Onboarding & Employee Development at Rocket Software and program committee member of the Making Our Strong Community Stronger initiative

I’m thrilled and honored to be asked to share my thoughts and experiences regarding Black History Month. While pondering the topic I realized that to explain the month and my thoughts on it, I must take time to reflect upon why the month exists and question the impact it has made on the person that I am today. Here are a few of my thoughts about how the month has shaped the journey of the college graduate, the HR Professional, the son, the contributor to change, and tech community member named Brennen Glover.

I was lucky to be born into a family and household where Black History Month was 365 days a year. I was constantly showered with stories of my culture to build the confidence and identity that would help me navigate the world that I was speeding towards. Hearing the stories of struggle, perseverance, and success helped me realize that I had high expectations and a great weight on my shoulders. This gave me the perspective that every move that I make will be accompanied with a bigger responsibility that I must both be aware of and embrace. I am black and that is not going to change, and I would not have it any other way. This is something that has followed me throughout my social, educational, and professional life.

Black History. Black Excellence. February brings awareness to where we have been and where we are going. Often the question is asked why having an entire month dedicated to the awareness of these amazing stories is needed. The stories of Malcom, Martin, Rosa, and Stokely paint a push/pull relationship on a macro level that as an individual I and many of my peers face daily on the micro level. Do I represent only myself or do I stand for something bigger? Am I an employee? Or am I a black employee? I am proudly a black employee, and I walk firmly in that path. My blackness allows me to embrace the perspectives of the leaders of the past to approach everyday tasks. Realizing that I was not just a student and graduate of the College of William and Mary, but a black student and graduate led me to see and feel the significance of someone four generations removed from slavery walking across the same stage to receive the same diploma that American forefathers like Thomas Jefferson did. Was this the American Dream? Was it intended for me to pursue this? Wow. Maybe I am Black History. Maybe I am somebody.

Taking these experiences and perspectives into the work and technology space has been fulfilling and pressure-filled at the same time. But every day I meet more partners who may not look like me and talk like me, but who are willing to shoulder that load with me. I’m blessed to have a company like Rocket Software that believes in the beautiful values of Empathy, Humanity, Trust and Love. These values help guide me to continue to do the magical work of those who we honor during this illustrious month. The questions that I have had to frequently ask myself: Am I just a guy in the HR space in the tech world? Or am I a black guy in HR in the tech world? Was does that mean? What does that come with? Is that what I truly want? There is no running from it. Because of the stories of Wilma, Coretta, Jesse, and Edgar I proudly accept the tasks and responsibilities of continuing to blaze the trail. To ensure everyone knows that the black experience is not a monolithic thought, I must share my perspective and vision to ensure that the notion of Black History and the sacred month never ceases to exist. I have a responsibility to be a voice at the tables and in the spaces that both need and yearn for a different outlook. Fortunately, I can say that in my 12 years in the HR space I’ve seen massive growth. I am excited to help continue to shape tomorrow’s path and the stories that will soon become the next chapter in our history. I must ensure that our children have the same level of love, confidence, and awareness that those lessons around the dinner table gave me.

Black History isn’t just the ghosts, pictures and fun yearly trivia topics. We are black history. We create it every day. How will history see me? How will history see you? How does technology play a part in creating the next George Carver or Benjamin Banneker? Well, I don’t quite know the answer to that question. But I’ll fight like hell to ensure that a kid in Richmond, VA sitting in the same classroom that I once did will be built as strong as I was by those heroes of our past because that kid might be the next piece of this thing called Black History. Because of Black History I have the luxury and the burden and the privilege of continuing to create change. Because of Black History I have the gift of the veil of double consciousness that WEB DuBois spoke of many years ago. I am Black History. We are Black History. I love my Black History. Thank you for the space to proudly show what this month means to me.

Sincerely a proud black tech employee and a direct result of Black History Month,

Brennen Glover

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