Black Solidarity Day is observed annually, the day before Election Day in November, the first Monday of the month. Its purpose is for African diasporic people to exercise a 24- hour moratorium from shopping or participating in other commercial activity such as using the transit system.
Dr. Carlos E. Russell, an Afro-Panamanian activist, artist, and scholar pitched the idea of a Black Solidarity Day to fellow activists in New York City. As part of Black Solidarity Day, Russell and his eventual collaborators called on Black people to boycott an economy and society that caused them physical and psychic harm. Thousands participated in the inaugural Black Solidarity Day, and many more would participate in the ensuing decades.
To this day Black Solidarity Day is observed in New York City, yet most do not know that such a day exists. Looking at this day in November, through a focus on its originator, and his skills as a bridge builder, expands not only our understanding of the Black History calendar, but also the rich history of Black freedom dreamers who viewed the end of the Civil Rights era as an urgent moment to articulate new Black liberation agendas.