The first executive orders have been signed. Project 2025’s blueprint is becoming reality. And yes, the assault on reproductive rights, voting access, and human dignity is intensifying exactly as predicted. But February’s legacy teaches us something powerful about resistance: Sometimes the darkest moments spark the brightest movements.
At FUNKY BROWN CHICK, INC., we’re clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. But we’re also clear about our power. Communities are organizing, activists are innovating, and movements are growing stronger under pressure. Your voice matters now more than ever.
Ready to turn February’s inspiration into action? Here are the Days to Remember that remind us why we fight and how we win.
February 1 – 28
Black History Month / Black Futures Month
Did you know this month-long remembrance began as Negro History Week in 1926? Historian Carter G. Woodson chose the second week in February as a nod to Lincoln’s birthday and Frederick Douglass’ birth & death dates. The original goal was to promote and educate public school students on the history of Black Americans. Later, in 1969, Black students and professors at Kent State University proposed expanding the week to a month. While there are many, many, many places to visit and learn more about Black history, The National Museum of African American History and Culture is currently one of the best. Celebrate the accomplishments, pride, and futures of Black Americans throughout February!
Saturday, February 1
Tileston v. Ullman; Poe v. Ullman: Supreme Court refuses to hear case on contraceptives.
On this day in 1943, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Tileston v. Ullman, refusing to hear a challenge to Connecticut’s ban on contraception—even when pregnancy threatened patients’ lives. Dr. Wilder Tileston argued the law violated both his patients’ right to life and his ability to provide essential care. The Court’s response? He had no standing to fight for his patients’ rights.
Sound familiar? Like today’s attacks on reproductive healthcare, Connecticut’s law prioritized control over care. When Poe v. Ullman challenged the same law 18 years later, the Court again refused to act. But these setbacks ultimately fueled Griswold v. Connecticut’s landmark victory in 1965, establishing the right to contraception. As we face new threats to reproductive freedom under Project 2025, this history reminds us: when courts fail, movements rise.
Want to support healthcare providers fighting for reproductive freedom? Download our “Three Acts of Justice” report for concrete actions you can take.
Sunday, February 2
The Grammys
When Music’s Biggest Night airs tonight, it represents more than just celebration—it marks a transformative moment for representation in the music industry. After years of criticism about excluding artists of color and women from top prizes, the Recording Academy has revamped its voting body: 66% of current voters joined in the last five years, including significant increases in women voters, AAPI voters (100% growth), Black voters (90% growth), and Latino voters (43% growth).
As our founder knows from her work in arts and social change, cultural recognition matters. When historically marginalized voices gain platforms, narratives shift and real change follows. In a year when voting rights and racial justice face renewed challenges, the GRAMMYs remind us: change is possible when institutions commit to real reform. Want to learn more about using art for social transformation? Check out our “Art for Social Change” impact area.
Tuesday, February 4
Rosa Parks’ Birthday (1913)
Rosa Parks wasn’t just the woman who refused to give up her bus seat—she was a lifelong strategist for justice. Born this day in 1913, Parks served as NAACP chapter president, helped orchestrate the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and later worked with both Planned Parenthood and Congress. Her carefully planned act of civil disobedience reminds us that effective movements require both bold action and strategic organizing. Today, as we face new battles for racial justice and human dignity, Parks’ example shows us how individual courage combined with collective action creates lasting change.
World Cancer Day
Don’t be confused if you see #NoHairSelfie today. February 4th marks World Cancer Day, created by the Union for International Cancer Control. This day seeks to raise awareness of cancer prevention, the need for early detection, and the promise of developing a cure. You can participate a little or a lot:
- tweet something out using #WorldCancerDay,
- join an event or create your own,
- donate, or
- shave your head in honor of someone with cancer (and then upload your #NoHairSelfie).
Check out this resource guide to learn more about cancer’s devastating impact plus more ways to raise awareness.
Wednesday, February 5
Trayvon Martin’s Birthday (1995)
Had he lived, Trayvon Martin would now be 30 years old. The world knows Martin as the young victim of a racist vigilante murderer. However, he is remembered by those who knew him as shy, generous, athletic, and interested in sports video games and aviation. Heartbreakingly, the high school junior was killed a few weeks after his 17th birthday. His death, as well as the acquittal of his murderer, is a stark reminder of the never-ending struggle against racist violence, and that Black Lives Matter. To learn more about Trayvon Martin’s family and life, watch or read Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin. Learn more about the advocacy of Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, here or here.
Tuesday, February 11
International Day of Women and Girls in Science
The numbers tell a stark story: only 33% of researchers worldwide are women, and even fewer hold leadership positions in STEM fields. Today reminds us that science needs all voices to solve global challenges. Women and girls bring essential perspectives to everything from climate justice to healthcare breakthroughs. Their full participation in science strengthens our ability to build a better world.
Thursday, February 13
International Condom Day
As attacks on reproductive healthcare intensify globally, today highlights an essential tool for bodily autonomy: condoms remain the only method that simultaneously prevents HIV, STIs, and unplanned pregnancies. This safe, affordable option puts power directly in people’s hands. But access and education are key. Ready to support comprehensive sex education and reproductive health access? Contact FUNKY BROWN CHICK’s owner, Twanna A. Hines, renowned sexual health educator, speaker, and coach for stigma-free information about sexual health and how you can make an impact!
Friday, February 14
Valentine’s Day
Whether this day brings joy, pain, or indifference, remember: there’s no “right” way to experience February 14. This holiday has evolved constantly—from ancient Roman festivals to medieval poetry to modern celebrations. Originally religious, it transformed into a celebration of romantic love by the 1700s. Today, it can be whatever you need: a day for self-care, community love, chosen family, or simply another Wednesday. However you mark (or don’t mark) the day, we honor your choice. Looking for inspiration? Check out this article if you’re singled or this one for other nontraditional celebratory ideas.
Public Announcement of the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA)
Originally created to fight prostitution and what was then known as “venereal diseases,” a group of about two dozen physicians, social workers (including Jane Addams!), and educators banded together in 1914 to create the “American Social Hygiene Association.” While many of the organization’s early initiatives linked sexuality and promiscuity, the organization was one of the first in the U.S. to tackle sex education publicly. These days, the modern American Sexual Health Association works to provide information on and advocate for better policies around sexually transmitted infections.
V-Day
V-day is an organization and a movement with a simple mission –- to end violence against those that identify as women and girls. By using creativity as a catalyst for change, the organization believes that “art has the power to transform thinking and inspire people to act.” The movement began as an outgrowth of Eve Ensler’s groundbreaking play The Vagina Monologues. This play, as well as A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, is now performed across the world on Valentine’s Day, to educate others on violence against women, and to benefit local anti-violence activities. Learn more about this day and discover how you can celebrate here.
Tuesday, February 18
Audre Lorde’s Birthday (1934)
Born in New York City, Audre Lorde was a revolutionary poet, teacher, and activist. Even as a young person, poetry informed her life –- she would memorize poems, and use those poems to verbally communicate how she was feeling. She began writing poetry as she entered adolescence and had her first poem published in Seventeen magazine at age 15.
A lifelong advocate of social justice, the self-described “black, lesbian, feminist, mother, warrior, poet” stressed the importance of acknowledging intersecting identities, often pointing out when activists failed to do so. In 1980 she co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press as a means to promote works by Women of Color. Lorde was appointed State Poet of New York in 1991, and sadly died of liver cancer the next year. In the years since her death, her words continue to be prescient: “… the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house… And this fact is only threatening to those women who still define the master’s house as their only source of support.”
Toni Morrison’s Birthday (1931)
Born Chloe Wofford in Lorain, Ohio on this day in 1931, Toni Morrison transformed American literature by centering Black women’s stories and unflinchingly confronting racial injustice. The Nobel laureate’s works—from The Bluest Eye to Beloved—showed how art could both witness trauma and imagine freedom. Though we lost Morrison in 2019, her words continue to light the way: “The function of freedom is to free someone else.” Want to explore how storytelling drives social change? Visit our Art for Social Change impact area.
Wednesday, February 19
Amy Tan’s Birthday (1952)
Born today in 1952, Amy Tan revolutionized American literature by centering immigrant stories and mother-daughter relationships typically pushed to the margins. From The Joy Luck Club to her most recent book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Tan’s work shows how personal narratives can challenge cultural stereotypes and build bridges across generations. Through novels, memoirs, children’s books, and even opera, she proves that art can transform how we see ourselves and each other.
The Feminine Mystique Published (1963)
The subject of some controversy since its first printing, this influential book written by feminist Betty Friedan disavowed the media-promoted view that truly “feminine” women could – and should – only find satisfaction within the domestic sphere (housekeeping, child rearing, etc.). Women felt dissatisfied, trapped, and unable to live up to these expectations, Friedan asserted. The book’s influence on society was so great that The Feminine Mystique became the best-selling book of 1964. While the book was instrumental in launching the second-wave feminist movement of the 60s and 70s, it did not address that these issues were far from the reality many poorer women or women of color faced.
Thursday, February 20
Death of Frederick Douglass (1895)
When Frederick Douglass died on this day in 1895, he left a blueprint for fighting injustice that resonates powerfully today. Born enslaved in 1818, he taught himself to read—an act of resistance that would shape his life as an abolitionist, writer, and orator. His work linked struggles against slavery with women’s suffrage, showing how movements for justice strengthen each other.
As we face renewed attacks on voting rights and attempts to ban books about Black history, Douglass’s words ring with renewed urgency: “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” Want to honor his legacy? Support organizations fighting voter suppression, donate to freedom libraries, or join local groups protecting the right to learn our full history. His Washington, D.C. home, now a national historic site, offers another way to connect with his enduring impact.
Thursday, February 20
World Day of Social Justice
Social justice isn’t a buzzword—it’s the foundation everything else depends on. As global crises multiply and inequality deepens, surface-level solutions won’t cut it. We need radical reimagining of how societies function, from labor protections to climate policy to reproductive rights. The good news? Momentum is building. Over 300 organizations worldwide have joined the new Global Coalition for Social Justice, pushing for concrete policy changes instead of empty promises.
But institutional reform is just the start. Real justice grows from the ground up. Support your local worker centers defending labor rights, join climate justice groups fighting environmental racism, or connect with reproductive justice organizations protecting bodily autonomy. Because social justice isn’t just about changing systems—it’s about changing who has the power to shape them.
Friday, February 21
Presidents’ Day
What began as a celebration of George Washington’s birthday has become a complicated reflection point in American democracy. As Trump returns to office amid ongoing threats to voting rights and democratic institutions, this holiday demands more than simple celebration. It requires us to confront hard questions about presidential power, accountability, and who our systems actually serve.
Originally established in 1879, this day has evolved from honoring Washington to acknowledging all presidents—both their achievements and their failures. Today, it reminds us that democracy isn’t guaranteed. It must be actively defended through civic engagement, protected voting rights, and continued demands for justice. The presidency shapes history, but the people’s collective action shapes the presidency.
Saturday, February 22
NAACP Image Awards
The 56th NAACP Image Awards showcase more than entertainment—they highlight how art and activism intertwine. From Kendrick Lamar’s unflinching social commentary to GloRilla’s groundbreaking rise, this year’s nominees demonstrate Black artists’ power to shape cultural narratives and drive social change. As debates about representation and equity continue, these awards remind us: celebrating Black excellence isn’t just about recognition—it’s about creating space for voices that transform society.
These February milestones—from Rosa Parks’ strategic resistance to the evolving landscape of the GRAMMYs—remind us that progress isn’t linear, but it is possible. As Trump’s return to office brings renewed threats to reproductive rights, voting access, and human dignity, we find strength in February’s legacy of transformation: artists reshaping culture, scientists breaking barriers, and ordinary people choosing extraordinary courage.
The path ahead won’t be easy. But whether we’re honoring Black excellence at the NAACP Image Awards or fighting for social justice in our communities, February shows us that change happens when we stay engaged, speak truth, and work together. Need help reaching your own mission’s goals? Give us a shout! We’re here to help you make an even bigger impact in your community!
