For many Americans, Christmas is a season of gift exchanges, slices of sweet potato pie, and binge-watching holiday classics like “This Christmas” and “The Best Man Holiday” with family. But for Black Americans, spreading holiday cheer has long carried a deeper meaning — one rooted in reflection, resilience, and resistance.
Indeed, throughout history, Christmas has been more than a celebration. For Black communities, it has also been a rare pause from oppression and, at times, a strategic moment to challenge injustice and imagine freedom.
Christmas and Enslavement: A Rare Pause From Forced Labor
Historically, Christmas was one of the few times enslaved Black people were sometimes given brief reprieve from the brutal demands of plantation life. By the 1830s, major slaveholding states — including Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas — were among the first in the United States to declare Christmas a state holiday.
As Solomon Northup wrote in his memoir “Twelve Years a Slave,” Christmas was “the time of feasting, and frolicking, and fiddling — the carnival season with the children of bondage. They are the only days when they are allowed a little restricted liberty, and heartily indeed do they enjoy it.”
During the holiday season, some enslaved Black folks used their “little restricted liberty” to resist the atrocities of slavery by enjoying rest that was otherwise seldom afforded to them, while some traveled to nearby relatives to strengthen family bonds that slaveholders worked tirelessly to break.
Christmas as a Pathway to Freedom
For others, Christmas was an ideal time to plan their escapes to freedom. In fact, icon and leader of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, used Christmas Eve, 1854, to lead her three brothers to freedom in Philadelphia. And Ellen Craft disguised herself as a white man to help her and her husband escape enslavement on Christmas day, 1848.
A Legacy of Giving and Collective Action
Today, resistance may look a little different — but it’s still a strong Black tradition. According to a joint study from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, nearly two-thirds of Black households donate to community-based organizations and causes, totaling roughly $11 billion each year.
Despite having a lower median net worth, Black households give 25% more of their income annually than white households, on average. Outside of financial contributions, Black Americans have facilitated some of the most influential protests in the United States, from the 1963 March on Washington to the Summer of George Floyd in 2020.
In recent years, resistance has also taken economic form. Holiday boycotts of corporations like Target — sparked by rollbacks on racial equity and diversity commitments — reflect a long Black tradition of using consumer power to demand accountability. If you want to make a meaningful change in your community this Christmas, support these Black-led organizations to help you get in the holiday spirit.
5 Social Justice Organizations to Support This Holiday Season
- Black Women For Wellness: This Black-women-led organization promotes health and well-being among Black women and girls through health education, empowerment, and advocacy. You can support their mission by making a donation.
- Black Male Voter Project: BMVP directly engages Black male voters in their 17 priority states to increase civic engagement and voter participation, and ensure the needs of Black male voters are heard. You can support their mission by making a donation.
- H.O.P.E.: Through counseling, success coaching, and financial assistance for housing and childcare, H.O.P.E empowers Black single parents in Atlanta. Learn more about this organization in our interview with founder Kenita Smith, and support their work by volunteering at their next event.
- Black and Pink National: A prison abolitionist organization dedicated to abolishing the criminal punishment system and liberating Black LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS. You can volunteer to support one of their programs or make a donation.
- The National Coalition for the Homeless: Building a movement to end homelessness. This organization uses an advocacy-based approach to prevent homelessness for those at risk, provide resources for the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness, and ensure their civil rights are respected and protected. Get involved by volunteering or making a donation.
