Black History Month US 2024: Standout Campaigns

Published 22 February 2024

Author

5 min read

With 47.9 million Black Americans wielding nearly $1tn in buying power (see Key Stats), we showcase notable campaigns marking US Black History Month (BHM) 2024 (February). Deepfake art positively – and provocatively – reframes Black narratives (Revolt), Black-centric book bans are challenged (Visit Philadelphia), Black cowboys are celebrated (Gap and Timberland), and Black beauty entrepreneurs are empowered (Sally Beauty).

Key Stats

General

47.9m	The Black American population reached 47.9 million in 2022 – a 32% rise since 2000
$976.5bn	Black buying power in the US was estimated at $976.5bn in 2020, the most recent estimate available
$1.7tn	Black Americans’ collective economic power is set to surge from about $910bn in 2019 to $1.7tn in 2030
63%	Among Black American adults, 63% say news about Black people is often more negative than news about other racial and ethnic groups
30%	The escalation of book bans in the US is aimed in part at titles by and about people of colour: 30% of the books targeted are about race or racism, or feature characters of colour
+6%	In the US, Black consumers’ spending on apparel and footwear is expected to grow by about 6% a year to $70bn by 2030
+17%	Black Americans’ spending on beauty products (up 17% year-on-year in 2023) is outpacing that of consumers in the US at large (up 13%)
+5.1%	Black beauty consumers in the US spent about 5.1% more on haircare products in 2023, compared with 2022
+70%	Black women totalled 10% of small business owners in the US in 2023 – a 70% increase in the number of Black women-owned businesses started prior to the pandemic

Revolt’s Deepfakery Conjures New Black Narratives: For its campaign Imagine If?, Black-owned hip-hop cable channel Revolt reimagines Black narratives, reworking real-life events and imagining new futures using artificial intelligence (AI). A powerful example of deepfakery put to positive use, the animated artworks by 11 young Black creatives (including Tylonn J Sawyer, Zabel Castillo and Erlen Masson) reframe historical stories (like “Jesus as a white man”) and continue Revolt’s ongoing challenging of negative misconceptions about Black Americans, addressing the 63% of Black adults in the US who say news about Black people is more negative than it is for other groups (Pew, 2023).

Emboldening Black creators to “take back their stories”, the provocative scenarios include white cotton pickers on a slave plantation, Black women astronauts making the first moon landing, Black men and women drafting the US Constitution, equality in maternity care (Black mothers are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy complications) and Queen Elizabeth II with a Black consort.

Revolt’s Deepfakery Conjures New Black Narratives: For its campaign Imagine If?, Black-owned hip-hop cable channel Revolt reimagines Black narratives, reworking real-life events and imagining new futures using artificial intelligence (AI). A powerful example of deepfakery put to positive use, the animated artworks by 11 young Black creatives (including Tylonn J Sawyer, Zabel Castillo and Erlen Masson) reframe historical stories (like “Jesus as a white man”) and continue Revolt’s ongoing challenging of negative misconceptions about Black Americans, addressing the 63% of Black adults in the US who say news about Black people is more negative than it is for other groups (Pew, 2023).

Emboldening Black creators to “take back their stories”, the provocative scenarios include white cotton pickers on a slave plantation, Black women astronauts making the first moon landing, Black men and women drafting the US Constitution, equality in maternity care (Black mothers are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy complications) and Queen Elizabeth II with a Black consort.

Revolt

Visit Philadelphia Takes on Anti-Black Book Bans: Destination marketing organisation Visit Philadelphia confronts the escalation of book bans in American schools and the fact that 30% of suppressed schoolbooks focus on race/racism or feature characters of colour (Pen America, 2023).

Partnering with the non-profit Little Free Library (supporting community book-exchange boxes nationally), its Little Free(dom) Library distributes 1,500 banned books free of charge through 13 city locations, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the site of the original Eastern State Penitentiary, now a museum. Purchased from local Black-owned bookshops, the Black-authored titles range from Toni Morrison’s classic Beloved to middle-grade novels (such as Ghost Boys). The initiative aligns with Visit Philadelphia’s 2023 campaign to highlight the city’s role in American democracy (the US Constitution was signed there – see Hispanic Heritage Month 2023).

A commercial (on TV and YouTube, where it has garnered +341k views in three weeks) features Joyce Abbott, the local Black teacher who inspired the TV series Abbott Elementary. Instagram posts feature other notable Philadelphians, such as TV host and academic Marc Lamont Hill reading from banned books.

Visit Philadelphia Takes on Anti-Black Book Bans: Destination marketing organisation Visit Philadelphia confronts the escalation of book bans in American schools and the fact that 30% of suppressed schoolbooks focus on race/racism or feature characters of colour (Pen America, 2023).

Partnering with the non-profit Little Free Library (supporting community book-exchange boxes nationally), its Little Free(dom) Library distributes 1,500 banned books free of charge through 13 city locations, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the site of the original Eastern State Penitentiary, now a museum. Purchased from local Black-owned bookshops, the Black-authored titles range from Toni Morrison’s classic Beloved to middle-grade novels (such as Ghost Boys). The initiative aligns with Visit Philadelphia’s 2023 campaign to highlight the city’s role in American democracy (the US Constitution was signed there – see Hispanic Heritage Month 2023).

A commercial (on TV and YouTube, where it has garnered +341k views in three weeks) features Joyce Abbott, the local Black teacher who inspired the TV series Abbott Elementary. Instagram posts feature other notable Philadelphians, such as TV host and academic Marc Lamont Hill reading from banned books.

Black Cowboys De-Stereotype White Americana: While a quarter of cowboys participating in 19th-century cattle drives in the US were Black, western narratives have long been white-centred. Black country/western themes, also seen in Pharrell Williams’ Autumn/Winter 2024 collection for Louis Vuitton and Beyoncé’s upcoming country music album, are highlighted in two campaigns, as well as featuring in one of Revolt’s AI reimaginings.

Gap’s western-themed fifth collection with Harlem-based couturier Dapper Dan celebrates “the original cowboys”. A two-minute on YouTube (edits on Instagram) features Dan and fellow “urban cowboys” at Harlem’s Graham Court building, alluding to the Harlem Renaissance (1920s-30s), when the New York neighbourhood was the epicentre of Black American arts, culture and scholarship.

With its Black Pioneers collection, American footwear brand Timberland honours the Oklahoma Cowboys, a non-profit celebrating Oklahoma’s Black equestrian heritage. Soundtracked by music from Oklahoma! (the classic American musical), the film and imagery on YouTube and Instagram feature the non-profit's Black riders.

For more on de-stereotyping white-centred Americana, see Cultural Diversity Campaigns: Spring 2022.

Black Cowboys De-Stereotype White Americana: While a quarter of cowboys participating in 19th-century cattle drives in the US were Black, western narratives have long been white-centred. Black country/western themes, also seen in Pharrell Williams’ Autumn/Winter 2024 collection for Louis Vuitton and Beyoncé’s upcoming country music album, are highlighted in two campaigns, as well as featuring in one of Revolt’s AI reimaginings.

Gap’s western-themed fifth collection with Harlem-based couturier Dapper Dan celebrates “the original cowboys”. A two-minute on YouTube (edits on Instagram) features Dan and fellow “urban cowboys” at Harlem’s Graham Court building, alluding to the Harlem Renaissance (1920s-30s), when the New York neighbourhood was the epicentre of Black American arts, culture and scholarship.

With its Black Pioneers collection, American footwear brand Timberland honours the Oklahoma Cowboys, a non-profit celebrating Oklahoma’s Black equestrian heritage. Soundtracked by music from Oklahoma! (the classic American musical), the film and imagery on YouTube and Instagram feature the non-profit's Black riders.

For more on de-stereotyping white-centred Americana, see Cultural Diversity Campaigns: Spring 2022.

Gap X Dapper Dan

Timberland

Sally Beauty Inspires Next-Gen Entrepreneurs: With Black Americans’ spending on haircare surging by 5.1% in 2023 (Mintel, 2023) – and Black women the fastest-growing entrepreneurial cohort in the US (GoDaddy, 2023) – American retailer Sally Beauty is partnering with The Black Hair Experience for a beauty business event. It follows the brand’s 2023 BHM campaign against hair discrimination.

Two day-long events in Atlanta and Washington, DC – free to Sally loyalty members and bookable through its e-commerce site – will bring together Black- and female-founded beauty brands and aspiring entrepreneur students, including from historically Black colleges and universities, for networking and panel talks. Black business leaders featured include Simone Jordan, global head of purpose and partnerships for Unilever’s Sundial Brands, and haircare brand founders Jesseca Harris-Dupart of Kaleidoscope and Ceata Lash of PuffCuff.

Sally Beauty Inspires Next-Gen Entrepreneurs: With Black Americans’ spending on haircare surging by 5.1% in 2023 (Mintel, 2023) – and Black women the fastest-growing entrepreneurial cohort in the US (GoDaddy, 2023) – American retailer Sally Beauty is partnering with The Black Hair Experience for a beauty business event. It follows the brand’s 2023 BHM campaign against hair discrimination.

Two day-long events in Atlanta and Washington, DC – free to Sally loyalty members and bookable through its e-commerce site – will bring together Black- and female-founded beauty brands and aspiring entrepreneur students, including from historically Black colleges and universities, for networking and panel talks. Black business leaders featured include Simone Jordan, global head of purpose and partnerships for Unilever’s Sundial Brands, and haircare brand founders Jesseca Harris-Dupart of Kaleidoscope and Ceata Lash of PuffCuff.

Sally Beauty X The Black Hair Experience