NEW YORK—February marks the beginning of Black History Month, a month dedicated to celebrating and honoring the contributions African Americans have made to help shape the U.S. 2022’s Black History Month theme is Black Health and Wellness, specifically honoring black health care professionals and medical scholars—making this Black History Month especially pertinent in the optical community, too. We have all of February to celebrate Black History Month, but there’s no better time to get started than now. This week, we’re taking a look at how some members of the optical community are celebrating this important month—use their work to get inspired and put together your own celebrations and lessons for this Black History Month.



This week, Black Eyecare Perspective launched a doctor locator to help communities connect with Black ECPs more easily. If you are a Black optometrist or ophthalmologist and don’t see yourself on the list, you can sign up here. Image via blackeyecareperspective on Instagram



Essence Johnson, OD, FAAO, has spent the past two years researching and learning about Black optometrists throughout history and will spend February sharing some of what she’s learned. You can follow her on Instagram to keep up with her research. Image via houseof_optometrista on Instagram



Darryl Glover, OD, shared his favorite things about the month of February, including Black History  Month. Image via drdarrylglover on Instagram



The team at Lone Star Vision in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas shared some historical information about Black History Month on Instagram, as well as a beautiful image to go along with the resources. Image via lonestarvisiontx on Instagram



The Vision Council is inviting members to share their stories for Black History Month. Interested members can reach out to Hayley Rakus, The Vision Council’s senior communications manager at hrakus@thevisioncouncil.org.