Black Excellence

In a world that often looks at successful Black women through the lens of "luck" or "clapping for the miracle," Dr. Abigail Hasberry stands as a monumental figure of Black Excellence who traded the four-leaf clover for a compass.

As an educator, researcher, and transracially adopted person, Dr. Hasberry has spent her career dismantling the "lucky" narrative. Her work is a masterclass in this month’s theme: Not Lucky. Learning. ---

The Myth of the "Lucky" Adopted Person

For many Black children in the system of adoption, society imposes a specific script: “You are so lucky to have been chosen.” This narrative suggests that their success is a byproduct of chance or the benevolence of others, rather than their own resilience, intellect, and agency.

Dr. Hasberry’s excellence lies in her refusal to let that script stand. She teaches that:

• Luck is Passive: It implies things happened to you.

• Learning is Active: It proves you navigated through it.

By reclaiming her own narrative, she empowers a new generation of children to understand that their placement in a family or their achievements in school aren't "accidents of fortune"—they are chapters in an experience  they have the right to author.

Ownership of the Story

Dr. Hasberry’s work in Transracial Adoption advocacy focuses heavily on the "ownership of the story." She provides a framework for children to set boundaries, differentiating between what the world thinks (the "lucky" trope) and what is actually true (the complex reality of identity, loss, and triumph).

• Boundary Setting: She encourages adopted persons to decide who gets access to their history. Just because someone asks "Where are you really from?" doesn't mean they are entitled to the answer.

• The Power of "And": Her teachings allow for the complexity of being grateful for a family and grieving a lost culture simultaneously. It is the "Truth-Telling" we explored in February, matured into the "Self-Ownership" of March.

From Clover to Path: The Symbolism

The transformation of the clover into an arrow perfectly encapsulates Dr. Hasberry’s trajectory.

1. The Clover: Represents the static, fragile idea of "luck" that people project onto her.

2. The Path/Arrow: Represents the direction, intention, and skill she used to earn her PhD and become a leading voice in psychological safety and educational leadership.

The Educational Legacy

Beyond adoption advocacy, Dr. Hasberry’s Black Excellence shines in her role as an educational leader. She teaches agency. She models for Black students that brilliance isn't a roll of the dice—it is the result of intentional learning, the reclaiming of heritage, and the courage to speak one's truth.

Bryan Stevenson: The Geography of Truth and the Architecture of Belonging

January often arrives with a pressure to "reset," urging us to buy new planners and fill blank squares with future-focused productivity. But this month, our theme is Mapping What Matters. We are challenged to elevate, expand, and honor time not as a simple grid of tasks, but as a vessel for the full truth of our lived experiences.

To guide us in this necessary work, we look to a titan of Black excellence: Bryan Stevenson.

As the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and the visionary behind the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Stevenson is more than an attorney; he is America’s cartographer of truth. His life’s work teaches us a profound lesson that resonates deeply within the context of transracial adoption: Belonging cannot exist without truth, and we cannot heal what we refuse to map.

The Principle: Truth Before Reconciliation

Bryan Stevenson’s advocacy is rooted in an uncomfortable reality: America has a habit of wanting to skip straight to "reconciliation" without first doing the hard work of "truth-telling."

Through the EJI’s Community Remembrance Project, Stevenson doesn’t just talk about history; he physicalizes it. He helps communities erect historical markers at sites of racial terror lynching. He asks descendants to collect soil from these sites into jars, turning hallowed ground into tangible memorials.

Why? Because, as Stevenson famously states, "We cannot create a different future until we tell the truth about the past." He understands that if you leave the painful parts off the map, the map is a lie. And an identity built on a misleading map is inherently fragile.

By following Stevenson's lead, we stop asking our children to live on a partial map. We give them the gift of their full history, knowing that is the only foundation strong enough to support their future.

Black Excellence Posts:

Each month, we take time to highlight the remarkable contributions of Black leaders, trailblazers, and changemakers whose impact continues to shape our world. These stories serve as a valuable opportunity for transracial families to learn, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversations about Black history and culture. We invite you to explore our past Black Excellence features in the carousel below, where you’ll find inspiring figures from various fields—activism, science, arts, sports, and beyond. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive these stories, along with discussion prompts and book recommendations, right in your inbox.

Dr. Maulana Karenga: A Tradition of Self-Determination in the December Holidays

The end of the year invites reflection on our most cherished traditions. For the Black community, this reflection is often rooted in the dynamic legacy of Dr. Maulana Karenga, the scholar and activist who gifted the world with Kwanzaa in 1966. His creation is the ultimate example of an evolving tradition, offering a profound cultural framework for African Americans to celebrate themselves, their history, and their future during the December holiday season.

Kwanzaa, celebrated from December 26th to January 1st, was established in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles. Dr. Karenga conceived of the holiday not merely as an observance, but as an act of cultural recovery and reconstruction.

At its core, Kwanzaa was a conscious decision to evolve the holiday landscape. It was created to provide a non-religious, pan-African alternative and complement to existing December celebrations, allowing African Americans to root their end-of-year gatherings in collective values and African heritage.

"My goal was to 'give black people an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.'" - Dr. Maulana Karenga

The foundational structure of Kwanzaa is the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles), a set of communitarian values drawn from African philosophy. These principles perfectly embody the idea of expanding our thinking and actions, transforming abstract ideals into a seven-day commitment to community building:

Day 1 Umoja: Unity - Family, community, nation, and race.

Day 2 Kujichagulia: Self-Determination - To define, name, create, and speak for ourselves.

Day 3 Ujima: Collective Work & Responsibility - To build and maintain our community together.

Day 4 Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics - To build and profit from our own businesses together.

Day 5 Nia: Purpose - To restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Day 6 Kuumba: Creativity - To leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Day 7 Imani: Faith - To believe in our people and the righteousness of our struggle.

By dedicating each day to a principle, Kwanzaa actively fosters a tradition of reflection, self-affirmation, and collective action. It is a powerful cultural tool that helps families take a closer look at what traditions mean to us—shifting the focus from commercialism to ethical and communal values.

While originally conceived as an alternative to Christmas, Kwanzaa has matured into a celebrated and integrated part of the African American holiday experience. Many families choose to celebrate both holidays, weaving the cultural strength of the Nguzo Saba into their religious or secular Christmas observances.

Dr. Karenga's work has had a lasting impact by:

Providing Cultural Grounding: Offering a tangible way for people of African descent to connect with their ancestry and culture during the festive season.

Encouraging Self-Definition: Living up to the principle of Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) by having a holiday created by and for the Black community.

Fostering Unity: The emphasis on the Kikombe cha Umoja (Unity Cup) and the culminating feast (Karamu) on December 31st reinforces the essential communal spirit.

Dr. Maulana Karenga’s Kwanzaa remains a monumental example of Black excellence, demonstrating that the most enduring and meaningful traditions are often those we have the courage to create for ourselves.

Black Excellence Posts:

Each month, we take time to highlight the remarkable contributions of Black leaders, trailblazers, and changemakers whose impact continues to shape our world. These stories serve as a valuable opportunity for transracial families to learn, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversations about Black history and culture. We invite you to explore our past Black Excellence features in the carousel below, where you’ll find inspiring figures from various fields—activism, science, arts, sports, and beyond. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive these stories, along with discussion prompts and book recommendations, right in your inbox.

Dr. Tiya Miles: Weaving Truth and History

As we gather around our holiday tables this November -National Adoption Awareness Month -we’re reminded of how stories shape our understanding of family, history, and home. This month’s Black Excellence spotlight honors Dr. Tiya Miles, a historian and storyteller whose work helps us see the fullness of those connections.

Dr. Miles is the author of Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom, a groundbreaking book that explores the intertwined lives of African and Cherokee people in early America. Through this and subsequent works -including The House on Diamond Hill: A Cherokee Plantation Story, The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits, and her National Book Award -winning All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake -Miles invites us to look beyond simplified narratives and into the layered, lived realities of identity, land, and lineage.

Her writing sits at the crossroads of African American, Native American, and women’s histories - places where truth is often complex and sometimes painful, but always necessary. Like the work of families navigating transracial adoption, Miles’s research calls us to open our eyes to what’s been missing and to honor the beauty that emerges when we do.

In a month that asks us to reflect on both thankfulness and truth, Dr. Tiya Miles reminds us that telling the whole story -of our families, our nation, and ourselves -is an act of love. Her scholarship is a model of what it means to hold history tenderly and to make space at the table for every part of who we are.

Learn more about Dr. Miles’s work at www.tiyamiles.com.

Black Excellence Posts:

Each month, we take time to highlight the remarkable contributions of Black leaders, trailblazers, and changemakers whose impact continues to shape our world. These stories serve as a valuable opportunity for transracial families to learn, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversations about Black history and culture. We invite you to explore our past Black Excellence features in the carousel below, where you’ll find inspiring figures from various fields—activism, science, arts, sports, and beyond. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive these stories, along with discussion prompts and book recommendations, right in your inbox.