An Equal Celebration for All
As most Americans are aware, February is Black History Month.
In this year’s presidential proclamation on National Black History Month (also known as African American History Month), President Joe Biden wrote, “National Black History Month serves as both a celebration and a powerful reminder that Black history is American history, Black culture is American culture, and Black stories are essential to the ongoing story of America — our faults, our struggles, our progress, and our aspirations.”
Those stories referred to by the President continue to be written and told. And it’s not just during February that we honor and remember the Black Veterans who have been serving this country, fighting for and defending our rights and freedoms since the Revolutionary War. Year-round, we honor and remember the more than two million Black Veterans currently in the United States. Arzie Gordon is one such Veteran.
Arzie was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. His experiences growing up mirrored many of his fellow Americans – difficult homelife, being bullied at school, etc. However, as an African American, he also experienced the sting of racism on numerous occasions, amplified by being a student in a school system that employed segregated quotas.
Like many young people, neighbors and teachers played a significant role in shaping Arzie’s life. His high school social studies teacher, along with neighbors across the street from his house, were two important sources of inspiration and affirmation. “My teacher always landed on the thought that I could achieve anything I set my mind and efforts to be,” says Arzie. “My neighbor always motivated me to keep my head up and get ready for bigger and better things.”
With a sense of wanting to do something no one in his family had done and a desire to serve his country, Arzie joined the Air Force in 1994. Arzie possesses a passion to help people, so it was fortuitous that he first worked in the Personnel and Human Resources career field, then began working in Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). He served his country for 20 years in uniform, retiring from the Air Force on May 1, 2014. Shortly thereafter, he began working for the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System (VASNHCS) in Reno, Nevada.
Arzie wears many hats at VASNHCS, to include being the EEO manager; Diversity & Inclusion coordinator; Alternative Dispute Resolution coordinator; Anti-harassment Program coordinator; Minority Veteran Program coordinator; and Tribal Health Program Reimbursement Agreement manager. There are common threads that connect the different roles he fulfills, primarily wanting to help people and ensuring all are given an equal chance – continuations of what had motivated him throughout his time in the Air Force.
That deeply rooted belief in equal opportunity and inclusion informs Arzie’s worldview and the way he approaches his job. “Celebrate all people and what their culture brings. Don’t separate anyone based on stigma, racial under- and overtones, media, religion, politics, skin color, and personality,” proclaims Arzie. “All people deserve respect and the fair chance to excel and be successful.” You can hear echoes from his social studies teacher and his neighbors in those sentiments.
Circling back to Black History Month, Arzie sees it as its creators intended, “Black History Month to me is education and celebration of the African American.” The month of February was chosen for the observance because it’s the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, both of whom dramatically affected the lives of African Americans. In an 1869 speech in Boston, Frederick Douglass declared, “In a composite nation like ours, as before the law, there should be no rich, no poor, no high, no low, no white, no black, but common country, common citizenship, equal rights, and a common destiny.”
Those are sentiments Arzie can get behind. Whether observing African American History, National Women’s History, Asian/Pacific Heritage, Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Pride, National Hispanic Heritage, or any other of the EEO Special Emphasis Observances months, Arzie sees an equal need for all. “I believe all special observances are necessary. All cultures play a huge part in the progress and significance of our country and its freedom.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked an audience in Montgomery, Alabama in 1957, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” It’s clear how Arzie would answer: celebrating the immense cultural history of the United States with an eye towards inclusion and equality.