Celebrating Black History Month at Electronic Arts

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

With Dr. King’s vision for “infinite hope” firmly in mind, we’ve been celebrating Black History Month 2021 in the U.S. and Canada, focusing our efforts internally in support of our employees in partnership with our BEAT! (Black EA Team) ERG, EA’s employee resource group dedicated to celebrating Black/African-American culture across EA, our games, and our communities.

BEAT! kicked things off by introducing this year’s theme, Shades of Black, an acknowledgement of the incredible diversity that exists within the Black community. Throughout the month, we’ve come together for moments of reflection, self-care and engagement through allyship and community building. Our ongoing celebrations feature a variety of speakers and activities centered around the Black experience.

Here are a few highlights:

Unite in Color

Minda Harts, CEO of The Memo, a career development platform for women of color, and the author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table, joined us in a intimate fireside chat where she spoke on her personal journey and offered perspective around the unique challenges facing women of color in the workplace. She stressed the importance of unity in addressing the problem, requiring efforts not just from women of color but by all leaders and allies alike.

Here at EA we realize that it is the responsibility of Leaders to create a culture of belonging that works in favor of everyone—where everyone feels safe to speak up, has an opportunity to contribute, and grow to their fullest potential.

Heal in Color

Dr. Keith Stanley Brooks, a proud HBCU alumni, earned his M.ED in teacher leadership and PhD in work and human resource education at the University of MN. Brooks joined us in a workshop where employees began to understand the concept of Critical Race Theory (CRT), a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression.

Employees were challenged to think thoughtfully about the importance of Black History, examining and attempting to understand the socio-cultural forces that shape how we and others perceive, experience, and respond to racism.

In this session we aimed to highlight black history in order to continue to understand how black narratives are tightly woven and integrated into the narrative of the United States as a whole. Though there’s no doubt we’ve come a long way, we realize there is much work to be done. Recognizing that racism is not a bygone of our past. To move forward we must acknowledge that the legacy of slavery in the U.S, segregation, and the inequiteable teatment towards Black Americans and other people of color continue to permeate the social fabric of this nation.

As another layer of our focus on healing, wellness and self-care, we partnered with Modern Health, a global platform built on evidence-based principles with therapists, coaches, and digital content to bring in Licenced Therapist, Leticia Vaca, MSW, LCSW to lead a series of discussions around recent events affecting the Black/AA community, offering attendees a safe place to share thoughts, concerns, stories, and experiences.

Love in Color

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we hosted a fun and unique virtual Sip & Paint class led by the small, Black-owned business Amazing Paint Party.

The concept of “Black love” – a love that is unique to a single community – seems regressive. So, can love just be Black? Is romance the only type of Black love that matters? Power couple and Owner’s Ray Tennyson and Brittney Mangrum tackled these topics as they joined us for a sip & paint discussion on reimagining Black Love.

Ray and Brittney started Amazing Paint Party with a vision of guiding people without any painting experience to craft amazing works of art. What started as a hobby for extra income for the couple has now become a paint party Black-owned business empire.

This class not only provided employees with a fun way to decompress, recharge, and show off their artistic flair, they were able to dive deep into a powerful conversation. Attendees were able to dive into the historical inequalities permenting Black/AA communities and the need to evaluate systematic barriers and  representation of black love, marriage and family formation. Black love, just like the Black community -- is not a monolith. It is multi-layered, diverse and emphasizes the value of every person, no matter who they are or who they love.

Forgive in Color

Judy Fambrough-Billingsley, author of Too Brown to Keep: A Search for Love, Forgiveness, and Healing, shared her inspirational odyssey of being one of the many unwanted "brown babies" whose mixed-race often led to their abandonment after World War II.

Most people around the globe know their ancestral history or can easily research it. They can trace family and public records going back as far as they want to discover who they are, and where they come from. That however, for Americans descended from enslaved Africans, the roots of their ancestry are often a mystery. Family history becomes dark after only a few generations, a bold reminder that 150 years ago, Black people weren’t considered people.

As the daughter of a white German woman and a Black American soldier, Ms. Fambrough-Billingsley spoke about the emotional and psychological effects of being an abandoned biracial baby. She also talked about the heart-wrenching and very public rejection she suffered on her quest to find her birth family.

Ms. Fambrough-Billingsley’s tale is one of incredible trials and triumphs over the course of a long journey of self-discovery. It’s also an inspiring story of forgiveness and healing.

Black History - Beyond just the 28 days in February

Though we’ve acknowledged and celebrated Black History Month throughout February with various programs internally, the greatest take away we hope all EA employees walk away with is that, Black history is more than a month long celebration. Black History Month is a great time to pause, reflect and celebrate the many accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans. A bold reminder to recognize, appreciate, promote, and celebrate Black history and achievement – not just in February, but every month. Black History is never ending.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the month from our game teams on how they are celebrating Black History Month in-game for our players!