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History in the Making

Southwest’s legacy of support within African-American communities

Southwest Airlines works to build meaningful relationships in the communities it serves. By supporting more than 400 community organizations across the country, we are able to tap into the passion points of our Customers. 

We strive to collaborate with groups that represent the diverse populations that make up the fabric of our country. To that end, Southwest supports more than 30 organizations that serve African-American communities. We also support a number of diversity-focused events throughout the year, such as February’s Black History Month. 

Additionally, Southwest is the Official Airline of the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) program for several chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Each year, this program recognizes the academic and artistic talents of African-American students in grades 9 through 12. Youth from communities nationwide showcase their academic and artistic achievements, great minds, and undeniable talent by competing in 26 categories that include science, performing arts, visual arts, humanities, and business entrepreneurship.  

The yearlong program culminates in a national competition where students vie for prizes. Southwest currently supports youth divisions in Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles area and has provided air transportation assistance to hundreds of students over the past seven years, giving them the opportunity to attend the National ACT-SO Competition. We are very proud of their hard work and achievements.

In addition to the NAACP’s ACT-SO program and many other African-American organizations, Southwest also supports the annual conferences of NAACP California and Texas. These organizations focus on history, culture, education, leadership, business, and building strong futures for African-American youth. This commitment to youth not only lets us celebrate current achievements in the African-American community, but it also gives Southwest the opportunity to play an important role in Black History in the making. 

To learn more about Southwest Airlines’ dedication to the African-American community and what we are doing to celebrate Black History Month, please visit southwest.com/citizenship. —Rachel Barry