Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements
by African Americans and a time for recognising the central role of blacks in
U.S. history.
 |
| The beginning of celebrating all things Black. Credit: Chicago Public Library. |
The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild
of noted historian Carter G.
Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S.
president has officially designated the month of February as Black History
Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United
Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.
The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a
century after the Thirteenth
Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. That September, the Harvard-trained historian Woodson and
the prominent minister Jesse
E. Moorland founded the Association
for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organisation dedicated
to researching and promoting achievements by black Americans and other peoples
of African descent.
Known today as the Association
for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH),
the group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second
week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and
Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to
organise local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and
lectures.
Negro History Week
In the decades that followed, mayors of cities across the
country began issuing yearly proclamations recognising Negro History Week. By
the late 1960s, thanks in part to the civil rights movement and a growing
awareness of black identity, Negro History Week had evolved into Black History
Month on many college campuses.
 |
| Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland, the fathers of Black History Month. Source: BET |
Thirty-eighth US President, Gerald Ford officially recognised Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honour the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavour throughout our history.”
Black history month
2018 theme
Since 1976, every American president has designated February
as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme.
The Black History Month 2018 theme, “African Americans in
Times of War,” marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and honours
the roles that black Americans have played in warfare, from the American
Revolution to the present day.
Source: History
Comments
Post a Comment