Black History Month

What is Black History Month and Why Do We Celebrate It?

Since I was a little boy, Black History Month has been celebrated in February. I remember writing countless school reports on the contributions and achievements of great African Americans, some famous and some unknown, to the United States.

Perhaps one of the most important African Americans is Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-educated historian, and author. In 1915, Woodson and Jesse Moorland, a minister, started the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Despite heavy public pushback, the organization survived under their leadership. Throughout the years, support for the organization grew but wasn’t as widespread as Woodson had envisioned. An event was needed in which schools and communities could share African American History through organized celebrations, performances, educational seminars, and lectures. In February 1926, Negro History Week was born.

But Woodson wasn’t done. He devoted his life and career to the promotion of this cause. He wrote more than a dozen books throughout his career, including Mis-Education of the Negro in 1933. Mis-Education, perhaps the most famous book of this genre, has become required reading in African-American Studies in numerous colleges and universities. Woodson died on April 3, 1950, but his legacy lives on.

Mis-Education of the Negro

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s dramatically influenced the decade and created social awareness of African-American culture in the United States, and helped elevate Negro History Week to national prominence. In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially declared that February would become Black History Month.

So, you may be asking yourself - Why February? Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week to coincide with the birthdays of two men who had a tremendous positive impact on the status of the negro in the United States, President Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation paved the way for the abolition of slavery, and Douglass, an escaped slave, became a prominent leader in the fight to end slavery.

When Woodson started Negro History Week in 1926, I don’t think he fully understood the impact that his brainchild would have not only in the United States but also throughout the world. He laid the groundwork for the most celebrated acknowledgment of the impressive achievements of black men and women in the fields of politics, education, science, law, sports, and entertainment. Woodson’s legacy lives on in the actions and accomplishments of all African-Americans.

Vince Philip moved from Staten Island, New York to DeLand, Florida over 20 years ago. When he is not working as a marketing and graphic design professional, Vince enjoys traveling, writing and board gaming.

Leaders of Black History

W.E.B DUBOIS

Du Bois was a prolific activist, author and sociologist. He had risen to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists fighting for equal rights. He co-founded the NAACP in 1909.

ELLA BAKER

Ella Baker Started working for the NAACP in 1940, and co-founded the organization In Friendship to fight against Jim Crow laws in 1955. In 1957, she was asked to help organize Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference and also helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, which became one of the biggest human rights advocates in the country.

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

In 1968, Chisholm was elected as the first African- American Congresswoman, serving a Brooklyn district in the House of Representatives, and later became one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was also the first African-American woman to run for the Democratic party nomination.

BAYARD RUSTIN

Rustin worked on the March on Washington Movement in 1941 to press for an end to discrimination in employment. He later helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to strengthen Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership.

PERCY JULIAN

A prominent research chemist, and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize physostigmine, and a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone. And was the first African-American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.

STEVE BIKO

South African figure Steve Biko coined the slogan "Black is Beautiful" during his days as an activist, writing literature encouraging black urban populations to mobilize. He founded the Black Consciousness Movement and today is a martyr figure of the antiapartheid movement.