Black-History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in black
history. It is celebrated annually in the United States and Canada in the month
of February, while in the UK it is held in the month of October.
History
Statue of Woodson in Huntington, West VirginiaBlack History Month was
established in 1976 by The Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and
History.[1] The month-long celebration was an expansion of Negro History Week,
which was established in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, director of what was then
known as the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Woodson
selected the week in February that embraced the birthdays of both Frederick
Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. The celebration may have had its origins in the
separate efforts of Mary Church Terrell and the African American collegiate
fraternity Omega Phi Psi. The former had begun the practice of honoring
Frederick Douglass on February 14, the date he used to mark his birth. The
Omegas established a "Negro Achievement Week" in 1924. Woodson was friends with
Mary Church Terrell and worked with her and the National Council of Colored
Women to preserve Douglass' home and personal papers. Woodson was also a member
of Omega Psi Phi. While Terrell's celebration of Douglass was a local event and
the Omega Achievement Week was part of their community outreach, Woodson
broadened the scope of the celebration in three significant ways. First, he
conceived of the event as a national celebration, sending out a circular to
groups across the United States. Secondly, he sought to appeal to both whites
and blacks and to improve race relations. For this reason, he chose President
Lincoln's birthday as well as Douglass'. Finally, Woodson viewed Negro History
Week as an extension of ASNLH's effort to demonstrate to the world that Africans
and peoples of African descent had contributed to the advance of history. Each
year, ASNLH would select a national theme and provide scholarly and popular
materials to focus the nation's "study" of Negro history. As such, Negro History
Week was conceived as a means of undermining the foundation of the idea of black
inferiority through popular information grounded in scholarship. The theme,
chosen by the founders of Black History Month, for 2007 is "From Slavery to
Freedom, Africans in the Americas."
The Negro History Week Movement took hold immediately. At first it was
celebrated almost exclusively by African Americans, taking place outside of the
view of the wider society. Increasingly, however, mayors and governors,
especially in the North, began endorsing Negro History Week and promoting
interracial harmony. By the time of Woodson's death in 1950, Negro History Week
had become a well-established cultural institution. Indeed, it was so
established that Woodson had begun to criticize groups for shallow and often
inaccurate presentations that did not advance the public's knowledge of Negro
life and history.
With the rise of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s, many in the African
American community began to complain about the insufficiency of a week-long
celebration. In 1976, the ASNLH, having changed its name to The Association for
the Study of Afro-American Life and History, responded to the popular call,
citing the 50th annual celebration and America's bicentennial. For more on the
association visit ASALH.org.
Frederick Douglass, ca. 1879.
Purpose
History books had barely begun covering black history when the tradition of
Black History Month was started. At that point, most representation of blacks in
history books was only in reference to the low social position they held, with
the exception of George Washington Carver. Black History Month can also be
referred to as African-American History Month, or African Heritage Month. One of
the few U.S. history works at that time told from an African American
perspective was W.E.B. DuBois' 1935 work "Black Reconstruction."
In the United Kingdom (UK), Black History Month is celebrated in the month of
October. The official guide to Black History Month in the UK[] is published by
Sugar Media, Ltd., who produce 100,000 copies nationwide.[2]
Part of the aim of Black History Month is to expose the harms of racial
prejudice and to cultivate black self-esteem following centuries of
socio-economic oppression [citation needed]. It is also an opportunity to
recognize significant contributions to society made by people with African
heritage.
Debate
African Americans
W.E.B. Du Bois • Martin Luther King, Jr. • Edward Brooke
Colin Powell • Rosa Parks • Condoleeza Rice
Total population
35,624,779
Regions with significant populations
United States
(predominantly Southern) 34,962,569 [4][5]
Languages
Predominantly American English
Religions
Predominantly Christianity and Islam
Related ethnic groups
Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups.
NoI preacher in 1998, in England.Black History Month sparks an annual debate
about the continued usefulness of a designated month dedicated to the history of
one skin colour. Critical op-ed pieces have appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer
[1] and USA Today [2].
Some African American radical/nationalist groups, including the Nation of Islam,
have criticized Black History Month. Some critics contend Black History Month is
irrelevant because it has degenerated into a shallow ritual.[3]
Woodson, creator of Negro History Month, hoped that the week would eventually be
eliminated, when African-American history would be fully integrated with
American history.
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