Feb 5, 2021
By Dray Breezy
Did you know that Black History Month originally began as Black History Week? Harvard historian Carter G. Woodson noticed the absence of African American contributions in American curriculum and conversation. So in 1915, he and Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or the ASALH). The organization functioned to promote the study of black history and uplift the accomplishments of black people.
The month of February was chosen because both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln have birthdays in that month, days that were already informally being celebrated by a large portion of black people. (That I did not know)
It took decades for Woodson’s vision to gain the popularity we see today. By the mid-1960s, the most popular textbook for eighth-grade U.S. history classes mentioned only two black people in the entire century of history that had transpired since the Civil War which prompted many colleges and universities to create curriculum that recognizes the brilliance of black culture.
This began to be called Black History Month, which would give white people 28 days to learn something, anything about black people. In actuality, it just gave white people an opportunity to learn about MLK Jr, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and maybe?? Malcolm X.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford decreed Black History Month a national observance and walaa, American racism was fixed.
It wasn’t as simple as that, but Black History Month did give black people an opportunity to understand their history and the accomplishments of our people.
Black accomplishments are American accomplishments and to exclude them from our curriculum sends the very opposite message. How are you celebrating Black History Month this year?