This article explores the history of Black History Month, its evolution from Negro History Week, and its significance in celebrating Black history, culture, and education. It highlights the contributions of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of ASALH, and the efforts of organizations like Omega Psi Phi Fraternity to expand the celebration. The article also discusses how Black history is celebrated within communities and families, and addresses common myths surrounding the month.
Beginning February 1st, schools, museums, and communities across the United States will mark the start of Black History Month, a celebration of Black history, culture, and education. The history of this month dates back almost a century, and the way it is celebrated and evolved has created history in itself. Black History Month wasn't always a monthlong celebration. In February 1926, historian and author Carter G.
Woodson created Negro History Week, a weeklong celebration aimed at teaching people about African-American history and the contributions of Black people. This effort was made under the umbrella of an organization he founded in September 1915 called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or ASALH. 'I think Black folks understood what they had contributed to America's historical narrative, but no one was talking about it,' said Kaye Whitehead, the organization's president. 'No one was centralizing it until Dr. Carter G. Woodson was in 1926.' After his passing in 1950, members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, of which Dr. Woodson was a member, did significant groundwork to encourage celebrating the week. The fraternity was also responsible for the push to extend the celebrations to a full month. Eventually, in 1976, President Gerald Ford became the first president to issue a message recognizing the month. Since then, presidents have made annual proclamations for National Black History Month, a tradition that President Donald Trump planned to continue, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.The Association for the Study of African American Life and History releases a theme for each year, a practice Woodson started. This year's theme is African Americans and Labor. The organization plans to use the month, and the rest of the year, focusing on the role of Black labor in building the nation through industry or community work. Black history is also celebrated within communities and families. Worth K. Hayes, an associate professor of history and Africana studies at Morehouse College, said some families may use the month to explore their genealogy, learn about their ancestors, or come together to eat a meal and make family trees. 'We may be more familiar with the more public ways, but there are also a lot more intimate ways in which these messages are spread and the way that the holiday is propagated,' Hayes said. At some schools, assemblies or gatherings are held to honor Black leaders, according to the nonpartisan organization the Center for Racial Justice in Education. 'Some schools invite elders to share their wisdom and lived experiences, allowing young people to learn from them, ask questions, and build meaningful connections across generations,' the center said in an email to The Associated Press. 'Additionally, some communities select specific topics or principles for in-depth exploration during the month.' Myths around Black History Month continue, Whitehead said, including the idea that the U.S. government purposely chose the shortest month of the year. In reality, Woodson chose February because two prominent figures in the civil rights movement — Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass — had birthdays in the week he chose. Whitehead also stresses that Black history shouldn't just be taught for the month of February, but rather taught and celebrated for the entire year
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CARTER G. WOODSON AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE LABOR HISTORY COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
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