Community Chat

[Mersha]

“February is Black History Month.” Since the 1970s that familiar declaration has introduced countless celebrations of African American history and achievement, from Black History Minutes on local television stations to the pronouncements of U.S. presidents. But why is February designated as the month to commemorate African American history?

The answer lies with eminent American historian Carter G. Woodson, who pioneered the field of African American studies in the early 20th century. Inspired by having attended a three-week national celebration of the 50th anniversary of emancipation in 1915, Woodson joined four others in founding the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) to encourage scholars to engage in the intensive study of the Black past, a subject that had long been sorely neglected by academia and in U.S. schools. In 1916 Woodson began editing the association’s principal scholarly publication, The Journal of Negro History. In 1924, spurred on by Woodson, his college fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, introduced Negro History and Literature Week. Two years later, determined to bring greater attention to African American history, Woodson and the ASNLH launched Negro History Week in February 1926.

February is the birth month of two figures who loom large in the Black past: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (born February 12), who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and African American abolitionist, author, and orator Frederick Douglass (born February 14). Since the deaths of Lincoln and Douglass (in 1865 and 1895, respectively), the Black community had celebrated their contributions to African American liberation and civil rights on their birthdays. By rooting Negro History Week in February, Woodson sought to both honor the inestimable legacy of Lincoln and Douglass and to expand an already existent celebration of the Black past to include not only the accomplishments of these two great individuals but also the history and achievements of Black people in general.

As early as the 1940s, some communities had transformed February into Negro History Month. With the ascendance of the American civil rights movement and the rise of Black consciousness in the 1960s, Negro History Week had become Black History Month in more and more places. In 1976 the association that Woodson had founded (later renamed the Association for the Study of African American Life and History) facilitated the widespread institutionalization of February as Black History Month, and U.S. President Gerald Ford urged Americans to participate in its observance. All subsequent presidents would do the same, sometimes referring to the event as National Afro-American (Black) History Month or National African American History Month.

Written By Jeff Wallenfeldt For Britannica.com

[gertrudecloset]

I'm pleased someone began a thread about Black History Month!

I'd like to add that, had Black History (all of it) and all that it entails been truthfully told in the history books or in some other capacity within the public sphere, and not withheld we would not need Black History Month.  Black History is AMERICAN HISTORY.  Blacks were not immigrants during the slave trade.  Blacks were Americans, though according to the Constitution only counted as 3/5's a person.

[Goldengate8361]

It's nice to hear that February was chosen, in part, because it's the birth month of Frederick Douglass. He is one of my favorite historical figures. 

[Teddixat]

@gertrudecloset    AMEN!!

[Imaoldhippie]

If anyone gets the Smlthsonian Channel, they are having shows all month along pertaining to Black History Month.  I believe its on this coming Sunday about Mohammad Ali.  That should be very interesting.

[Venezia]

If anyone hasn't yet seen the film "Hidden Figures", I would highly recommend it.

What the three central characters did for the NASA space program is astounding.  Such brilliant minds, I was in total awe.  And I don't use that word lightly.

Katherine Goble Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan.  Truly amazing women, finally given their due.

[proudlyfromNJ]

@Venezia  I saw that film. I never knew anything about them. I agree, what brilliant minds. I always recommend it. 

[scatcat]

Today is Rosa Parks Birthday 💕

[spumoni99]

I think Rosa Parks is often credited with being the start of the civil rights movement but a boy named Emmit Till in my opinion and the outcry his mother incited over his torture and lynching was the cause of the civil rights movement.  If you haven't read about this story you should or at least watch the new movie "Till".  Growing up I never knew the story about him and just now I have been reading anything I can get my hands on, its really disgusting but its an important piece of history we need to know about.

[Mersha]

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@scatcat wrote:

Today is Rosa Parks Birthday 💕

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@scatcat  Thank you for sharing.

Rosa Parks - 2/4/13-10/24/05

By Jordan Howard – Purdue University

You could feel tremors rumbling across America as rock ‘n’ roll excited kids and outraged parents. But an even more important transformation awaited in Montgomery, Alabama as Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. Her protest ignited America’s Civil Rights movement and forever changed our nation.

1. Rosa Parks’ mother was a teacher and her father was a carpenter. Her ancestry included African, Scots-Irish, and Native American.
2. She graduated high school in 1933. At this time, less than 7% of African-Americans had a high school diploma.
3. Parks became involved in the Civil Rights Movement as early as December 1943. She was elected as a secretary and organized “The Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor.” It is known by the Chicago Defender as “the strongest campaign for equal justice to be seen in a decade.”
4. Rosa and her husband were active members of the League of Women Voters.
5. In 1992, she published her autobiography entitled Rosa Parks: My Story.