Categories: Articles, Columnists, Harlem, Hazel Rosetta Smith,
The renowned historian, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, believed deeply that a celebration of Black history would have a lasting impact on future generations of leaders.
Determined to lead the charge to study that history, Dr. Woodson announced the first Negro History Week in February 1926. He chose February because it was the month in which both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were born.
After Lincoln’s assassination, his birthday which was February 12, was celebrated by Black Americans. And, February 14, which was celebrated as Douglass Day, had gained popularity since it started in 1897.
Dr. Woodson saw Negro History Week to expand the celebration of these two men and encourage all Americans to study the little-known history of an entire race of people. He dedicated his life to educating African Americans about the achievements and contributions of their ancestors.
Decades later, the celebration grew out of “Negro History Week,” into Black History Month as a time to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society—from activists and civil rights pioneers to leaders in industry, politics, science, culture, the arts, and more.
By the late 1960s, the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of Black identity were expressed as individuals spoke out, but none as boldly as James Brown’s hit single released in 1968, “Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.” Those words became an anthem of the civil rights movement.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month and called upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Since 1976, every American president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme. The annual themes reflect changes in how people of African descent in the United States have viewed themselves, the influence of social movements on racial ideologies, and the aspirations of the Black community.
The 2025 Black History Month theme, promoted by the Association of African American Life and History is “African Americans and Labor.” The theme focuses on the profound ways that work of all kinds –free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational, and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of Black history and culture.
For years there have been many attempts to deny African Americans their history. There are schoolbooks without mention of our people, and historical records re-written to exclude Black people.
It is up to us to set the record straight. We have stories to tell of how we got over, and how we as people keep growing and creating, achieving, and accomplishing.
Black history matters. The annual observance is recognized during February in Canada, and in October in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
This is the time to celebrate with each other and share our stories with our children, so that they will know what a great ancestry we evolved from and the hope that we hold for their future.
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