Black History Month - How it Started & it's Importance

Black History Month is that time for African Americans to acknowledge key figures from our past and present. It’s an opportunity to spotlight and celebrate the achievements that African Americans have accomplished throughout this country, despite the history of racism and oppression. 

Most of all, it is a time to teach, or remind, our children of the history lessons they might not learn as part of their everyday school curriculum. When President Gerald Ford expanded Negro History Week into a full month in 1976, he said the country needed to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Nearly half a century later, this statement still holds true. Black History Month affords us the chance to challenge what we learned in history, dig deeper, and find out the actual events of the past that may not have been taught in schools. 

Why and where did the idea for Black History come from?

Historians tell us that Carter G. Woodson, who is often referred to as the father of Black history founded "Negro History Week" — which would grow into what we now recognize as "Black History Month" in 1926. The idea was to make resources available for teachers — Black teachers — to celebrate and talk about the contributions that Black people had made in America. 

Woodson picked the week in February marked by the birth of Abraham Lincoln and the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass because those days were already celebrated in his community. In this way, Woodson built on a Black tradition that was already accepted for commemorating well known historical figures that were important to the Black community from the past. He also understood that for Black students to see themselves beyond their current situation, they needed to be able to learn about the contributions that their own ancestors have made to this country’s history. 

Why should Black History matter to anyone outside of the Black Community?

Throughout American history, various ethnic groups had sought to come to America to seek a better life for themselves or to escape oppressive governments. They brought their own cultures, traditions, belief systems and symbols of cultural identity to their communities. These are the people whose names and deeds are often the ones that you see written in history books. Italian immigrants had one of the largest surges in population of all ethnic groups between 1870 and 1920, only just eclipsed by the Irish and German populations. By 1832, more than 10,000 immigrants arrived in the U.S. from Germany. By 1854, that number had jumped to nearly 200,000 immigrants. 

Blacks, however, were taken from Africa and forced into servitude. This removed them from their culture, traditions and all they knew. Once in America, the slaves had to re-create or adopt the culture of their oppressors in order to survive. Black history is American history, but due to oppression and devaluing of African American contributions to societal culture, it is understood that without Black History Month, many of these facts would not be taught within the American history curriculum. 

African American contributions and historical references were often not highlighted, completely omitted or just not taught in curriculums around the United States. My personal experience with this education omission was the fact that I had never heard of the term "Juneteenth" until I had relocated to Minnesota as a junior in college. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date on which enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally received the news they were free. This was two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, one year after the Senate passed the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. The omission of this historical fact to my educational experience in the South is a glaring example of how easy it is to manipulate a historical narrative to suit one’s purpose regardless of the historical facts. Just remember that teaching integrated, honest history can be transformative to all who hear it. 

This article highly references an article by Tonya Jones-Dandridge. The original article "The Importance of Celebrating Black History All Year Long" found at vericast.com.