Black History...More Than A Month
“When you control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions”. Carter G. Woodson
Black History Month Has Arrived!!!
The national theme for Black History Month 2020 is “African Americans and the Vote” highlighting suffrage of African Americans throughout American history. This year also marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot after the Civil War.
The theme is quite timely since we have the 2020 Presidential elections later this year. Whether you have just turned 18 years old, or you are 98 years young, your vote matters.
This year, make it a point to venture beyond the topics of Slavery, Jim Crow and Civil Rights. There is more to the history of African Americans than these three topics. We need to be hungry enough to want to dive deeper into our history and move past the people and events presented to us on televison or in the classroom. Although celebrated in February, Black History (African American ) History is everyday of the year.
The Story of Black History Month began in 1915. In September of that year, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). The organization is dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by African Americans and other people of African descent.
Known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures.
Carter G. Woodson was an African American writer and historian known as the 'Father of Black History. He penned the influential book 'The Mis-Education of the Negro.'
He was the second African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard, after W.E.B. DuBoi. He also served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University.
Additional books from the author include A Century of Negro Migration(1918), The History of the Negro Church (1921) and The Negro in Our History (1922). Woodson also penned literature for elementary and secondary school students.
Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.
What are you doing to educate yourself? Have you visited a museum or library lately or engaged in a conversation with an elder family member about your family’s journey; from wherever that journey may have started?
Check out these sites for Black History Month Ideas:
https://www.weareteachers.com/7-fresh-ideas-for-black-history-month/
https://naacp.org/latest/28-ways-celebrate-black-history-month/
https://party.lovetoknow.com/Black_History_Month_Celebration_Ideas
Blog Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
https://www.biography.com/scholar/carter-g-woodson
Share with us how you plan to observe and celebrate Black History.
NSC