An Explanation As To Why The Month Of February Is Designated As “African American History Month” Is Provided Below.
The United States celebrates African American History Month in February to recognize the contributions & sacrifices made by African Americans in building this country. Our country’s rich cultural heritage, as well as its triumphs and adversities, are all celebrated during Black History Month.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Black Health and Wellness,” in honor of the medical community’s leading thinkers and practitioners. When it comes to the third year with the COVID-19 pandemic which has had a devastating impact on minorities, this topic is particularly relevant.
According to American University’s Antiracist Research and or Policy Main building director Sara Clarke Kaplan, “There is no American history apart from African American history. She asserted that “everything folks assume of as ‘American history is embedded with the Black experience.”
Negro History Week – African American History Month
According to critics, African American History Month should indeed be celebrated all year long, not just before one month of the year.
A time to promote & educate people regarding Black history & culture was established by Carter G. Woodson, a “father of Black histories,” in 1926, according to W. Marvin Dulaney. For his work, he is a historian & president of an organization that studies the history of African Americans (ASALH).
Woodson envisioned a week-long festival to promote the integration of Black history into public school curricula across the country. It was in 1915 that he founded the Linkage for the Investigation of Negro History and Identity, which he named “Negro History Week” to honor the contributions of African-Americans. Eventually, ASNLH was renamed ASALH.
The goal was not to impose restrictions, but rather to focus but rather to broadening the public’s awareness.
For Albert Broussard, a history professor at Texas A&M University, Woodson’s goal first from commencement was to make the study of Black history a “serious area of study.”
Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month in the late 1960s as public acceptance of the concept grew. During this time of social upheaval, protests against racial injustice, economic inequality, and anti-imperialism were taking place across the country.
Commemorations began at colleges and universities as well, with Kent State University, according to Kaplan, is one of the first.
Chairman Gerald R. Ford recognized Black History Month for the first time during the country’s bicentennial celebrations in 1976. History.com reports that Ford urged Americans to “take the moment to honor the too-often overlooked achievements of Black Americans across every field of endeavor throughout our history.”
What Is The Significance Of African American History Month In The Calendar?
To honor Abraham Lincoln or Frederick Douglass, February was chosen because of their birthdays falling within the same week of each other. Abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were instrumental in the emancipation of slaves, & Lincoln was a key figure in the movement.
For African Americans, the 2nd week of February, when Lincoln & Douglass were born, was customarily a time to celebrate emancipation, according to Kaplan. (Douglass’ exact birthday wasn’t noted, but he arrived to enjoy it on February 14th.)
A celebration of African-American history was thus created by Woodson, who organized Negro History Week from around two birthdays.
Four decades after Ford officially recognized Black History Month, that was Barack Obama, the first Black president of the country, who conveyed a message from White House, a spot built by slaves, on his behalf 40 years later.
“Black History Month ought not to be handled as though this is somehow different from our unified American history or also somehow boiled down to a collection of greatest hits first from March on Washington and from several of our sports figures,” Obama said. Obama
After stating that this book is about the “lived, communal history of all African-Americans, famous or obscure,” he continued, “and how those feelings have shaped, challenged, and ultimately strengthened America.”
While the United Kingdom and Ireland commemorate Black History Months in October, Canada celebrates it in February.)
Every Year, The Theme Changes
In keeping with Woodson’s tradition of Negro History Week, ASALH chooses a different icon of Black History Month annually.
In light of the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, this year’s Black Wellness topic is particularly pertinent, according to Dulaney.
There are “terrible health outcomes” for African-Americans, and the coronavirus has been impacting us “disproportionately,” Dulaney said.
Black people and the rest of the world have never been able to celebrate Black history at any time, Broussard said. Since George Floyd’s murder, there has been an increased focus on race relations, and this is a platform to discover.
What Is the Purpose of African American History Month in February?
African American History Month is observed in February. From African American History Mins on local tv networks to such pronouncements of U.S. presidents, that familiar declaration has been a part of countless commemorations of African American history & fulfillment since the 1970s. However, why is February the month in which African American history is celebrated?
When it comes to understanding the history of African-Americans, Carter G. Woodson is the man to turn to. He was inspired by attending a three-week national emancipation commemoration in 1915 when he joined 4 others in forming ASNLH to encourage intellectuals to study the Black past intensively, a topic that had long been ignored by academia or in U.S. public schools.
The Journals of Negro History, the association’s primary scholarly publication, was first edited by Woodson in 1916. Omega Psi Phi, a fraternity founded by Woodson, held its first Negro History & Literature Week in 1924. Desperate to raise awareness of African American history, Harbaugh and the ASNLH organized a two-year-later event called “Negro History Week” in February 1926.
February is the month in which Abraham Lincoln (born January 12) and Frederick Douglass (born Feb. 14) was born, two figures who have shaped the history of the African American community (born February 14).
For more than a century, the African-American community has observed their birthdays to honor Lincoln’s and Douglass’ contributions to the liberation of the slaves and the advancement of civil rights for all people.
Negro History Week was conceived by Woodson as a way to honor the immeasurable contributions of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, as well as to broaden the scope of an already well-established commemoration of the Black old days to include the history and accomplishments of all Black people.
Some communities began designating the month of February as “Negro History Month” as early as the beginning. Throughout the 1960s, as even the American civil rights movements grew stronger and more people became aware of black history, Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower urged Americans to observe African American History Month in 1976, thanks to Woodson’s organization (later named the Affiliation for the Survey of African American History and Identity).
Woodson’s organization was instrumental in the widespread institutionalization of Feb as Black History Month. Regional Afro-American (Black) Black History or United nations African American Lives Matter would be used by all subsequent presidents.