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USA Today
28-02-2025
- General
- USA Today
February is Black History Month. Here's the history behind the celebration
February is Black History Month. Here's the history behind the celebration Show Caption Hide Caption Black History Month's historical origins explained Here's why the founder Carter G. Woodson created Black History Month and how it's different today than he originally planned. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY Saturday marks the start of Black History Month, a time to honor Black people and the Black experience. And while Black History celebrations have been held for decades, some people may not realize how this month-long celebration began. It all started with a scholar named Carter G. Woodson, who founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in 1915 to research, preserve, and disseminate knowledge about Black life. Greg Carr, an associate professor in the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., said that Woodson founded the organization while he was a graduate student. In February 1926, Woodson started Negro History Week, and after university students and staff pushed to extend the celebration, it evolved into Black History Month as it is currently recognized in the United States. What led to the start of Black History Month, and why February? Born in Virginia, Woodson was the second African American to receive a PhD from Harvard and the first to earn a PhD from Harvard born to enslaved parents, according to Carr. Woodson was made an honorary member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity on Feb. 10, 1917, and in 1924, members of the fraternity, called Ques, launched the Negro History and Literature Week, according to Carr. 'Dr. Woodson kind of seized upon his membership in Omega Psi Phi and his determination to link the study of our history to communities,' Carr said. 'He recruited the Omegas into helping him establish what he called Negro History Week, which emerged a couple of years later.' He chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because of its link to Abraham Lincoln's birthday on Feb. 12 and Frederick Douglass' birthday or Douglass Day, which falls on Feb. 14. Students at Black and white colleges demanded Negro History Week extension Woodson is credited as the 'Father of Black History,' according to ASALH. He died of a heart attack in 1950, but even after his death, community members demanded a continuation of the celebration he created. Black History Month really took off in the 1960s during the Black Power movement, said Carr. Students on college campuses such as Howard University, Tuskegee University in Alabama, and Kent State University in Ohio pushed for a more inclusive curriculum, complete with African American and global Black history and culture, he said. 'At HBCUs like Howard and Tuskegee, they wanted the entire university to reorient itself around the concepts of Black history and culture,' he said. 'On white college campuses like Kent State, the students and some faculty administrators pushed for the celebration of (Negro History Week) to not only be elevated, but extended.' On the Kent State University Campus, a student-led organization called Black United Students (BUS) pushed to extend the entire month of February to celebrate Black history. The first observance of Black History Month took place at the university in 1970, according to Kent State University. The school eventually became known as the birthplace of Black History Month. President Gerald R. Ford recognized Black History Month on Feb. 10, 1976, according to the National Archives. A decade later, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5443, recognizing National Black (Afro-American) History Month in 1986. 'History had me glued to the seat' Wanting to ensure the full story of African American history, Woodson brought together scholars from all disciplines when he created ASALH, including historians, sociologists, political scientists, as well as those in humanities, according to Cassandra Newby-Alexander, founder of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for African Diaspora Studies at Norfolk State University in Virginia. 'They [textbooks] were referencing slavery and people who were enslaved as if they were servants and members of the family, highlighting mythical stories about how tied in Black people were to white people,' she said. "He wanted to counter all that mythmaking so that the story of what really happened could be told and communicated to young people.' In addition to proposing Negro History Week, Woodson also developed curriculum materials in the 1930s, said Carr, from Howard University. His organization would send kits to teachers to celebrate. The kits included pictures, lessons for teachers, plays for historical performances and posters with notable dates and people, according to Harvard University. One student, Claudette Colvin, was enrolled in history classes at her high school, which later inspired her to make a life-altering decision, said Carr. On March 2, 1955, Colvin was just 15 years old and enrolled at Booker T. Washington High School in Montgomery, Alabama, reported the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY network. She was riding a bus when some white passengers boarded. By law, she was required to sit at the back of the bus, while white people sat at the front. The two racial divides were separated by a section called 'no man's land' in which Colvin and three other Black passengers sat. The white bus driver told the Black passengers to get up so the white people who'd just boarded could sit down. Although three riders moved to the back of the bus, Colvin stayed in her seat. 'I felt as though Harriet Tubman was pushing me down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth was pushing me down on the other,' she previously said. 'So, therefore, history had me glued to the seat. That was the reason I could not move.' Colvin was eventually taken to jail and charged with disorderly conduct, assault, and violating segregation laws. Activists protested, but she was found guilty at her first trial. On appeal, the judge dismissed the segregation and disorderly conduct charges, leaving the assault charge on her record. She was sentenced to indefinite probation until 2021, nearly 67 years after her 1955 arrest, a Montgomery Juvenile Court judge expunged her record. 'We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history' 'The Negro History Bulletin' was a newsletter published by Woodson's organization, ASALH. In March 1950, Woodson posthumously published an article describing how community members can celebrate Negro History Week, Carr said. In his article, Woodson wrote that oftentimes speakers invited to connect with students during Negro History Week have 'traditional discussion of the race problem and how it has been or can be solved,' but that's not all there is to discuss, he said. Woodson viewed Negro History Week as an opportunity for people to share what they've learned during the other 11 months of the year, Carr said. Newby-Alexander said that in some cases, Negro History Week marked the start of discussions on how communities were celebrating throughout the year. 'If you had a principal who was really involved in this, there were all kinds of images and things going on every week or every month that highlighted Black heroes, that had lessons talking about them, events in American history that were inclusive of Black people,' she said. 'This was unheard of in most of the school systems that were not Black.' In an earlier writing in 1943, Woodson himself wrote that 'what we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.' 'We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history,' he wrote. Contributing: Brian Lyman, The Montgomery Advertiser Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
2025 Black History Month theme recognizes labor activists
(NewsNation) — 'African Americans and Labor' is the 2025 Black History Month theme, dictated by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History to highlight the ways that work has intersected with 'the collective experiences of Black people.' Labor is a fraught topic, often evoking images of slavery, sharecropping and segregation, of unpaid labor that moves the country forward with no thanks. ASALH defines work as all 'free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary' positions. Lost recording of MLK speech resurfaces decades later Two years ago, a policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, Christian Collins, wrote, 'Black labor is the cornerstone of U.S. global hegemony.' This year, he told NewsNation that's as true as ever. The United States' current prestige, says Collins, is thanks to the 'uncompensated and undercompensated' labor of Black communities throughout the nation's history. 'It's pretty easy to grow economic profit, especially for high value crops like cotton, like tobacco, if you're not paying the workers who are maintaining those crops,' Collins said. Labor has been a catalyst for societal change and civil rights victories throughout United States history, from labor strikes to the organization of unions. 'When you think about some of the events that really changed the course of American history, it can't be told without the role of the labor movement,' said Ryan Jones, director of History, Interpretation and Curatorial Services at the National Civil Rights Museum. One of the most iconic public addresses of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have A Dream,' was delivered during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The labor conditions in Memphis, Tennessee, got the reverend involved in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike. King would later be assassinated during his April 1968 trip to Memphis, just one week before then-President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law. Why is Black History Month in February? One century ago, another prominent labor organizer, A. Philip Randolph, established the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. It was the first Black labor union to be recognized by the American Federation of Labor. Randolph tied Black labor to the Civil Rights Movement by establishing that 'the most effective weapon against racism is solidarity,' said Collins. Randolph, who called for the 1941 March on Washington alongside Bayard Rustin, also fought for desegregation in the armed forces and fair working opportunities for African Americans. His efforts forced President Franklin D. Roosevelt's hand, leading to the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Committee. 'The solidarity that he built in specific labor advocacy really laid the like help lay the early groundwork for how leaders after him would follow, like Martin Luther King, like Medgar Evers,' Collins said. Black-owned pie shop celebrates 40 years in business A lesser-known labor activist, Nannie Helen Burroughs, founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909, giving Black women access to an education not led by white missionaries. Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, an associate professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, credits Burroughs' tenacity and dedication to academia as a legitimizing factor for many Black women in the 20th century. With a certification in domestic science from Burroughs' school, women were able to leverage their employers for better working conditions and a living wage. 'Burroughs had this saying that really drove her curriculum,' Phillips-Cunningham explained. 'She said, 'We must idealize the real before we realize the ideal.'' As of 2023, more than 21 million Black Americans were in the United States labor force, roughly 13% of the nation's workers. A 2023 Pew Research poll found that while workers' experiences were varied, there were some major takeaways that shed light on the African American workplace experience. Black workers were abundant in certain jobs, like postal service clerks (40.4%), nursing assistants (36.0%) and transit and intercity bus drivers (36.6%), Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2022 shows. Chicago bookstore bridging literacy gap for minority students In turn, they're underrepresented in some agricultural and STEM fields, with earlier surveys pointing to barriers in those fields regarding discrimination and lack of mentors. Pew data also found that Black Americans are the most likely to report being discriminated against — around 25% of respondents said their race or ethnicity makes it harder to succeed in the workplace. Black workers also, in general, earn less than the average American worker among all education levels, BLS data revealed. The next steps, and maybe the next frontier for Black labor movements, are on the horizon, multiple experts told NewsNation. Collins pointed to artificial intelligence as the 'next large struggle' for the Black labor force, telling NewsNation, 'I feel that kind of the next large struggle for, especially the Black labor force in the country, is in these ongoing discussions around artificial intelligence and how it'll impact the American workforce at large.' Phillips-Cunningham warned that recent executive orders from the Trump administration could also be threatening labor progress. She said the orders have 'significantly rolled back and threatened' what 'Black labor leaders fought for.' David Walker: Boston's impassioned abolitionist author Whether it's tech innovations or political motivations, moving forward and making change requires an acknowledgment of the past, said Jones. 'It could be a difficult history to interpret and to comprehend, but it happened, you know? And so I think that we'll be going backward if we don't acknowledge those stories in the manner that they occurred,' Jones said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why is Black History Month in February?
(NewsNation) — The origin of Black History Month in America goes back more than 100 years. Some may wonder why February, the shortest month of the year, was chosen to be the month to celebrate Black history. Here is the origin of Black History Month and how it is celebrated each year. Black church's role in civil rights, social justice continues to grow According to the Library of Congress, the start of Black History Month dates back to 1915, when author and historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). It was through this organization that Woodson initiated the first 'Negro History Week' in 1926. Woodson chose a week in February since it coincided with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two key figures in Black American history. In 1975, President Gerald Ford issued a message recognizing the week and urged all Americans to 'recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by black citizens.' The following year in 1976, ASALH extended the commemoration from a weeklong observation to an entire month. In 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-244, which designated February 1986 as 'National Black (Afro-American) History Month.' The law recognized Feb. 1 of that year as the start of the 60th annual public and private salute to Black history. Afterschool program uplifting Chicago students' voices through music Each year, the ASALH chooses a theme for Black History Month, which is a practice Woodson started. This year's theme is 'African Americans and Labor.' According to the organization, the theme focuses on the types of labor African Americans have provided throughout the country's history, which includes 'free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary.' The theme aims to inspire reflections on the connections between the work of Black individuals and their various workplaces, highlighting significant moments, themes and events in Black history and culture across time and geography. Since 1996, presidents have issued annual proclamations for National Black History Month, and in February of 1996, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 229, commemorating the month and the contributions of Black senators. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
KCAU 9's Honoring Black History special
KCAU 9 is celebrating the highlighting siouxland's African-American history-makers of Siouxland, both past and present with a Honoring Black History Special. Watch a replay of KCAU 9's Honoring Black History special in the player above. While Black History Month was first designated in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, the history of the month dates back almost a century, and the way it is celebrated and evolved has created history in itself. Black History Month wasn't always a monthlong celebration. Historian and author Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week in February 1926. The weeklong celebration efforted to teach people about African-American history and the contributions of Black people. This effort was made under the umbrella of an organization he founded in September 1915 called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or ASALH. Why is Black History Month the shortest of the year? The celebratory week was set in February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. Douglass, whose birthday is Feb. 14, was an escaped slave and influential abolitionist. His 1845 autobiography is still taught in U.S. schools today. Lincoln, born Feb. 12, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people free in the Confederate states. After Woodson passed away in 1950, the members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which Dr. Woodson was a member of, did a lot of groundwork to encourage celebrating the week. The fraternity was also responsible for the push to extend the celebrations to a full month. Eventually, in 1976, President Gerald Ford became the first president to issue a message recognizing the month. Stories highlighting local impacts can be found below. The Sioux City Ghosts softball team entertained crowds from Iowa to the west coast, Canada and Mexico from 1925 to 1956. They were dubbed the 'Harlem Globetrotters' of softball. Click here to read the full story. Sandra Pearson and her husband Andrew have dedicated their free time to bringing unity and harmony to Siouxland. While some may not have heard about the MLK choir, it's been around for over 40 years. Click here to read the full story. Black-owned businesses are thriving across America, and the same is true in Siouxland. While some are home-grown, others are adding to our culinary landscape with recipes form afar. Click here to read the full story. For more stories about Black History Month, visit our Honoring Black History page. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
07-02-2025
- General
- CBS News
Black History Month is underway. Here's what to know about its origins and myths.
Beginning Feb. 1, schools, museums and communities across the nation mark the start of Black History Month — a celebration of Black history, culture and education. The history of the observance dates back almost a century, and the way it is celebrated and evolved has created history in itself. The origins of the month Black History Month wasn't always a monthlong celebration. In February 1926, historian and author created Negro History Week. It was a weeklong celebration in an effort to teach people about African-American history and the contributions of Black people. This effort was made under the umbrella of an organization he founded in September 1915 called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or ASALH. "I think Black folks understood what they had contributed to America's historical narrative, but no one was talking about it," said Kaye Whitehead, the organization's president. "No one was centralizing it until Dr. Carter G. Woodson was in 1926." After he passed away in 1950, the members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, which Dr. Woodson was a member of, did a lot of groundwork to encourage celebrating the week. The fraternity was also responsible for the push to extend the celebrations to a full month. Eventually, in 1976, President Gerald Ford became the first president to issue a message recognizing the month. Since then, presidents have made annual proclamations for National Black History Month, a tradition that President Donald Trump plans to continue, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Celebrating Black history The Association for the Study of African American Life and History releases a theme for each year, which is a practice Woodson started. This year's theme is African Americans and Labor. The organization plans to use the month, and the rest of the year, focusing on the role of Black labor in building the nation through industry or community work. Black history is also celebrated within communities and families. Worth K. Hayes, an associate professor of history and Africana studies at Morehouse College, said some families may use the month to explore their genealogy, learn about their ancestors or come together to eat a meal and make family trees. "We may be more familiar with the more public ways, but there are also a lot more intimate ways in which these messages are spread and the way that the holiday is propagated," Hayes said. At some schools, assemblies or gatherings are held to honor Black leaders, according to the nonpartisan organization the Center for Racial Justice in Education. "Some schools invite elders to share their wisdom and lived experiences, allowing young people to learn from them, ask questions, and build meaningful connections across generations," the center said in an email to The Associated Press. "Additionally, some communities select specific topics or principles for in-depth exploration during the month." Myths about Black History Month Myths around Black History Month continue, Whitehead said, including the idea that the U.S. government purposely chose the shortest month of the year. In reality, Woodson chose February because two prominent figures in the civil rights movement — Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass — had birthdays in the week he chose. Whitehead also stresses that Black history shouldn't just be taught for the month of February, but rather taught and celebrated for the entire year. Celebrities, including actor Morgan Freeman, have criticized it being just a monthlong celebration. But Hayes argued that the month isn't just about celebrating African-American history, but Black history as a whole. "I think that there is this desire to make this point that African-American history or Black history is so integral to the American story, American history," Hayes said. "But that reduces Black history to African-American history, and that's not how it is and is celebrated from its origins to this day … So if you're talking about Black History Month, you're not only talking about Nat Turner, you're also talking about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution. You're talking about many of the women and men who led the independence movements on the African continent." Whitehead added that Black history is not just for Black people, it is for all people. "If you're in an environment and everybody in the environment is white, you need Black History Month more than ever because you need to understand that the world, even though you like to believe it fits into this box, it does not," Whitehead said. Black history doesn't rely on a presidential proclamation, Whitehead and others said. Whitehead said Black people don't need permission to mark the month. "It doesn't happen because we're waiting for a statement to be released. We proclaim it, We celebrate it, we uplift, we center it and we help people to understand that this is our history," she said. Black History Month in 2025 At least one government agency has paused celebrations of cultural or historic events, including Black History Month. The Trump administration planned to scrub some federal government websites in order to remove content contrary to the president's thinking, administration officials told CBS News. There was confusion about whether sites would be entirely shut down, but federal department and agency websites remained functional Friday. But at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the decisions of the new Trump administration around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives will not affect how Black History Month is celebrated. "Negro History Week started in 1926 without any proclamation from anyone other than the people," said ASALH executive director Sylvia Cyrus. "The president of the United States has his views, and certainly we assume that he understands the contributions that African Americans and other people of color have made." A White House spokesperson has said that they intend to celebrate the month. Some believe how Black history is taught could be affected by the new administration's outlook on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. The Center for Racial Justice in Education said educators may be more encouraged to teach Black history in their classrooms throughout the year. "Resistance takes many inspiring forms, and those dedicated to celebrating this essential history are employing creative and strategic approaches to share and further develop it," the organization said in an email. Hayes agreed and said it could encourage others to teach communities about the contributions of Black people. "African Americans, Black folks throughout the world, just like all cultures throughout the world, have taken ownership of their history," he said. "And these various political developments may shape the contours of it. But this story is going to be told regardless of the political dynamics of the particular time."
