Black History Month has originated in the United States. It is also known as African-American History Month. It is said that the celebration of Black History Month initially began as “Negro History Week,”. A noted African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher Carter G. Woodson, created it in 1926. Later on in 1976, it became a month-long celebration.
Why is Black History Month celebrated?
Black History Month is a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. The United States and Canada, celebrate it in February, while in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom celebrate it in October.
Know more about Black History Month?
Prominent figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, George Washington Carver and Barack Obama, and countless other African Americans who’ve made a profound impact in history are remembered in the Black History Month.
Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
That September, 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), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent. The same has been renamed as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).
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This 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.
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Later on the Mayors of cities across the country began issuing yearly proclamations recognizing Negro History Week. By the late 1960s, due to the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of Black identity, Negro History Week had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses.
This was officially recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, asking the people to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Black History Month 2021 Theme
Every American president endorse a specific theme to celebrate Black History Month “Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity” explores the African diaspora, and the spread of Black families across the United States, is the theme of The Black History Month 2021.
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