What started out in 1926 as a week dedicated to Black History is now an entire month that celebrates notable and prominent African-Americans and -Canadians in North America and Britain.
It was initiated by a historian named Dr. Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week” and was observed during the second week of February because that was the week both Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born. Woodson created it hoping that it would disappear when black history became a secure part of American history. Today, the existence of Black History Month is controversial because many people believe that black history is a part of American history.
Negro History Week officially became Black History Month in the United States 1970. It wasn’t until 1987 that the United Kingdom accepted it and 1995 if when Canada officially recognised February as Black History Month.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Dr. Woodson started Black History Month because he noticed that many of the textbooks ignored black history and achievements and wanted to educate the world.
- Black History Month celebrates all sorts of African-American and -Canadian people such as Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson, Rosa Parks, Langston Hughes and many, many more.
- Dr. Carter G. Woodson was the first African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University.
- In the United Kingdom, Black History Month is observed in October.
- Every year there is a theme that is observed. For 2013 the theme is “At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington.”