Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering events and important people of Sub-Saharan African and Afro-Caribbean ancestry. Every February, people in the United States celebrate the achievements and history of African Americans as part of Black History Month.
Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Negro History Week, which later became Black History Month.
The Origins of Black History Month
The precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week".
Born in New Canton, Virginia, in 1875, Carter G. Woodson would never see the first Black History Month. To stem the tide and bring to the fore those lost voices, Woodson founded in 1915 the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). He launched the following year The Journal of African American History, one of the earliest scholarly journals publishing African American research, history and book reviews.
Seeking to bring even more stories of African Americans to light, in 1926, Woodson founded the first Negro History Week. This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and that of Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which Black communities had celebrated since the late 19th century.
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For example, in January 1897, school teacher Mary Church Terrell persuaded the Washington, D.C. school board to set aside the afternoon of Douglass's birthday as Douglass Day to teach about his life and work in the city's segregated public schools.
The thought process behind the week was never recorded, but scholars acknowledge two reasons for its birth: recognition and importance. Woodson wrote, "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself.
In 1915, Woodson had participated in the Lincoln Jubilee, a celebration of the 50 years since emancipation from slavery held in Bronzeville, Chicago. The summer-long Jubilee, which drew thousands of attendees from across the country to see exhibitions of heritage and culture, impressed Woodson with the need to draw organized focus to the history of black people.
Early in the event's history, African-American newspapers lent crucial support. From the event's initial phase, primary emphasis was placed on encouraging the coordinated teaching of the history of Black Americans in the nation's public schools.
Throughout the 1930s, Negro History Week countered the growing myth of the South's "lost cause", which argued that enslaved people had been well-treated, that the Civil War was a war of "northern aggression", and that Black people had been better off under slavery. Woodson wrote, "When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions, you do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder.
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Black educators and Black United Students at Kent State University first proposed Black History Month in February 1969. Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated all across the country in educational institutions, centers of Black culture, and community centers, both great and small, when President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month in 1976, during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. President Gerald Ford extended the recognition to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Black History Month has been celebrated in the United States every February since.
Since its inception, the Black community met the creation of Black History Month was met with enthusiastic response; it prompted the creation of Black history clubs, an increase in interest among teachers, and interest from progressive whites.
What Black History Month Honors
Black History Month was created to focus attention on the contributions of African Americans to the United States. It honors more than 400 years of Black history, from the enslaved people first brought over from Africa in the early 17th century to African Americans living in the United States today.
Among the notable figures often spotlighted during Black History Month are Dr. President Lincoln led the United States during the Civil War, which was primarily fought over the enslavement of Black people in the country.
Celebrations during Black History Month aim to educate and honor the contributions of African Americans.
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Global Recognition of Black History Month
Black History Month has also expanded beyond its initial acceptance in educational establishments and the business community.
In the United Kingdom, Black History Month was first celebrated in October 1987. The year of 1987, recognized as the African Jubilee, was coincidentally the year of the 150th anniversary of Caribbean emancipation, the centenary of the birth of Marcus Garvey and the 25th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity, an institution dedicated to advancing the progress of African states. Black History Month in the UK was organised through the leadership of Ghanaian analyst Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, who had served as a coordinator of special projects for the Greater London Council (GLC) and created a collaboration to get it underway. The first Black History Month celebration in the UK was held in London on October 1, 1987, when Dr.
In Berlin, Germany, in 1990, members of the Black German community began observing Black History Month. Black History Month was first proclaimed by the City of Toronto in 1979, and then by the Province of Ontario in 1993.
In Jamaica, Black History Month is observed during the month of February, which had been informally adopted by the mid-1990s. Special attention is given to this period as February also marks Reggae Month, which coincides with the birthdates of the King of Reggae, Robert Nesta Marley OM, and the Prince of Reggae, Dennis Brown. It has been a time to acknowledge and honour the achievements and inventions of black figures throughout history, and to reflect on liberation, past racial adversity and struggles.
During this period, locals especially reflect on and pay homage to the contributions of prominent African American civil rights activists, and Jamaican activists and pioneers who have been impactful internationally and nationally- such as Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Harry Belafonte, Ferdinand Smith, John Brown Russwurm, and others. Reggae's role in global social and political activism against apartheid, oppression and inequality, has amplified the significance of Black History Month on the island.
Ireland's Great Hunger Institute, at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, notes: "Black History Month Ireland was initiated in Cork in 2010. In France, Black History Month was first organized in 2018 in Bordeaux. Since then, there have been celebrations in Paris, Le Havre, Guadeloupe, La Rochelle and Bayonne.
In 2020, Black History Month was celebrated in seven African countries for the first time. Participating countries were Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ivory Coast, Comores, Senegal and Cameroon. The event was initiated by the organisation Africa Mondo founded by Mélina Seymour.
Criticism and Alternative Views
Other critics refer to the celebration as a form of racism. Actor and director Morgan Freeman and actress Stacey Dash have criticized the concept of declaring only one month as Black History Month. Freeman noted, "I don't want a Black history month.
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Key Milestones and Events
Black History Month on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) deployed in February 2015 in the 5th Fleet area of operations supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, strike operations in Iraq and Syria.
On February 18, 2016, 106-year Washington, D.C., resident and school volunteer Virginia McLaurin visited the White House as part of Black History Month. When asked by President Barack Obama why she was there, McLaurin said: "A Black president. A Black wife. And I'm here to celebrate Black history.
In 2018, Instagram created its first Black History Month program with the help of its Head of Global Music & Youth Culture Communications, SHAVONE.
In 2025, the Defense Intelligence Agency cancelled internal celebrations of Black History Month and other "special observances" due to the second Trump administration's efforts to stop diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
