With origins that date back to 1915, Black History Month celebrates the stories of people who sacrificed, achieved, and helped shape the world we live in.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
We designate holidays and establish days or weeks or months of recognition for a group or a cause to call attention to the significance and historic relevance of events and people who shaped our world. It is then up to us to imbue these historic markers with meaning beyond the day off from work or bank closure that accompanies the day. Too often we think we know what something is about without taking time to look into its meaning, history, or significance.
I’m not saying everyone does this for every celebration or holiday, I can only speak for myself when I say I sometimes have to remind myself to look into these things. Why is today a holiday? Why is it significant? How do these designations inform/inspire/introduce themselves into my life?
Table of Contents:
• The stories of Black history
• The history of Black History Month
• Connecting through stories
Years ago, when I consciously dove into the origins of Black History Month, I was moved by the depth of hundreds of stories. Stories about people we may never have known about had someone lacked the foresight to take the time to capture them.
The stories of Black history
At the core of Black History Month beats an intentional heart seeped in awareness, recognition, and stories: Stories about individuals who made substantial contributions in science, politics, education, sports, culture, art, music, and literature. Stories about people who either loudly sacrificed or stood up for others, or those who quietly made a positive difference in the course of humanity.
What threads together the gap between what they’ve done and what we know about them are published works describing who they were, what their passions gifted us, and how — without those written words — their unique magnificence may have disappeared into obscurity.
As I share my perspective, I recognize that what is presented comes from a person who is not Black. As a Latina, I honor the relevance and significance of Black History Month with my whole-hearted intention to offer a personal understanding out of respect and appreciation. As a teacher and writing coach, I make it my mission to help people connect to the truth of their stories.
The history of Black History Month
The origins of Black History Month date back to 1915, with Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and notable minister Jesse E. Moorland. Together, they formed the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). This organization was dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans — something unheard of at that time.
In 1926, their coalition chose the second week of February to sponsor a national “Negro History Week” to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. The aim was to encourage schools and community groups to share stories, host lectures, and promote the growing presence, culture, and creations of Blacks in American life. Each decade thereafter, more cities across the country joined in participating in civic and educational activities.
By the late 1960s, on the heels of the civil rights movement and a public strengthening of Black identity, Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month. It was 1976, fully 50 years after its inception, that President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month. President Ford invoked Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Connecting through stories
In so many important ways, stories are our most valuable cultural currency. We need to study and honor uniquely individual perspectives, ideas, disappointments, and dreams to grow and evolve together. We absolutely have history as a measure for how to become better humans, and to do this, we need diverse voices, diverse approaches, diverse understanding and experiences.
Creating, sharing, and hearing each other’s stories is how we connect to one another, how we connect to ourselves, how we tether to a past and catapult into a future that’s more forgiving and inclusive.
This is where the magic, beauty, reward, and opportunity of stories — and books — come in, and where platforms that provide individuals an opportunity to share their personal stories and experiences are invaluable. Representational autonomy and accuracy are everything, especially when it comes to sharing the uniqueness of cultural histories, atrocities, successes, rituals, celebrations, and perspectives. Your stories, especially because of where you’ve been, are an integral contribution to our cultural currency.
Black History Month has made me aware of writers, poets, thought-leaders, creators, and artists I would not have been aware of otherwise. I do take the time all year to immerse into perspectives and experiences different from my own, but I appreciate that the emphasis of this month draws my attention towards recognition.
It connects me to stories being told about life, loss, love, heartbreak, equality, justice, fear, sacrifice, reclamation, and the substance of our shared human experience.
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