Feb. 1 was the beginning of Black History Month. However, is it was only as recent as 1975, that Black History was not celebrated in a month.
In fact before 1976, the second week, and only a week, in February was known as “Negro History Week.”
Instead of a week, we now have a month to celebrate those who would defy the segregation laws.
We take a month to look back at those who would not be beaten into the ground, those who would stand tall in the face of what was then known as a “white world,” and those who would change the face of this planet.
Without those who suffered to change the world this, the 10th day in February and the 10th in Black History Month would never be possible.
To understand where “Black History Month” got its roots, you must first look at the man know as Carter Godwin Woodson.
Woodson was born to two former slaves Anne Eliza and James Henry Woodson. His parents could not read or write, but Woodson would later say that it was his father who had a great influence on his life.
Woodson would later move with his brother Robert Henry to Huntington, W.Va., to attend Douglass High School. However he had to work in the coal fields and only spent a little time in school.
In 1895, Woodson would travel the world expanding his education and would later receive his M.A. at the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. at Harvard.
Throughout life Woodson would develop an important attitude for history. In 1926, Dr. Woodson established the “Negro History Week.” It is said that historians believe he chose the second week of February because it included the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
The birthdays of W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Hank Aaron, the start of the NAACP, the Greensboro sit-in at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter, Malcolm X is fatally shot, Hiram R. Revels, the first African-American takes his oath of office, the 15th amendment is passed giving African-Americans the right to vote, the birth of Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela released from prison, the Moore vs. Dempsey decision, and many more also occur in February.
In 1976, the Bicentennial year for the U.S., the week-long tradition was extended to the entire month of February. This was done so there could be more time for celebration and more time to prepare activities and programs.
We celebrate the accomplishments of Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat. We celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., whose “I Have a Dream” speech changed the views of many and paved the way for a different road where white and blacks can travel together.
We celebrate Jackie Robinson, who was the first African-American Major League Baseball player.
We remember those who went through heart-ache and pain during the slave days, we celebrate those who have made the dream of a de-segregated world come true and we look to the future of those who will continue to made great bounds and leaps.
Woodson once wrote that “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”
We will never forget what has been accomplished and what is to be accomplished. There is much praise to hand out, and it’s only the tenth day of Black History Month.