“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history”
Carter G. Woodson, Founder of Black History Month
When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week in 1926, aligning it with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, he knew that this recognition was more than just a time for touting achievements.
Black History Month is not only about detailing traumatic experiences. Black history does not begin with slavery and end with Barack Obama. Long before colonialism of African countries, Africans have always built civilizations and enjoyed diverse cultures of their own. Since the history of Africa is seldom taught in schools at any level much beyond the beginning of the slave trade, the lives, experiences and global influence of African people is not commonly known or ignored. So we use this month to celebrate Black History.
Often we focus on celebrating history moments or “firsts”. Celebrating firsts is important, not because it is a token event or an attempt to pacify the call for comprehensive, systemic change. It is important so that we do not take for granted that it is possible to change the status quo. It is important that we remember that we have to continue to work to keep hard won change. It is important because firsts are the steps forward and up to NEXTS.
In addition to looking back, we also celebrate by exploring and experiencing our current culture. There is so much negative and incorrect news about Black people, we celebrate the full culture which is diverse, influential and globally impactful. Here are some facts and figures from Diversity Best Practices about Black people in the US:
So this Black History Month we are celebrating firsts, nexts and what’s to come in our culture, our heritage and the world.
