Black Economic Empowerment

This past spring and summer, Experiencing History highlighted economic empowerment. Stay tuned as we expand our empowerment spotlights with a holistic focus for African-Americans.

Black Economic Empowerment

Every year the ASALH provides a theme for Black History Month in an effort to focus the attention of the public to certain issues that merit emphasis.  Last year's theme was "The History of Black Economic Empowerment"

"to honor the African Americans who overcame injustice and inequality to achieve financial independence and the security of self empowerment."

President Barack Obama's 

The following statement was published by the ASALH:

The need for economic development has been a central element of black life. After centuries of unrequited toil as slaves, African Americans gained their freedom and found themselves in the struggle to make a living. The chains were gone, but racism was everywhere. Black codes often prevented blacks from owning land in towns and cities, and in the countryside they were often denied the opportunity to purchase land. Organized labor shut their doors to their brethren, and even the white philanthropist who funded black schools denied them employment opportunities once educated. In the South, whites sought to insure that blacks would only be sharecroppers and day labors, and in the North whites sought to keep them as unskilled labor.

Pushing against the odds, African Americans became landowners, skilled workers, small businessmen and women, professionals, and ministers. In the Jim Crow economy, they started insurance companies, vocational schools, teachers colleges, cosmetic firms, banks, newspapers, and hospitals. To fight exclusion from the economy, they started their own unions and professional associations. In an age in which individuals proved unable to counter industrialization alone, they preached racial or collective uplift rather than individual self-reliance. The late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed an unprecedented degree of racial solidarity and organization.   

In 1910, a group of dedicated reformers, black and white, gathered to create an organization to address the needs of African Americans as they migrated to the cities of the United States. The organization that they created a century ago became what we all know as the National Urban League. For a century, they have struggled to open the doors of opportunity for successive generations, engaging the challenges of each age. ASALH celebrates the centennial of the National Urban League by exploring racial uplift and black economic development in the twentieth century.

 Read more about the National Urban Leage here: http://www.nul.org/

http://www.asalh.org/files/AA_History_Proclamation.pdf http://asalh.org/files/2010_Executive_Summary.doc

2011 Theme: African Americans in the Civil War

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States."  

Frederick Douglass

Each year, Woodson established a national theme for the celebration of Black History. ASALH has continued this tradition annually.  This year's theme, African Americans aextended the celebration for the entire month of February.  Each year the theme is celebrated with a luncheon in February, a theme toolkit you can order online and the fall conference in which there are various papers and panels related to the conference.  Here's some more info related to this year's theme from ASALH:
PRESS RELEASE:  2011 National Black History Month Theme Announced:  Washington, DC – (December 1, 2010) The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is excited to announce the 2011 National Black History Month Theme as “African Americans and the Civil War.” This year’s commemoration continues the tradition of excellence started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, in 1915, in his vision of accurate historic documentation of the tremendous impact of African Americans amidst American history. Black History Month 2011 takes on even greater significance amidst the discoveries of erroneous text book accounts of history in Virginia and Texas. In the spirit of Dr. Woodson, ASALH will spend the month educating the nation on how Black soldiers took up arms to help free themselves and liberate a nation.  http://www.asalh.org/files/2011_Black_History_Theme_PR_01112011.pdf

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE CIVIL WAR:  In 1861, as the United States stood at the brink of Civil War, people of African descent, both enslaved and free persons, waited with a watchful eye. They understood that a war between the North and the South might bring about jubilee--the destruction of slavery and universal freedom. When the Confederacy fired upon Fort Sumter and war ensued, President Abraham Lincoln maintained that the paramount cause was to preserve the Union, not end slavery. Frederick Douglass, the most prominent black leader, opined that regardless of intentions, the war would bring an end to slavery, America’s “peculiar institution.”

Over the course of the war, the four million people of African descent in the United States proved Douglass right. Free and enslaved blacks rallied around the Union flag in the cause of freedom. From the cotton and tobacco fields of the South to the small towns and big cities of the North, nearly 200,000 joined the Grand Army of the Republic and took up arms to destroy the Confederacy. They served as recruiters, soldiers, nurses, and spies, and endured unequal treatment, massacres, and riots as they pursued their quest for freedom and equality. Their record of service speaks for itself, and Americans have never fully realized how their efforts saved the Union. 

In honor of the efforts of people of African descent to destroy slavery and inaugurate universal freedom in the United States, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History has selected “African Americans and the Civil War” as the 2011 National Black History Theme. We urge all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contributions to the nation.  http://www.asalh.org/Annual_National_Black_History_Theme.html

This theme is also the focus of the 85th Annual Black History Luncheon scheduled on Saturday, February 26, 2011 that will be held at the Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel on 999 9th Street NW; click on http://www.asalh.org/Annual_Luncheon.html.  ASALH encourages all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contributions to  the nation.

Black History Month 2011

The time to celebrate Black History Month is here again. Here's a little history about the origins of Black History Month:

During the dawning decades of the twentieth century, it was commonly presumed that black people had little history besides the subjugation of slavery. Recognizing the dearth of information on the accomplishments of blacks in 1915, Dr. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).  Under Woodson’s pioneering leadership, the Association created research and publication outlets for black scholars with the establishment of the Journal of Negro History (1916) and the Negro History Bulletin (1937), which garners a popular public appeal.
In 1926, Dr. Woodson initiated the celebration of Negro History Week, which corresponded with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, this celebration was expanded to include the entire month of February, and today Black History Month garners support throughout the country as people of all ethnic and social backgrounds discuss the black experience. ASALH views the promotion of Black History Month as one of the most important components of advancing Dr. Woodson’s legacy.

Source:  http://asalh.org/woodsonbiosketch.html

"When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History week in 1926, he realized the importance of providing a theme to focus the attention of the public. The intention has never been to dictate or limit the exploration of the Black experience, but to bring to the public's attention important developments that merit emphasis.
For those interested in the study of identity and ideology, an exploration of ASALH's Black History themes is itself instructive. Over the years, the themes reflect changes in how people of African descent in the United States have viewed themselves, the influence of social movements on racial ideologies, and the aspirations of the black community.  The changes notwithstanding, the list reveals an overarching continuity in ASALH--our dedication to exploring historical issues of importance to people of African descent and race relations in America." Daryl Michael Scott, Howard University
http://asalh.org/themes_future.html

The theme for the first Negro History Week was "The Negro in History."  The 2011 theme is "African Americans and the Civil War" in honor of the efforts of people of African descent to destroy slavery and inaugurate universal freedom.  See the entire statement here:  http://www.asalh.org/files/2011_Black_History_Theme.pdf

This blog aims to recognize recognize historical moments in Black History throughout the year with the "Today in Black HIstory" tab. This month we will also highlight items related to this month's Black History Theme: African Americans and the Civil War.