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The History Behind the History
Modern
Black Activists
CHow was Black History Month created?
arter G. Woodson had a crucial goal- to transform the way history portrayed black people.
In 1916, Woodson traveled from Washington D.C. to Chicago, Illinois to participate in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of emancipation; a celebration that would end up changing the course of his life. Thousands of African Americans traveled to Chicago from all over the country to see exhibits illustrating the accomplishments of black people since the abolishment of slavery. This celebration’s scope was enormous. Accounts state that at least 6,000 African Americans were overflowing outside the event, waiting in the sun for their chance to see the exhibits. This celebration would end up changing the course of Woodson’s life.
Seeing the masses clustered outside the festival, Woodson was inspired. He saw first- hand the passion that African Americans felt for their history. After the festival, he started meeting with friends and colleagues in a YMCA in Chicago. Over time, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) was established.
He created the Journal of Negro History in 1916 and urged black civic organizations to spread the word that researchers were using this journal to reveal the hidden achievements of black people. Finally, in 1924, Negro Achievement Week was established with help from those organizations.
This week wasn’t just scheduled randomly- there were specific reasons that Woodson chose that week in February for his new holiday. Black people all over America already celebrated that week because it contained the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. As Woodson was building the week around pre-existing traditions, it was easier for the idea to latch on. Rather than asking people to recognize an entirely new idea, Woodson’s proposal merely reformed and extended the commemoration.
The idea spread like wildfire. Schools, and eventually cities, all over the country were recognizing Negro History Week as an educational opportunity.
But Woodson also wanted to change the way black people were celebrating. His goal was to shift the focus away from key figures
Story by Phoenix Boggs
in emancipation and instead start talking about the black race as a whole. He believed that history was made by the people, not by individuals.
Then, Negro History Week went even further. Woodson’s hidden motivations behind the creation of this week were to ease some central ideas into the public eye. He was slowly facilitating a change in the perception of an entire race. It transcended a week-long celebration and shone a spotlight on broad themes concerning the recognition of black accomplishments. Suddenly, black people were consuming black literature and culture like never before. Teachers were demanding black history materials to instruct their students with, and Woodson and his colleagues were rushing to meet this cry. Black history clubs began forming. Progressive whites started advocating for a study of black traditions.
But for Woodson, one week was not nearly enough.
He didn’t want black history to be dragged into focus one week out of the year and ignored the rest of the time. Woodson wanted schools to use Negro History Week in order to relate to what students learned all year. He wanted young African Americans to learn about their past every day.
By the mid-1960s, Negro History Week was well on its way to becoming Black History Month. Young African Americans who were attending college started to think more about their links with Africa, and Black History Month first came into its own at these centers of learning. Finally, in 1976, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History recognized the shift from one week to one month of Black History.
Every American president since the mid- 1970s has recognized and upheld the long tradition of Black History Month. In America, the teaching of history had previously been centered around European accomplishments. But in 1916, Carter G. Woodson made the first strides in the effort to educate students about the achievements of black people. The Black History Month celebration honors black pioneers such as Woodson, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr, but it also extends that honor to the study of the historically underrepresented and under recognized black race as a whole.
Ciara Taylor is the founding member of an organization that fights for social justice.
Jonathan Butler went on a hunger strike to protest racist policies at the University of Missouri.
Michelle Alexander
is the author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
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