Celebrating Black History Month
2/19/2010
By Chris Epps
Each year, February 1 marks the beginning of a month-long celebration of Black history. Federally recognized and celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month pays homage to African American’s roles in shaping U.S. history.
At America’s Promise Alliance we recognize the valuable contributions that African Americans have made in the past and in present-day America. Several of our partners and Alliance friends share our sentiments and are actively involved in projects and activities that celebrate Black History Month. A few include:
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Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF). Through a joint venture with CBCF, American Federation of Teachers, the National Council for the Social Studies and others, the
Legacy Essay Contest sought submissions from high school juniors and seniors. The contest’s goal is to compel students to take a fresh look at the Civil Rights Movement by examining their lives through the eyes and aspirations of the civil rights generation. Contest judges include, among others, Alliance Board Chair Alma Powell; Dorothy Height, chair emerita, National Council of Negro Women; and Bob Herbert, columnist,
New York Times. Winners will be announced on Capitol Hill later this month at a luncheon keynoted by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
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National Education Association (NEA). In partnership with
America I Am and talk show host, author, and political commentator
Tavis Smiley, NEA has developed a historically relevant, culturally diverse curriculum for use in classrooms across the country as part of Black History Month observances. The education materials are tailored by grade level, covering grades 5 through 12, and can be used as a stand-alone history unit, or linked to other curricula including social studies, economics, math, art and literature. Lesson plans, activity sheets and other learning materials are available free of charge at
www.AmericaIAM.org.
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National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP). The NVLP provides past and present Black history by recording, preserving, and distributing through various media, the wisdom of extraordinary African American elders who have helped to shape American history. The series of standards-based multimedia lessons was developed for middle and high school teachers. In addition to video history interviews with African American pioneers, the series includes a timeline of the Civil Rights Movement, and a wealth of primary source materials including photographs, speeches and historical documents.
The NVLP and other organizations work to continue the vision of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a great historian known as the “Father of Black History.”
In 1915, Dr. Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to research the history of African people and their contributions internationally. At the time, African Americans’ and native African’s contributions to American history were omitted from history books and not formally taught in classrooms across the country. The following year, he founded the Association’s widely respected Journal of Negro History to begin including African Americans in the nation’s history.
A decade later, Dr. Woodson developed Negro History Week. The second week in February was designated for the history week as the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced African Americans were celebrated then—President Abraham Lincoln (February 12), who abolished slavery in America's confederate states by signing the Emancipation Proclamation; and Frederick Douglass (February 14), an escaped slave who became an abolitionist and civil rights leader. In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month.
“We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.” – Dr. Carter G. Woodson