*Joyful Birthday to Black Historical past Month—50 years federally acknowledged, and 100 years sturdy in goal, starting as Negro Historical past Week in 1926.
Whereas the US formally acknowledged Black Historical past Month in 1976, the acknowledgment of Black historical past didn’t start with a presidential proclamation. The roots of this celebration stretch again to 1926, when Negro Historical past Week was established as a daring, scholarly, and affirming act—designed to make sure that Black contributions would by no means once more be erased from the American story. America and humanity can thank Dr. Carter G. Woodson for that.
Even earlier than Negro Historical past Week, Black historical past lived and was advised throughout generations. Previously enslaved African People and their descendants preserved historical past by oral custom, religion, household reminiscence, and group storytelling. In 1865, when freedom was introduced to enslaved individuals in Galveston, Texas—now commemorated as Juneteenth—new chapters of American reminiscence have been written in actual time. Lengthy earlier than historical past lived on calendars, it lived in kitchens, church buildings, colleges, companies, and was advised in dozens of black Wall Avenue cities within the U.S.
Negro Historical past Week was based by Carter G. Woodson, whose life story alone dismantles the trendy fantasy that Black historical past is grievance-based or divisive. Born to previously enslaved mother and father, Woodson left faculty early to work and assist his household. He later returned to training, graduated, and earned a PhD from Harvard College—changing into solely the second African American to take action, after Dr. W.E.B. DuBois.(Supply: ASALH – https://asalh.org/about-us/our-history/)
Woodson understood a easy however harmful fact: when a individuals’s historical past is excluded, their humanity is questioned. Negro Historical past Week was by no means about separation; it was about correction and completion. He deliberately positioned the observance in February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, anchoring Black historical past firmly inside the American democratic experiment.
For 50 years, Negro Historical past Week flourished—sustained by Black colleges, church buildings, newspapers, fraternities, sororities, and civic establishments. Then, in 1976, amid the U.S. Bicentennial, Gerald Ford formally acknowledged Black Historical past Month, urging People to honor the “too-often uncared for accomplishments of Black People.”(Supply: Nationwide Archives – https://www.archives.gov/training/classes/black-history-month)
That second was historic far past race. Black Historical past Month turned the primary federally acknowledged heritage month in U.S. historical past, setting the precedent for Ladies’s Historical past Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, LGBTQ+ Delight recognitions, Psychological Well being Consciousness Month, and lots of others. Black historical past opened the door for a extra inclusive nationwide reminiscence.
That legacy issues.
Black Historical past Month has empowered generations of People—of each background—to see excellence, resilience, innovation, religion, management, and creativity the place silence as soon as lived. It has elevated the tales of Crispus Attucks, the primary casualty of the American Revolution; Nat Turner, whose resistance compelled the nation to confront slavery’s brutality; Mary McLeod Bethune, who constructed establishments when none existed; Hattie McDaniel, the primary Black Academy Award winner; and trendy pioneers akin to Barack Obama, Simone Biles, and David Steward.
But whilst we have fun, the reality have to be advised: this legacy is below renewed assault.
Throughout the nation—from Philadelphia to highschool districts and statehouses—Black historical past and DEI initiatives have been defunded, distorted, and demonized. Reverse psychology has turn into the tactic of selection: labeling fact as “woke,” fairness as exclusion, and historical past as indoctrination. Some now declare that educating Black historical past by some means demoralizes white kids—an assertion unsupported by proof, logic, or morality.
Scripture affords readability in moments like these:“You shall know the reality, and the reality shall make you free.” —John 8:32
Black historical past doesn’t erase anybody; it educates everybody.
The continuity of this work is sacred. As Psalm 145:4 reminds us, “One technology shall commend Your works to a different.” Black Historical past Month has accomplished precisely that—passing information, delight, and chance ahead, technology by technology.
Regardless of cultural backlash and political resistance, Black Historical past Month has expanded information, impressed innovation, strengthened democracy, and humanized the American story. It has helped tens of millions of People higher perceive who we’re—not simply the place we disagree, however what we share.
So as we speak, we have fun—not in protection, however in gratitude.
Black Historical past at 100. Black Historical past Month at 50. A birthday for a residing legacy.
As a result of past the flag, past politics, past concern—American Historical past is Black Historical past.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmond W. Davis is a Social Historian, worldwide journalist, assistant professor, and Founding father of the Nationwide HBCU Black Wall Avenue Profession Fest. He’s acknowledged for his work in American historical past, the social sciences, and advocacy for emotional intelligence. Davis is likely one of the Grand Marshals of the 2026 African American Historical past Celebration Parade, the most important such parade within the U.S. throughout Black Historical past Month.
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