Today the NATION begins its Black History Month series on the lives and contributions of people of colour with a look at the history and origins of the celebration.
“Black History month has proven over many yearsto be a valuable celebration of the African-Caribbean community.” – Former British Prime Minister, David Cameron
ALTHOUGH MOST PEOPLE know that February is the month in which black history is celebrated, not many know the significance of the month and why it was chosen.
February was selected by Carter Goodwin Woodson, a noted American historian and publisher, and pioneer in African American history, for reasons all centering on its enormous significance in Black American history. First it is the birth month of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two historical figures who had a great impact on the black population.
Other noteworthy persons are: W.E.B. Dubois, who was born on February 23, 1868, and who was a civil rights leader and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed on February 3, 1870 giving Blacks the right to vote. The first black senator, Hiriam R. Revels, took office on February 25, 1870. The NAACP was founded in New York City on February 12, 1909, and Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted black nationalism, was shot and killed by black Muslims on February 21, 1965.
Although started in the United States, Black History Month has been embraced by the black diaspora around the world because of its role in highlighting the contributions of Blacks in history. In Britain the month is celebrated in October to coincide with the beginning of the new academic year and to incorporate the events that tend to run from August to November, often referred to as Black Heritage Season.
In 1976, when Black History Month was officially acknowledged by the US government, President Gerald Ford said in a (very brief) speech:
“In celebrating Black History Month, we can take satisfaction from this recent progress in the realisationof the ideals envisioned by our founding fathers. But, even more than this, we can seize the opportunity to honour the too-often neglected accomplishments ofblack Americans in every area of endeavour throughout our history.”
Almost 40 years after Ford’s remarks, thebelief that Black History Month is used as a time to honour the too-often neglected accomplishments of Blacks that have helped better shape America is only partially true. What originally began as Negro History Week, has now become a watered-down, Greatest Hits compilation of talented-ten Blacks.
In school curricula across the country, it is not so much the story of black history being taught as much as it is the story of Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Benjamin Banneker, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Frederick Douglass.
A full appreciation of the celebration of Black History Month requires a review and a reassessment of the social and academic climate that prevailed in the Western world and especially in North America before 1926 when it was established.
It is important to recall that between 1619 and 1926, African Americans and other peoples of African descent were classified as a race that had not made any contribution to human civilization. Within the public and private sector, African Americans and other peoples of African descent were continually dehumanised and relegated to the position of non-citizens and often defined as fractions of humans.
It is estimated that between 1890 and 1925, an African American was lynched every two and a half days. The academic and intellectual community was no different from the bulk of mainstream America. Peoples of African descent were visibly absent in any scholarship or intellectual discourse that dealt with human civilization. Blacks were so dehumanised and their history so distorted in academia that slavery, peonage, segregation, and lynching were considered justifiable conditions.
Under Woodson’s direction and contributions from other African American and white scholars, Negro History Week was launched on a serious platform in 1926 to neutralise the apparent ignorance and deliberate distortion of black history.
Over the past century, African American life, history, and culture have become major forces in the United States and the world. In 1915, few could have imagined that African Americans in music, art and literature would become appreciated by the global community. Fewer still could have predicted the prominence achieved by African Americans, as well as other people of African descent, in shaping world politics, war, and diplomacy.
