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Black History Month
 
 
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Black History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora
Diaspora

The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnicity identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their Settler territory, and became residents in areas often far removed from the former....
. It is celebrated annually in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 in the month of February.

The remembrance originated in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson
Carter G. Woodson

Carter Godwin Woodson was an African-American-United States historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History....
 as "Negro History Week". Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was an American Abolitionism, History of women's suffrage in the United States, editing, orator, author, statesman and Reform movement....
.






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Black History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora
Diaspora

The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnicity identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their Settler territory, and became residents in areas often far removed from the former....
. It is celebrated annually in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 in the month of February.

The remembrance originated in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson
Carter G. Woodson

Carter Godwin Woodson was an African-American-United States historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History....
 as "Negro History Week". Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was an American Abolitionism, History of women's suffrage in the United States, editing, orator, author, statesman and Reform movement....
. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

Purpose


When the tradition of Black History Month was started in the US, many in mainstream academia had barely begun to explore black history. At that point, most representation of blacks in history books was only in reference to the low social position they held as slaves and their descendants, with infrequent exceptions such as that of George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver , was an United States scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor whose studies and teaching revolutionized agriculture in the Southern United States....
. Black History Month is also referred to as African-American History Month. W.E.B. DuBois' 1935 work "Black Reconstruction" was an early work in history that pointed to black contributions.

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 (UK), Black History Month is celebrated in the month of February. The official guide to Black History Month in the UK is published by Sugar Media, Ltd., which produces 100,000 copies nationwide.

Part of the aim of Black History Month is to recognize significant contributions to society made by black slaves and how their history is integral to mainstream narratives.

Controversy


Black History Month sparks an annual debate about the continued usefulness and fairness of a designated month dedicated to the history of one race. Critical op-ed
Op-ed

An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board....
 pieces have appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today
USA Today

'USA TODAY' is a national United States daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Allen Neuharth. The paper has the widest newspaper circulation of any newspaper in the United States , and among English-language broadsheets, it comes second worldwide, behind only the 2.6 million daily paid copies of The Times of...
.

Some African JESTINE radical/nationalist groups, including the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam is a religious group founded in Detroit, Michigan, Michigan, United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mind, society, and economics condition of the Black people of America....
, have criticized Black History Month. Some critics, including Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman

Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. is an American actor, film director, and narrator. Freeman is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice....
, contend that Black History Month is irrelevant because it has degenerated into a shallow ritual. and say that it serves to undermine the contention that black history is American history.

Related Pages


  • Black History
  • African-Americans
  • American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)
    American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)

    The Civil Rights Movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans....
  • American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
  • Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
    Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

    This is a timeline of the African-American Civil Rights Movement .Look at this useful info...
  • Racial segregation in the United States
    Racial segregation in the United States

    Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, education, employment, and transportation along race in the United States lines....
  • Great Migration (African American)
    Great Migration (African American)

    The Great Migration was the movement of 1.3 million African-Americans out of the Southern United States to the Northern United States, Midwestern United States and Western United States from 1916 to 1930....
  • History of slavery in the United States
    History of slavery in the United States

    Slavery in the United States began soon after British colonization of the Americas first settled Colony of Virginia in 1607 and lasted as a legal institution until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865....
  • African American newspapers
    African American newspapers

    African American newspapers are those newspapers in the United States that seek readers primarily of African American descent. These newspapers came into existence in 1827 when Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American periodical called Freedom's Journal....
  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
    Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

    Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is celebrated in May to commemorate the contributions of people of Asian-Pacific American descent in the United States....
  • National Hispanic Heritage Month
    National Hispanic Heritage Month

    Hispanic Heritage Month is the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic Cultural heritage and Hispanic culture....
  • List of commemorative days
    List of commemorative days

    The following is a list of observed commemorative days, that is, days that are used by various governments, groups and organizations to raise awareness of an issue, commemorate a group or event, or celebrate something....


External links

  • - Timeline and many videos to watch at the Biography Channel website