Black History Month

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an influential Black scholar and historian with a Harvard P.h.D., began the celebration of Negro History Week in 1926 to commemorate African American leaders and their groundbreaking actions. Woodson chose the first week of February because many significant events–such as the anniversary of African-Americans gaining the right to vote and the founding of the NAACP–occurred in the month. In 1976, Negro History Week was expanded to cover the full month of February, and was celebrated in many colleges and high schools around the country.

Each American president has created a theme for the month, with 2013 paying homage to “Black Women in American Culture and History.” President Barack Obama stated in a Presidential Proclamation, “As courageous visionaries who led the fight to end slavery and tenacious activists who fought to expand basic civil rights to all Americans, African American women have long served as champions of social and political change… In recognition of their legacy, let us honor their heroic and historic acts for years to come.” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/31/presidential-proclamation-national-african-american-history-month-2012)

President Obama’s wife, Michelle, certainly falls under the category of a courageous female leader. On February 10, she released a video honoring African-American History Month, which can be viewed here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/09/celebrating-black-women-american-culture-and-history. In the video, she gives her respect to great African American females such as herself, saying, “They are the women who fought against slavery, who stood up for women’s suffrage and marched in the streets for our civil rights. They’ve broken boundaries, they’ve stirred our souls, and they’ve opened our hearts.”

Michael Pollock, history teacher at Urbana High School, is inspired by many Black women during the Civil Rights movement, such as Diane Nash, a prominent leader of the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. Pollock says, “[Diane Nash] and the other student leaders were the intellectual and local movers who made a huge difference in eventually enlightening the rest of the world about racial discrimination.”

Mark Foley, another history teacher at UHS, joins Pollock in his tribute to these compelling female visionaries. He says, “I am drawn to the activists who come out of the Black Church during the Civil Rights Movement of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. So someone like Fannie Lou Hamer appeals to me because she was a very ‘normal’ person who was able to use her gifts for organizing and speaking to help achieve a large amount of change.”

Aside from paying respects to these female mavericks, Urbana High School celebrates Black History Month by encouraging African American parents to become involved in their children’s educations. Monday, February 11, was National Afro-American Parental Involvement Day (NAAPID) at UHS. African American Club decorated the school’s bulletin boards with posters supporting Black History Month, and Urbana High’s NAAPID Committee put together a program from 11 AM-1 PM, with Sam Banks–director of the Don Moyers Boys and Girls Club–as a guest speaker.

Anne Yarber, P.E. teacher at UHS, says of Banks, “He did a wonderful job of telling the parents to plant the seeds of how important it is for their children to get a good education and what they need to do to help them succeed. In grade school the only image I saw was black men and women in chains being sold into slavery. But our ancestors never gave up in their beliefs to be free men and women.”

Another speaker at NAAPID, Senior Diarien Garrett, delivered a portion of the speech that won him a Martin Luther King Scholarship this year. Garrett describes the award he received as, “a scholarship to help give financial support to minority students who aspire to go to college and positively effect the world and the upcoming generation.” In his speech, he wanted to deliver a tone similar to that of Martin Luther King’s vision. Garrett says, “I wrote about what African Americans have come from, where we stand now, and where I see our race in the future. I gave a series of statements, talking about how we can reach our goals of equality and freedom, ultimately reaching MLK’s dream.”

Tashawn Wilson, junior at UHS, is quite proud of Black History Month, explaining that it helps him to form a sense of self–that is, a more clear identity. “African American Month reminds us all of the revolution. It shows us what dedication can do. We were a very suppressed race and now we are some of the most successful professional athletes, lawyers, doctors, and actors. Time has changed! Black History Month is important to me because it’s a part of my heritage, and it shows me that believing in myself is worth it.”

Black History Month not only celebrates the accomplishments of African American leaders, but instills a hope for a more equal future in young adults today. Our nation has made many strides towards equality, and celebrating African American revolutionaries in the month of February helps to preserve and celebrate their achievements.

Yarber says, “In the past, it was against the law for Black people to be educated. Knowledge is power and the key is education. To learn from the past helps us a race to keep improving our future.”