Black History Month: Who and what will you be celebrating?

By Christine Leavitt

Since 1976, February has been designated as Black History Month by each United States president (see https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month). How much do you know about Black History Month and its foundation? What traditions do you have that honor the legacy, contributions, and achievements of African Americans?

In 1915, the state of Illinois sponsored a celebration in Washington DC that showcased some of the work and achievements of African Americans following their emancipation after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment (see https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black-history-month/). This exhibition lasted for three weeks and was very well attended with “an overflow crowd of six to twelve thousand” (https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black-history-month/). While participating in this event, Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian, felt inspired to establish an organization to continue to “promote the scientific study of black life and history” (https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black-history-month/). In conjunction with minister Jesse E. Moorland, A.L. Jackson, and several others, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which is currently called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), to research and bring attention to the achievements of African Americans (see https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month).

During the second week of February 1926, ASALH sponsored a “national Negro History week” in which schools and communities were encouraged to organize celebrations of African American achievements and contributions (https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month). This week was selected because it included the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Commencing in 1928, a theme was chosen for the annual February celebration (see https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/). In the 1940s, Virginia expanded the duration of this celebration so that it lasted the entire month of February, which enlargement spread to cultural activists such as Frederick H. Hammaurabi in the 1960s (https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black-history-month/). President Gerald Ford “officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to ‘seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history” (https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month).

This year’s Black History Month theme is Black Health and Wellness. According to ASALH, this “theme acknowledges the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also other ways of knowing (e.g. birthworkers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African Diaspora” (see https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/). This theme further seeks to include both physical and mental health. To learn about several African Americans who have made important contributions to health and wellness and were pioneers in their fields, click here.

African Americans continue to experience barriers to healthcare access and health inequities in the United States, especially in comparison to the white population. The following image from https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/aahealth/infographic.html#graphic highlights some of these disparities in health and wellness experienced by the African American community. What can we do to improve the health and wellness of African Americans? How can eliminate these disparities?