Celebrating Black History Month!

Here at Commonwealth Alternative Care we are celebrating Black History Month by spreading a little knowledge!

Here at Commonwealth Alternative Care we are celebrating Black History Month by spreading a little knowledge! We are learning about influential African-American men and women in history, you may or may not know of. Most of us are well versed in many of the accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou and many other well known influential people of color whose efforts, struggles and stories have changed the course of history, however we will share biographies and interesting facts every week on African-American men and women that are not as frequently taught about. These people have paved the way for so much growth in American society, and the rest of the world but maybe didn’t get as much recognition for it. So stay tuned and thank you for learning with us!

The History of Black History Month

In 1976, the nation's bicentennial, we started celebrating Black History as a month, but did you know that the honoring of Black History in the US started as a week long observance? This observance and celebration is thanks to Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard trained historian who believed that “reason would prevail over prejudice”. In 1915, the national celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of emancipation was held at the Coliseum in Washington DC, where Woodson traveled from Chicago to set up a Black History display at the exhibit that saw up to 12,000 observers. Before he left DC, Woodson and his friends, who came along from Chicago, decided to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History or ASNLH (later the Association for the Study of African American Life and History or ASALH). Several years after the ASNLH created and they announced Negro History Week in 1925.

The first observance of this celebration was held on the week of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays in February of 1926. The response was absolutely overwhelming, with teachers, historians, and progressive white allies wanting to endorse and share in their efforts. They had a hard time meeting the demand of so many people around the country but they overcame the challenge. The ASNLH created lessons, provided pictures, created historical plays, and even made posters with important people and dates to remember. To keep up, Branches of ASNLH formed all over the country and cities and towns observed and promote the importance of the weeklong celebration.

Woodson believed for a long time that his efforts would not continue but would actually just come to an end after his passing. Little did he know, in the 1940s and after his passing in the 1950s, Negro History Week became fundamental to the lives of African-Americans for progression and integration into society. In the Black Awakening of the 1960s, the observance of Black History helped fuel the civil rights movement because the portrayal of people of color was no longer only in the hands of racist politicians, scientists and media outlets. For far too long, racist images, journals and ideas were flooding communities but through the expanding of education in black history and culture, Woodson and so many others changed the course of American History forever.

When the national bicentennial happened in 76’, the celebration of Black History went from being observed in one week to a full month throughout the country. On this day, Gerald R. Ford pushed Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Since that day, every president, Democrat and Republican, has issued proclamations endorsing the observance of Black History Month the annual theme put out by ASALH. The theme for 2020 is“African-Americans and the vote” because this year marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870), when black men got the right to vote and the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920), when women got the right to vote. Click on this link for more on this year’s theme: https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/

Come by and visit us at CAC and check out our website and social media for more information. And remember, keep learning, spreading knowledge and share your stories with us; we are here to listen and learn! Happy Black History Month!