About Black History Month
“Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently has been observed unofficially in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated in February in the United States and Canada, while in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom it is observed in October.
The precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week”. This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and of Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which dates black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century. Negro History Week was the center of the equation. The thought-process behind the week was never recorded, but scholars acknowledge two reasons for its birth: recognition and importance. Woodson felt deeply that at least one week would allow for the general movement to become something annually celebrated. Also, after the ten year long haul to successfully complete his “Journal of Negro History”, he realized the subject deserved to resonate with a greater audience.
Black History Month was first proposed by black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State one year later, from January 2, 1970 – February 28, 1970.
Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated all across the country in educational institutions, centers of Black culture and community centers, both great and small, when President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month, during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. He urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history”.”
———Wikipedia
Because of the internet’s effect on historiography, ‘history’ in 2020 is almost impossible to isolate as a phenomenon or field of study. It’s frightening to see the very notion of history transformed by the algorithms of the digital era…
The ultimate irony of all historical information is that it has no innate meaning whatsoever until interpreted at another future time, in another political context.
Disambiguation refers to the removal of ambiguity by making something clear.
Disambiguation narrows down the meaning of words and the concepts communicated by ambiguous words…
It is in this regard that today, ‘history’ may be viewed as a methodology and nothing more.
‘Black History’, hence ‘Black History Month’, should be as much about the disambiguation of American or US History as it is about the revelation of heretofore hidden or obscured facts re the role and contributions of African Americans….
