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Norfolk District celebrates Black History Month

'Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas'

February 3, 2009
by Jerry Rogers
Norfolk District Public Affairs

February marks the beginning of Black History Month, a federally recognized, nationwide celebration that provides the opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the significant roles that African Americans have played in the shaping of U.S. history.

Norfolk District is set to celebrate Black History Month, with its national theme: "Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas," 1:30 p.m., Feb. 12, in the Multipurpose Room, Waterfield Building Headquarters. Program guest speaker is Dr. Adolph Brown III, a popular media personality, noted author, award-winning educator, psychologist, columnist, business consultant and coach, and motivational speaker. Dr. Brown is founder of the Wellness Group.

American educator and historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), considered a pioneer in the study of African-American history, is given much of the credit for Black History Month, and has been called the "Father of Black History." The son of former slaves, Woodson spent his childhood in New Canton, Va., working in coalmines and quarries.

He received his education during the four-month term that was customary for black schools at the time. At 19, having taught himself English fundamentals and arithmetic, Woodson entered high school, where he completed a four-year curriculum in two years. He went on to receive his Master's degree in history from the University of Chicago, and he eventually earned a Ph.D from Harvard University.

Disturbed that history textbooks largely ignored America's black population, Woodson took on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. To do this, Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He also founded the group's widely respected publication, the Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he developed Negro History Week.

Woodson believed that America "should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race, hate and religious prejudice."

Woodson chose the second week of February for the celebration because it marks the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the black American population:

• Frederick Douglass (February 14), an escaped slave who became one of the foremost black abolitionists and civil rights leaders in the nation
• President Abraham Lincoln (February 12), who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery in America's confederate states

In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month. The month is also sometimes referred to as African-American Heritage Month.

This year also marks the centennial of the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A century ago, an interracial group of Americans formed the NAACP. Two generations after emancipation, a tide of racism had betrayed the promise of first-class citizenship. In the South, whites had stripped blacks of the right to vote and constructed a society based on racial segregation. In the North, African Americans confronted myriad forms of discrimination that thwarted their aspirations. The U.S. Supreme Court ignored the denigration of American citizenship taking place across the land and in the government itself.

The story of the NAACP is the story of struggle to create and maintain equal citizenship for all Americans. Through exposing the horrors of lynching, keeping the issue of equality before the courts, and organizing branches throughout the country, the NAACP drew a national following and inspired others to form organizations for civil rights change. The NAACP's work gave hope not only to blacks in the North, but also to men and women in the South like Rosa Parks and Medgar Evers.

The centennial celebration of the NAACP is an occasion to highlight the problem of race and citizenship in American history, from the experiences of free blacks in a land of slavery to the political aspirations of African Americans today. The centennial also provides an opportunity to explore the history of other nation's in the Americas, where former slaves also sought the fruits of citizenship.

For more information on the black experience in America, visit these websites:

Presidential Proclamation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/NationalAfricanAmericanHistoryMonth2009/

Black History Month
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html

Black History Month (interactive: Coloring and Activities; Craft Ideas; E-Cards; and Lesson Plans)
http://www.crayola.com/calendar/detail.cfm?event_id=162&year=2009

U.S. Army Center of Military History/African Americans in the Army
http://www.history.army.mil/html/topics/afam/index.html

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
http://www.naacp.org/