The month of February is considered Black History Month but what do we really know about it and how did it start? Well the story begins in 1915, in Chicago with a man called Carter G. Woodson. Woodson traveled to Chicago to be apart of an annual celebration for the fiftieth anniversary since emancipation was sponsored by the state of Illinois. Thousands of African Americans came to this celebration of being emancipated and to see how they’ve progressed through the years. After seeing all of this happening, Woodson decided to meet up with A.L. Jackson and three other people on September 9th at the Wabash YMCA to for the ASNLH. His goal was to celebrate the history of the black community.

Woodson chose this month of February because it was the birthdays of two people who were important in forming black history, these two individuals were Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. He had planned it to be put for a short period of time in 1950. A activist by the name of Hummaurabi began to celebrate black history month and too enough it increased. In 2016, Obama talked about how black history month is not separated from American history but it signifies how the black community has helped strengthen Americans.

A good way to celebrate black history month is to learn about how black history has shaped America. I challenge you to find out new historical figures that helped shape black history.