Black History is EVERY DAY.

This month, February 2010, in the midst busy schedules, local, national and worldwide issues and concerns, Americans will observe Black History. Our historical tapestry of all people is one that has been woven with blood, sweat and tears. Yet , as plowed and trodden as the journey have been, there are many more miles to travel in bringing understanding, sensitivity to treat each other on planet earth as God Almighty intended, and a genuine love for our fellow brother and neighbor. Black History Month observation is one small way that we with feeble hands and meek hearts can attempt by God’s grace to mend areas of our historical tapestry through cultural awareness, education, and even more actively, committing ourselves to going beyond our own prejudices and discriminatory tendencies.


Black History is not just about “Blacks in America”, or the “African American”, it is indeed the often excluded, but necessary clauses needed to complete the well-written story of America. Black History is not told in a month, because it is deeply rooted in the very essence of all our daily lives. Black History is our neighbors, our classmates, our teachers, our traditions, our rituals. As colorful, melodious and even wretchedly mangled by hatred and suffering, it is also not to be exclusive of all our histories.

So, you ask still, “What is this Black History about and why does it warrant an observation?” Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month." What you might not know is that black history had barely begun to be studied-or even documented-when the tradition originated. Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books.

African Americans are proud of, and owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly, the study of black history, to Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born to parents who were former slaves, he spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coalmines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time.

The month’s observation is a call for consciousness of others around us, it gives all people the opportunity to learn, if they are willing, the heartbeat of another culture. As history tells his own story beyond our control, we learn that history is its own teacher. How often do you come to a stop light, the first patented stoplight was invented by Garrett Morgan; if you have enjoy a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich, George Washington Carver was a chemist who found all the wonderful uses for peanut amongst many other vegetation. Banneker, Benjamin, Charles Drew, Elijah McCoy are amongst some of the celebrated inventors in the proud History of African Americans. One cannot go without mentioning the well known and often referred to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who is often the picture of Black History, but King was surrounded by a great host of other witnesses and contributors in the rich legacy of Black History. The likes of Frederick Douglas, Rosa Parks, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, Sojourner Truth and list could go on, suffice it to say many simple ordinary people like you and I are the actual tellers of what we recognize as Black History.

In summation, Black History is all our stories. A story that tells of struggle, oppression, yet it is a story of freedom, celebration hope and redemption. We are now the writers of history, and only one question that matters is, will it be a history worth telling or re-telling?

For more information on this topic click and read, The History of Black History, African-American History Timeline , Timeline: Slavery in America.