Chosen Generation Chronicle
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commemorating the black past,” according to Daryl Michael Scott, a history professor at Howard
University. “He was asking the public to extend their study of black history, not to create a new
tradition. In doing so, he increased his chances for success.”
FROM NEGRO HISTORY WEEK TO BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Carter G. Woodson, who is now considered the “Father of Black History Month” died in 1950, but
Negro History Week celebrations showed no signs of slowing down as several city mayors recognized
the week. Black History Month was first proposed by the leaders of the Black United Students at
Kent State University in February 1969. The first celebration of the Black History Month took place at
Kent State one year later, in February 1970. As America celebrated its bicentennial in 1976, the
federal government decided to turn Negro History Week into Black History Month. That year,
President Gerald R. Ford told Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected
accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” The U.S.
government has recognized Black History Month ever year since.
We have seen & experienced plenty of accomplishments throughout our history from Hiram Revels,
an AME Minister who was the 1st Black elected to the House of Representatives in 1870, to
Frederick Douglass & George Edwin Taylor, 1st blacks to run or be nominated for President of the
United States in 1888 & 1904 respectively, to Shirley Chisholm, who held multiple firsts [1st woman
elected to House of Representatives, & 1st woman as a major party presidential candidate] to Dr.
Mark Dean, considered the father/creator of Modern PCs, to our 44th President, Barack Obama.
These milestones demonstrate that we have come a long ways from slavery, but the high profile
court cases involving the L.A. Riots of 1992, Proposition 209/Affirmative Action Challenges, and
Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law [Travon Martin, Marissa Anderson, & just recently ended Michael
Dunn aka Loud Music trial which ended with a hung jury on 1st degree murder] REALITY hits that we
still have a LOOOOONG way to go. You ask, “Why Celebrate it,” that is because Black History is
EVERYONE'S History.
“History is a clock that people use to tell
their time of day. It is a compass they use
to find themselves on the map of human
geography. It tells them where they are
and what they are” – John Hope Franklin