In order to understand the importance of Black History Month, we all need to learn about the founder of what began as Negro History Week and would later evolve to become Black History Month by the great scholar, historian and educator Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The yearly celebration of Black History Month in February is directly attributed to Dr. Woodson, who was born to parents that were former slaves in Kentucky on December 19, 1875, five years after the 15th Amendment to the Constitution was passed granting Blacks the right to vote which happened to be the same month the first Black U.S. Senator named Hiram R. Revels (1822-1901) took his oath of office. Carter spent his early years working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He graduated in two years and later went on to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. 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 that time as he desired to champion the “innovative culture” people of African descent developed in America after the long separation from their “traditional culture” in Africa which was his way of responding to this cultural crisis.
Always one to act on his ambitions, Woodson decided to take the challenge of writing Black Americans into the nation’s history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In February 1926, Woodson launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of Black people throughout American society. The “whitewashing” of history in America has negatively impacted African-Americans and their image of themselves in the world. There remained a vital need to correct the misinformation of our achievements which became his life’s work. Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced him and the Black population then, Frederick Douglas and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. However, February has much more than Douglas and Lincoln to show for its significance in Black American history. Woodson, influenced by early Black scholar pioneer J.A. Rogers, would inspire the likes of John Henrik Clarke, Dr. Cheikh Ante Diop, Ivan van Sertima, Dr. Frances Cres Welsing, Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Dr. Chancellor Williams, Anthony Browder, John Hope Franklin and many others.
Americans have recognized Black History Month annually for 87 years, but before this was established, 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. Woodson provided a ray of reality in the midst of distortion and provided a wonderful opportunity recognize our people’s accomplishments through a week then month’s focus. All mature people around the world celebrate themselves in some form or fashion and Woodson recognized championing the created innovative culture we developed here would be
Woodson wrote the great and illuminating book, The Mis-Education of the Negro, in 1933, which showed how concurrent negative images affected Blacks in how we were viewed by others and most importantly, how we view ourselves. Later in the 1940s, Black psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark used the “Doll Test” to determine how Black children viewed race when they had to choose between a black doll and a white doll, where they overwhelmingly picked the white doll as the most desired and beautiful for them to play with. When asked to describe the black doll, they said it was bad and ugly, showing the psychological damage done by social and systematic racism. In the 2005 documentary “Girl like Me” by Kiri Davis, who was then 16 years old, duplicated this experiment for 21st century and found that 15 out of the twenty children preferred the white or light-skinned doll when asked to pick the “nice doll”, showing even today that black kids know what they are taught to value and it is not them. This makes Woodson’s Black History Month more important than ever to study not just in February, but every day and we are eternally grateful to him for his contribution. Dr. Carter G. Woodson died April 3, 1950, but left a lasting gift to his people. A quote from Dr. Woodson, “When you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.” –malik ismail
Malik Ismail is an international traveler, historian and activist. He’s explored many cultures in Africa including Ghana, South Africa and Egypt. He’s traveled to Cuba and South America. Recently he visited Rio de Janeiro and Salvador Bahia, Brazil including the favelas of Rocinha and Cidade de Deus (City of God) in Rio. A former Panther Minister of Information (NPVM) whose writings have been featured in the L.A. Watt’s Times, It’s About Time BPP Newsletter, Rolling Out Magazine and The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service. Email: [email protected]
