Black History Month
African American heritage
Black History Month is an annual observance honoring the history, achievements, and contributions of Black Americans and the African diaspora.
In the United States, it falls in February; in the UK and Canada, October.
Originally Negro History Week, established in 1926, it expanded to a month in 1976.
Schools often feature special programming during Black History Month.
Second month, often shortest
- commemorationAct of honoring memory
- celebrationFestive event marking occasion
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
- tributeOffering of respect
proclamation · Gerald Ford · programming · assembly · recognition · remembrance · honor · legacy
Civil rights initials
- Rosa ParksCivil rights icon
- NAACPCivil rights advocacy organization
- segregationForced separation by group
- integrationCombining into a whole
Malcolm X · desegregation · Jim Crow · sit-in · boycott · March on Washington · Selma · voting rights
Black arts explosion, 1920s
- jazzImprovisational American music genre
- bluesMournful American music genre
- hip-hopRhythmic spoken-word music
- soulInnermost animating essence
gospel · Langston Hughes · Zora Neale Hurston · James Baldwin · Toni Morrison · Maya Angelou · August Wilson · Alvin Ailey
Ownership of people
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- Underground RailroadCovert abolitionist escape network
- Middle PassageTransatlantic slave trade crossing
emancipation · Juneteenth · Frederick Douglass · Harriet Tubman · Sojourner Truth · Dred Scott · 13th Amendment · sharecropping
Colleges serving Black students historically
- Tuskegee InstituteHistoric Black college in Alabama
- Howard UniversityHistoric Black university, Washington
- SpelmanAtlanta women's HBCU
- MorehousePrivate HBCU in Atlanta
Brown v. Board · Booker T. Washington · W.E.B. Du Bois · curriculum · African American studies · literacy · school integration · busing
Satisfaction from one's achievements
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- solidarityUnity among allies
- liberationRelease from constraint
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
representation · uplift · activism · leadership · agency · strength · community · progress
February
Second month, often shortest
- commemorationAct of honoring memory
- celebrationFestive event marking occasion
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
tribute · proclamation · Gerald Ford · programming · assembly · recognition · remembrance · honor · legacy · ancestors
MLK
Civil rights initials
- Rosa ParksCivil rights icon
- NAACPCivil rights advocacy organization
- segregationForced separation by group
Malcolm X · integration · desegregation · Jim Crow · sit-in · boycott · March on Washington · Selma · voting rights · civil disobedience
Harlem Renaissance
Black arts explosion, 1920s
- jazzImprovisational American music genre
- bluesMournful American music genre
- hip-hopRhythmic spoken-word music
soul · gospel · Langston Hughes · Zora Neale Hurston · James Baldwin · Toni Morrison · Maya Angelou · August Wilson · Alvin Ailey · Jacob Lawrence
slavery
Ownership of people
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- Underground RailroadCovert abolitionist escape network
Middle Passage · emancipation · Juneteenth · Frederick Douglass · Harriet Tubman · Sojourner Truth · Dred Scott · 13th Amendment · sharecropping · Great Migration
HBCUs
Colleges serving Black students historically
- Tuskegee InstituteHistoric Black college in Alabama
- Howard UniversityHistoric Black university, Washington
- SpelmanAtlanta women's HBCU
Morehouse · Brown v. Board · Booker T. Washington · W.E.B. Du Bois · curriculum · African American studies · literacy · school integration · busing
pride
Satisfaction from one's achievements
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- solidarityUnity among allies
- liberationRelease from constraint
self-determination · representation · uplift · activism · leadership · agency · strength · community · progress · inspiration
- Black CultureNAACP, HBCUs, civil rights movement, Harlem Renaissance, soul music
- Black IconsMartin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Jackie Robinson
- civil rights observancesMLK Day, Juneteenth, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day
- Black HistoryMartin Luther King Jr., MLK, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass
- FebruaryValentine's Day, Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, leap year, leap day
- Black CanadiansDrake, The Weeknd, community leaders, African heritage, African roots