Black History Month 2024: Facts, Origins and Tribute

In honor of Black History Month, which occurs once a year, we celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the United States and honor their many accomplishments.

A time to recognize the significant role that African Americans have played in the history of the United States, Black History Month is an annual celebration of the accomplishments of African Americans. The celebration, which is also known as African American History Month, originated from “Negro History Week,” which was the idea of renowned historian Carter G. Woodson and other important African Americans. Black History Month has been formally recognized by each and every president of the United States of America each and every year since 1976. Other nations throughout the world, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, also observe Black history month. This month is dedicated to commemorating black history.

1. Origins of Black History Month

The beginning of Black History Month may be traced back to 1915, which was fifty years after the Thirteenth Amendment came into effect in the United States, which abolished slavery.

In September of that same year, the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland and the historian Carter G. Woodson, who had received his education at Harvard, established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). This organization is committed to researching and promoting the accomplishments of people of African descent, including Black Americans and other people of African descent.

The organization that is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) was the one that organized a national Negro History week in 1926. They chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Schools and communities all around the country were motivated to arrange local festivities, start history clubs, and hold performances and lectures as a result of experiencing the event.

around the course of the subsequent decades, mayors of metropolitan areas all around the United States started issuing annual proclamations that acknowledged “Negro History Week.” The term “Negro History Week” was transformed into “Black History Month” on many college campuses by the late 1960s. This change occurred in part as a result of the civil rights movement and an increased awareness of the unique characteristics of black people.

2. 2024 Black History Theme: AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE ARTS

There is a strong connection between African American art and the actual experiences of Africans, Caribbean people, and African Americans. In the realms of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary arts, and other forms of cultural expression, the influence of African Americans has been of the utmost importance. For the sake of preserving history and community memory, as well as for the purpose of empowering themselves, African American artists have employed art.

People of African origin have been at the forefront of a number of artistic and cultural movements, including the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism. These movements have served as a model for popular trends all around the world. In the year 2024, we investigate the wide-ranging history and life experiences of African American artists and craftspeople.

Throughout the years, Western intellectuals have ignored or diminished the contributions that individuals of African origin have made to the arts as well as history. This has occurred even as their artistic abilities in a variety of fields have been imitated and/or stolen. From ancient times to the present day, from Egypt to Africa, from Europe to the New World, we can still observe the uninterrupted chain of production of black art. This chain extends from antiquity to the present day. From the time before the American Revolution, Africans who were enslaved in the Lowcountry began their more than three hundred year old tradition of producing sweetgrass baskets, thereby displaying their visual talent through the medium of craft.

Spirituals, the nation’s first song, came from bondage victims’ agony. Musicians like Robert Johnson, McKinley ‘Muddy Waters’ Morganfield, and Riley “BB” B. King established blues as the foundation for gospel, soul, and other popular genres. Black authors such as Phillis Wheatley, David Walker, and Maria Stewart have contributed to literature through poetry, essays, memoirs, and novels. Black aesthetics found expression in sculptors like Edmonia Lewis and painters like Henry O. Tanner.

In the 1920s and 30s, the Black Renaissance and New Negro Movement elevated Black Arts globally. Military personnel like James Reese Europe and artists like Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, and Lois Mailou Jones spread Black culture globally, establishing it as a dominating cultural trend. Black artists were also present in locations like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Orleans, in addition to the Harlem Renaissance.

3. Ways to Celebrate Black History Month

Visit a Black or African American history museum

A Black history museum or African American heritage site is in almost every state. First and oldest in the nation is Hampton University Museum in Virginia. It offers online exhibits and virtual tours like many other museums.

The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, is famous. The museum, steps from Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, lets you sit with Rosa Parks on the bus that inspired the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and other striking exhibits.

Parks and other Black historical landmarks are African-American heritage sites. Famous US school desegregation center Little Rock Central High School is one of the most popular. Atlanta’s Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park is another option.

Learn about Black music history by listening online

From spirituals and blues to jazz, R&B, and hip hop, Black music has shaped American society for generations. Black American music has several ways to be discovered and experienced online. Jenzia Burgos’ Black Music History Library is large and free. The compendium connects to Black music samples, recordings, interviews, books, and articles.

The #312 Soul project is another great Black music website. The site shares Chicago people’ personal stories on creating and enjoying Black music, originally began as a month-long series from 1955 until 1990.

The Hip Hop Radio Archive contains commercial, college, and independent hip-hop radio show records from 1982 to 1999. New York’s WBLS offers iconic radio shows like Rap Attack with Marley Marl and Mr. Magic.

SZA, a young African-American artist, will be your best choice if you are looking for something modern and lively. Have a look with our suggestions. Top 10 SZA Best Songs

Support Black-owned businesses and restaurants

Supporting Black entrepreneurs and preserving Black livelihoods is as simple as being a consumer of local Black companies this Black History Month.

Several resources are available to assist you in determining which local companies are owned and operated by your Black neighbors. First things first: figure out which eateries in your area are owned by Black people.

Several directories have recently been established with the express purpose of promoting Black-owned businesses. Among the first programs of its kind, Official Black Wall Street provided a directory of Black-owned firms.

Attend local Black History Month events

Many cities, schools, and local organizations will host events celebrating Black History Month in February 2024. Check your local newspaper or city website to see what events are happening in your area — for example, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore and Louisville, Kentucky, have extensive events planned this month.

If you can’t find anything in your area or don’t want to attend events in person, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, is offering a handful of online Black History Month events throughout February.

As Black History Month 2024 comes to a close, let us remember that the celebration of Black history, achievements, and resilience is not confined to one month. It’s an ongoing journey of recognition, education, and unity. Let these lessons and tributes continue to inspire positive change and inclusivity throughout the year.