Conversations on Race - Black History is American History

February 2021

Feb

Should it be a thing?

Click below to watch a film broadcast on PBS Independent Lens in 2012. It's out-of-date in some ways, but current in others.

Watch Now — MORE THAN A MONTH (2012, PBS)

Then listen to Lee Adams from our Hidden History page (here). He is speaking in 2019, seven years later. Has anything changed? Is it time to end Black History Month? or maybe not?

A few more things to view and read as we consider Black History Month

PBS News Hour, February 5, 2020

In recognition of Black History Month, this Brief But Spectacular comes from historian Daina Ramey Berry, who chairs the history department at the University of Texas at Austin. She is dedicated to rethinking the way we teach American history to all students, and her latest book is called, "A Black Women's History of the United States."

Here is the website for "Teaching Texas Slavery," the project mentioned by Dr. Berry: https://teachingtxslavery.education.utexas.edu/#/

This bill was introduced on May 15, 2020, in a previous session of Congress.

It did not receive a vote.

Black History is American History Act (2020 - H.R. 6902)To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of peoples of African descent in the settling and founding of America, the economic and political environments that led to the development, institutionalization, and abolition of slavery and its impact on all Americans, the exploration and expansion of America, impact on and contributions to the development and enhancement of American life, United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws, and culture, and for other purposes.

Opinion | Isn’t 400 Years Enough?The failure to appreciate Black history leaves our nation incomplete.

Access the New York Times opinion piece (February 10, 2021) directly above or view the PDF below.

Opinion | Black History's Place in America's Story - The New York Times.pdf

Do We Ask Too Much of Black Heroes?Every year for a month, we celebrate the heroes of Black history. But these stories can obscure how change happens and who gets left behind.

Here is the first piece in Black History, Continued, a New York Times series that will "explore pivotal moments and transformative figures in Black culture and examine how the past shapes the present and the future." Written by Imani Perry, it appeared in the January 29, 2021, issue of the newspaper. You can access a PDF below.

How We Celebrate Black Heroes Can Obscure How Change Happens - The New York Times.pdf

Opinion | I don’t need or want corporations celebrating Black History MonthCorporations use Black History Month to tell us how they appreciate Black culture instead of showing us.

Parents wanted to opt their children out of Black History Month. A Utah school ‘reluctantly’ let them.Maria Montessori Academy, a public charter school in North Ogden, Utah, with just a handful of Black students, backtracked after first allowing families to opt out of Black History Month.

Race in America: History Matters with Librarian of Congress Carla HaydenBlack History Month is a time we pay tribute to the vast contributions of Black Americans to our country. On Friday, Feb. 5 at 1:00pm ET, Washington Post senior critic-at-large Robin Givhan speaks with Carla Hayden, who made history as the first woman and the first African American to lead the Library of Congress, about marking this moment in the wake of widespread protests over the death of George Floyd, and how the past informs our understanding of the present.

Did you know that Black History Month is celebrated in the UK every October?

Black History Month: What is it and why does it matter?First proposed in the US in the 1920s, it began being celebrated in the UK in 1987.

A Coda to Black History Month

Amanda Gorman in 2018

A Coda to Black History Month (Published 2018)Amanda Gorman, the first national youth poet laureate, has written original poetry for The Times's Race/Related newsletter. We animated her work.

Appreciating the contributions made by Black individuals in the United States cannot be contained within a single month.

Please take a look at just one example, the story of Vivien Thomas, on the Hidden History page (here).

As part of their celebration of Black History Month, the DC Public Library hosted a conversation about James Baldwin and his 1955 collection of essays, Notes of a Native Son. (February 28, 2021)

For more about James Baldwin, check out Accessing Black Voices Through Literature: James Baldwin (here and here).