He did not intend to be a legend
Neither did he intend to be famous
Or get crowned as a hero
He simply intended to give his fellow black family
A sense of pride for being the people they were...
Black.
The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH)
That is where he started his journey
Founding an organization with his fellow black intellectuals
One dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by black Americans
Not forgetting other peoples of African descent
This is the year 1915
It marks the beginning of that revolution
State Department of Educations with considerable Negro population,
Churches,
Black press...
The public had to be informed and what better way to do so
The Journal of Negro History(1916)
"We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements"
Wouldn't you be interested to read it?
Wouldn't you be interested in saving your race?
Wouldn't you want to be an ambassador of such a cause?
It is now 1926
The month of February
It is not only the month of love
But bares more history and significance than that
The birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (12th February) and Frederick Douglass (14th February),
Two great Americans
That played a prominent role in shaping black history days
And black communities and other Republicans commemorated their birthdays each year
Even when they were long gone
Six feet below the ground.
Negro History Week
The new name for the week in which these two heroes were born
Traditional and symbolic days of commemorating the black past.
"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, it stands in danger of being exterminated."
This is what he fought hard to prevent
The extinction of the black race
The luck of pride
The luck of justice
The luck of acceptance
For the color the black man has
It was no longer about the study of two great men
But of a great race
One man's dream soon became a whole nation's dream
One step towards that journey became a movement
A one day thought became a whole week celebration
Soon it became Black History Month
Will it one day become a Black History Year?
Carter G. Woodson, the Harvard-trained historian,
Will not get to see if what he started will end up being a yearly celebration
Rather than the monthly celebration it currently is,
But he would be proud of what he has achieved
That black history is a field of serious study
From biographies of famous African Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali
To milestones accomplished in education in historically black colleges.
It may be a celebration started out in the United States, that spread to the United Kingdom and Canada
But it is of impact to all Africans in every country in the world.
I am proud to be Black
Are you?
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