The Founder and Spirit of Black History Month

I recently did a search on Black History Month in Google and to my surprise 2,470,000 sites were listed on the subject. To my dismay, out of the top 10 sites, very little was said about the Founder of Black History Month (formerly Negro History Week) Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Even less was said about why it was formed in the first place.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson created what is now known as Black History Month not just to add "The Negro" into history, but to rewrite what had been written of him. In his classic work, "The Mis-education of the Negro" Dr. Woodson details how in nearly every class and subject in school The Negro is portrayed as inferior if portrayed at all. His special talents and gifts were never highlighted in a way that would make him feel equal as a member of a multicultural society. And, in most classes, it was taught that The Negro had contributed nothing of value to civilizations present or past. Dr. Woodson started Negro History week to infuse the Negro with a proper self-image and worldview that would make him desire to unify and become a constructive force in the development of his people.

So here we are today in 2008, 82 years from the inception of Negro History Week. Can we say that the spirit of Dr. Carter G. Woodson still exists in Black History Month? Every February we are reminded of pretty much the same characters...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, etc. People don their Kente Clothes and hold celebrations to recite speeches by these African American heroes. We buy a few trinkets, sing some songs and go home. Black History Month has become a month of semi-cultural events centered around corporate profit and keeping the African American mind docile, opposed to revolutionary.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson and The Mis-Education of the Negro

Credit: Anthony Stewart

Copyright: 2007