Black History Month

As you may know this is the last week of Black History Month, so I’ve dedicated this blog post to Black History Month. This week’s post covers the origins; however,  first I want us to take a look and review how MC celebrated Black History Month.

Black History Month at MC

Montgomery College celebrated Black History Month by providing numerous events. Most of these events have passed, but let’s take a look at what people attended or what you may have missed.

• From 2/5-2/14 on the TP/SS Campus, Professor Vincent Intondi was able to provide a Black History Month Film Festival. Movies consisted of Black Panther: Vanguard of Revolution, Malcolm X: Make it Plain, and Bayard Rustin: Brother Outside.
• February 8th, Black History Month was held at the Silver Spring Library. Montgomery County African Affairs Advisory Group is partnered with Montgomery County Public Libraries to present an evening of Black History and Heritage. Special guest: H.E., Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, African Union Ambassador to the United States.
• Instructors Dr. Regennia Williams and Bernard Siler, J.D. celebrated  African Americans who helped shape America through history, music, and popular culture. They explored the public careers, musical legacies, and family histories of these two very famous and very different performing artists.

I did not post all the events that occurred, but if you attended any event this month in relations to Black History Month, feel free to share your experience.

For more information you can contact Karla Silvestre, Director of Community Engagement, at 240-567-4365.

Origin of Black History Month

Here is what I found online about Black History Month. Black History Month originally was Negro History Week. Historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week”.  This week was chosen because Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass  both celebrated their birthdays in that week.

Negro History Week was met with enthusiastic response; it prompted the creation of black history clubs, an increase in interest among teachers, and interest from progressive whites. Negro History Week grew in popularity throughout the following decades, with mayors across the United States endorsing it as a holiday.

Eventually, Black History Month was first proposed by black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated all across the country in educational institutions, centers of black culture and community centers both great and small.

Everybody celebrates Black History Month in different ways. As a sneakerhead, I would try and get a pair of Black History Month sneakers released each year. So this year, my sneaker is the Nike Vapormax BHM. This is not the only way I celebrate BHM  but its my favorite way. Also, there’s a story behind every sneaker.

~Till next time