[Photo credit: LaGrange.edu]
"Black history is American history." -Actor Morgan Freeman
Black History Month remembers (!) the contributions of African-Americans to the United States and celebrates heritage and culture. In the United States and Canada, Black History Month is celebrated in the month of February and in the United Kingdom, it is celebrated in the month of October. The remembrance originated in 1926 and was created by historian Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week. Later, sleeping car porters brought the idea north across the border into Canada. It was initiated in Canada by the Ontario Black History Society, which was founded in 1978. Black History in England was first celebrated in 1987. The month of October was selected because it coincided with the Marcus Garvey celebrations and London Jubilee. America's Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass. [Source: Wikipedia & BlackHistoryCanada; DiscoverBlackHeritage]
