Lift every voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list’ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
— James Weldon Johnson
Black History Did Not Begin 100 Years Ago
This year marks 100 years of commemorating Black history in the United States. Now, before the comments start rolling in, let’s be clear: Black history does not begin in 1926, 1619, or anywhere close to the invention of the cotton gin. Black history stretches back thousands of years.
You cannot tell the story of human civilization without Africa, which is called the Motherland for a reason. You cannot seriously discuss innovation, science, kings and queens, empires, global wealth, religion, or exploration without acknowledging Africa’s central role. To try would be like telling the story of basketball and leaving out Michael Jordan.
Erasure Was a Feature, Not a Bug
Before the 20th century, the history of Africa and people of African descent was largely ignored, distorted, or minimized in colonized societies, especially in the United States. That absence was not accidental.
As Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey famously warned, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” A tree without roots cannot survive.
Enslaved Africans brought to the Americas were deliberately stripped of their roots, names, languages, and cultural practices. This was a documented strategy used throughout the Americas and the Caribbean to dehumanize people and weaken collective identity. If you erase a people’s history long enough, you can convince the world and sometimes even them that they never contributed anything worth remembering.
Telling the Truth Anyway
One thing people of African descent have consistently done well; often out of necessity, is identify the lies of the powerful and document the truth anyway. Historians and intellectuals such as George Washington Williams, Arturo Schomburg, Anna Julia Cooper, Charles Seifert, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Carter G. Woodson dedicated their lives to researching, preserving, and elevating Black history in the face of open hostility and institutional indifference.
Carter G. Woodson and the Case for Honest History
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, announced the creation of Negro History Week, observed during the second week of February. The timing was intentional, aligning with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln—two figures whose lives shaped the nation’s struggle over slavery and freedom.
Woodson was clear about the purpose:
This is the meaning of Negro History Week. It is not so much a Negro History Week as a History Week. We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history… What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.
Woodson was not asking for symbolic celebrations or shallow praise. His argument was simple and radical: Black history belongs in the story of human civilization because it is part of that story. In that sense, Black History Month is not separate from American or World history, it is corrective American and World history.
From a Week to a World
As time passed, Negro History Week gained national recognition. In 1969, students at Kent State University proposed expanding it into a month-long observance. The first official Black History Month was celebrated there in 1970.
Six years later, in 1976, during the U.S. Bicentennial, President Gerald Ford formally recognized Black History Month and urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Since then, observances of Black History Month or similar commemorations have spread beyond the United States to parts of Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America, bringing Woodson’s dream of global recognition closer to reality.
History Is Being Edited Again
Today, the struggle to tell Black history accurately continues.
Across the United States, debates over curriculum, books, and historical interpretation have intensified. Some states and federal agencies have reduced or eliminated Black History Month programming. Books by Black authors have been challenged or removed from school libraries, while discussions of race, inequality, and systemic discrimination are increasingly framed as “controversial” rather than factual.
Whether described as “educational reform” or “anti-indoctrination,” the outcome is familiar: a narrowing of the story. History, once again, is being edited for comfort.
Why Black History Still Matters
When Black history is minimized, everyone loses. Because Black history is not only a story of suffering though it includes slavery, Jim Crow, and racial terror, it is also a story of resilience, resistance, and world-shaping culture.
Out of oppression emerged music, art, political strategy, intellectual traditions, and social movements that have profoundly shaped the United States and influenced the globe. Black history teaches us how people resist cruelty, challenge inequality, and insist on dignity under the worst conditions imaginable. That history of resistance is not optional. It is essential.
Learn It. Share It. Defend It.
So, this Black History Month, and beyond, make it a point to learn widely and deeply.
Learn about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution.
Learn about General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the real-life inspiration behind The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.
Study Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey.
Read Phillis Wheatley, Audre Lorde, and Maya Angelou.
Learn from the organizing brilliance of A. Philip Randolph, Ella Baker, and Bayard Rustin.
Listen closely to Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin, and Fred Hampton.
And embrace the music, art, and culture Black creators continue to give the world, often without proper credit, but never without impact.
Because a people who know their history are far harder to erase and much harder to lie to.
A Historian’s Starter Library
As a history professor and Black man—I want to share some of my favorite Black history resources.
Film & Television· Eyes on the Prize
· The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
· Black in Latin America
· Freedom Summer
· 13th
· Malcolm X
· Selma
· Rustin
· Sinners
Books· The Coming
· The Black Count
· The Black Russian
· The Black Jacobins
· Stamped from the Beginning
· The 1619 Project
· The Warmth of Other Suns
· The Autobiography of Malcolm X
· The Dead Are Arising
· The New Jim Crow
Learn it. Share it. Defend it.
Publisher’s Note
Professor Brandon J. Sutton teaches U.S. History at the Community College of Baltimore County. He is a graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science, and he holds a Master of Divinity from Liberty University.
This essay reflects the author’s scholarly analysis, historical interpretation, and moral judgment, informed by publicly available records, established historical research, and documented patterns in American political and social history. Any characterizations of institutions, policies, or events are offered for purposes of historical inquiry, political critique, and protected opinion, and are not intended as statements of fact beyond the cited historical record.
Citation: Figure 1. Black History Month an Overview, 2021, https://ap-lbc.com/black-history-month-an-overview/. Copyright 2021 by NA.
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list’ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
— James Weldon Johnson
Black History Did Not Begin 100 Years Ago
This year marks 100 years of commemorating Black history in the United States. Now, before the comments start rolling in, let’s be clear: Black history does not begin in 1926, 1619, or anywhere close to the invention of the cotton gin. Black history stretches back thousands of years.
You cannot tell the story of human civilization without Africa, which is called the Motherland for a reason. You cannot seriously discuss innovation, science, kings and queens, empires, global wealth, religion, or exploration without acknowledging Africa’s central role. To try would be like telling the story of basketball and leaving out Michael Jordan.
Erasure Was a Feature, Not a Bug
Before the 20th century, the history of Africa and people of African descent was largely ignored, distorted, or minimized in colonized societies, especially in the United States. That absence was not accidental.
As Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey famously warned, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” A tree without roots cannot survive.
Enslaved Africans brought to the Americas were deliberately stripped of their roots, names, languages, and cultural practices. This was a documented strategy used throughout the Americas and the Caribbean to dehumanize people and weaken collective identity. If you erase a people’s history long enough, you can convince the world and sometimes even them that they never contributed anything worth remembering.
Telling the Truth Anyway
One thing people of African descent have consistently done well; often out of necessity, is identify the lies of the powerful and document the truth anyway. Historians and intellectuals such as George Washington Williams, Arturo Schomburg, Anna Julia Cooper, Charles Seifert, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Carter G. Woodson dedicated their lives to researching, preserving, and elevating Black history in the face of open hostility and institutional indifference.
Carter G. Woodson and the Case for Honest History
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, announced the creation of Negro History Week, observed during the second week of February. The timing was intentional, aligning with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln—two figures whose lives shaped the nation’s struggle over slavery and freedom.
Woodson was clear about the purpose:
This is the meaning of Negro History Week. It is not so much a Negro History Week as a History Week. We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history… What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.
Woodson was not asking for symbolic celebrations or shallow praise. His argument was simple and radical: Black history belongs in the story of human civilization because it is part of that story. In that sense, Black History Month is not separate from American or World history, it is corrective American and World history.
From a Week to a World
As time passed, Negro History Week gained national recognition. In 1969, students at Kent State University proposed expanding it into a month-long observance. The first official Black History Month was celebrated there in 1970.
Six years later, in 1976, during the U.S. Bicentennial, President Gerald Ford formally recognized Black History Month and urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Since then, observances of Black History Month or similar commemorations have spread beyond the United States to parts of Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America, bringing Woodson’s dream of global recognition closer to reality.
History Is Being Edited Again
Today, the struggle to tell Black history accurately continues.
Across the United States, debates over curriculum, books, and historical interpretation have intensified. Some states and federal agencies have reduced or eliminated Black History Month programming. Books by Black authors have been challenged or removed from school libraries, while discussions of race, inequality, and systemic discrimination are increasingly framed as “controversial” rather than factual.
Whether described as “educational reform” or “anti-indoctrination,” the outcome is familiar: a narrowing of the story. History, once again, is being edited for comfort.
Why Black History Still Matters
When Black history is minimized, everyone loses. Because Black history is not only a story of suffering though it includes slavery, Jim Crow, and racial terror, it is also a story of resilience, resistance, and world-shaping culture.
Out of oppression emerged music, art, political strategy, intellectual traditions, and social movements that have profoundly shaped the United States and influenced the globe. Black history teaches us how people resist cruelty, challenge inequality, and insist on dignity under the worst conditions imaginable. That history of resistance is not optional. It is essential.
Learn It. Share It. Defend It.
So, this Black History Month, and beyond, make it a point to learn widely and deeply.
Learn about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution.
Learn about General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the real-life inspiration behind The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.
Study Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey.
Read Phillis Wheatley, Audre Lorde, and Maya Angelou.
Learn from the organizing brilliance of A. Philip Randolph, Ella Baker, and Bayard Rustin.
Listen closely to Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin, and Fred Hampton.
And embrace the music, art, and culture Black creators continue to give the world, often without proper credit, but never without impact.
Because a people who know their history are far harder to erase and much harder to lie to.
A Historian’s Starter Library
As a history professor and Black man—I want to share some of my favorite Black history resources.
Film & Television· Eyes on the Prize
· The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
· Black in Latin America
· Freedom Summer
· 13th
· Malcolm X
· Selma
· Rustin
· Sinners
Books· The Coming
· The Black Count
· The Black Russian
· The Black Jacobins
· Stamped from the Beginning
· The 1619 Project
· The Warmth of Other Suns
· The Autobiography of Malcolm X
· The Dead Are Arising
· The New Jim Crow
Learn it. Share it. Defend it.
Publisher’s Note
Professor Brandon J. Sutton teaches U.S. History at the Community College of Baltimore County. He is a graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science, and he holds a Master of Divinity from Liberty University.
This essay reflects the author’s scholarly analysis, historical interpretation, and moral judgment, informed by publicly available records, established historical research, and documented patterns in American political and social history. Any characterizations of institutions, policies, or events are offered for purposes of historical inquiry, political critique, and protected opinion, and are not intended as statements of fact beyond the cited historical record.
Citation: Figure 1. Black History Month an Overview, 2021, https://ap-lbc.com/black-history-month-an-overview/. Copyright 2021 by NA.
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