This February marks the 100th Anniversary of Black History Month under the theme: A Century of Commemoration and Honouring Dr Carter G. Woodson’s Legacy Since 1926.
This scholar, together with colleagues George C. Hall, William D. Hartgrove, Jesse E. Moorland, Alexandra L. Jackson and James E. Stamps, is renowned for institutionalising the teaching, dissemination and commemoration of Black history when they founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH).
In 1925, Carter G. Woodson planned the inaugural week-long observance of Black history — an initiative that evolved from Negro History Week into Black History Month, with ASALH continuing the tradition within American culture and the global community.
Foundation of Black History Month
Born in 1875 to illiterate parents and former slaves, Woodson completed his high school diploma in less than two years. He worked as a teacher and principal before earning his bachelor’s degree in literature, later becoming a school supervisor and attaining his Master’s degree.
Woodson became the second African American after W. E. B. Du Bois to earn a PhD from Harvard University, and eventually became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
His transformative intervention followed being barred from attending American Historical Association conferences despite being a dues-paying member. Woodson believed the white-dominated historical profession had little interest in Black history.
This exclusion revealed how African American contributions were “overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and teachers who used them.”
This realisation led him to found ASALH and establish the Journal of Negro History, now published as the Journal of African American History.
Woodson’s literary contributions included:
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A Century of Negro Migration (1918)
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The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 (1919)
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The History of the Negro Church (1921)
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The Negro in Our Story (1922)
His scholarship and activism ultimately led to the formal establishment of Black History Month, officially recognised in 1976.
Why the 100th Anniversary?
This year’s centenary reflects the evolution from 1926’s Negro History Week to Black History Month in 1976 — demonstrating that February has long been a work in progress in elevating African American history globally.
The 100th theme explores the impact and meaning of Black history commemorations in transforming the status of Black peoples in the modern world — now recognised within the framework of the African Diaspora as the sixth region of the African Union.
Black History Month Theme
The 100th Anniversary theme focuses on African American labour and the economic and social justice impact of Black workers and organisers.
From slavery to present-day society, African Americans have contributed immensely to economic and social justice transformation in the United States. Moreover, members of the African Diaspora hold potential as investors and philanthropists within Africa’s five regions — Southern, Eastern, Western, Northern and Central Africa.
Such collaboration aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 — The Africa We Want.
Scholar Arthur Schomburg once stated:
“The American Negro must remake his past in order to make the future.”
This echoes George Orwell’s famous observation that “those who control the past control the future.”
Both Africa and its Diaspora face the challenge of rewriting history through their own lenses.
Black History vs African Heritage Month
The collective collaboration between Africa and its Diaspora opens dialogue on whether February should be observed as Black History Month or African Heritage Month.
This discussion is visible in Nova Scotia, Canada, where African Heritage Month shares the theme:
Strength is Unity: Moving Forward with Purpose, Prosperity, Power and Progress.
Unity between Africa and its Diaspora reflects recognition by the African Union of the Diaspora as its sixth region.
Eliminating tensions between “Black History” and “African Heritage” would strengthen collective efforts to centre African heritage as a futuristic imperative.
Conclusion
The unique history and heritage of Africa and its Diaspora is a story that must be written to challenge dominant narratives.
Slavery, missionary influence, settler colonialism and apartheid should not be the only defining lenses of African history. Beyond these epochs existed indigenous knowledge systems that must now inform sustainable development and the Africa we want.
Uniting Africa and its Diaspora is critical for development — a reality experienced firsthand when a Jamaican archivist, now UK-based, visited the Kingdom and appreciated the King’s maiden speech at Ngabeveni Royal Residence.
As an indigenous knowledge researcher, one cannot operate effectively without understanding historical context. Without it, researchers risk collecting infiltrated or marginalised knowledge and mistaking it for indigenous truth.
Understanding history enables researchers to transcend the politics of each era and unbundle inherited distortions.
