Celebrating Freedom in a Month

Black History Month 💦

Yoselyn Bodes

Black History Month is a annual celebration in the United States that commemorates the achievements that the African Americans have accomplished. It was first founded in the 1900s by a historian called Carter G. Woodson. Carter and an association, that was dedicated to the studies of Negro life, declared that the second week of February to being the “Negro History Week.” Since there were so many positive responses, representatives from different states decided to embrace the celebration as a holiday. The event is so significant to many that people often take the time to educate younger people about the month to spread awareness of the past struggles. They should, however, take the time to teach these students more about different individuals who also left an important mark in history as schools almost always talk about the same people every year.

This annual event is important to recognize as it teaches us about the struggles that African Americans went through to gain justice and liberty in the U.S. The more we learn about the subject, the more we are willing to have a deeper understanding of history. Schools usually take this month as a way to educate young children about these past events. They usually teach students about important figures that lead to the accomplishment of getting their freedom. Some significant people they talk about are Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Maya Angelou. There are plenty of others but those are the main ones schools talk about.

An unfortunate thing that happens every year is that people don’t take the time to spread more awareness to different figures in history. Every year, society talks about the 5 people who they believe did the most for history. They fail to notice that there are plenty of other individuals that worked as hard as them to make a change. People often forget about Claudette Colvin, a young girl who refused to move out of her seat and stood up for her rights. Another person that society forgets about is Bessie Coleman, this woman made a huge contribution to changes in history as she became the first African American woman to become an aviator. These were some of the people that made a huge impact in history. Even if it doesn’t look significant, they still made a contribution in their part by fighting for their rights.

This month is incredibly important as we are able to look back and see the changes and growth of society over time. February, often called the month of love, is also a month that enables us to deeply understand past experiences in the world. The more we are educated about the past, the more we learn ways to stop ourselves from creating the same mistakes. Reasons such as those are why we should continue to honor those leaders who spent their time standing up for their human rights.

http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/10-black-history-little-known-facts/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_History_Month

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/bessie-coleman