Learn about it. Understand it. Celebrate it.

“The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.”

Congress, T. L., Administration, N. A., Humanities, N. E., Art, N. G., Institution, U. S., & Museum, U. H. (n.d.). African American History Month. Retrieved from https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about/

The celebration expands to a month in 1976!

I am going to first start off with a list of books that I find important to share. If you are someone who isn’t as aware of the recent events, or don’t understand the history behind this month, these books are good place to start.

Books –

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor

The Color Purple – Alice Walker

The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 – Christopher Paul Curtis

But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women’s Studies – Akasha Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott and Barbara Smith

The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

These are just a select few of my favorite novels. If you have children or a child, you want to celebrate this month with The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 is a great book for children around a fourth or fifth grade reading level. I first read that book in fourth grade and it became my favorite novel.

As we start this month off, let’s take time to celebrate all the wonderful contributions and breakthroughs that African Americans have done for this country.  

I will list a couple –

After reading this post, I’d dedicate some time to learning more about the African American contributions and successes. I constantly delve into articles and always find myself learning about new people, culture, struggles, breakthroughs and far more.

Kamala Harris – The first Female, African American, South Asian American to become the Vice President of United States. This is literally so amazing. We should be shouting this from the roof tops and skipping down street telling everyone we can. Thank you, Vice President Harris for this profound breakthrough in American history.

Maya Angelou – A spectacular woman to say the least and one of the most inspiring people I have learned about during my life. The list of what she has accomplished is honestly, endless. Maya Angelou was an author, civil rights activist, poet, songwriter, historian and the list goes on. Angelou’s hardships that she encounters in her life are reflected in her writing. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reflects her trauma with rape.  In Time’s article, they explain how she felt the book had saved the lives of many people because it delivered a “model of endurance.”

Waxman, O. B. (2019, February 27). Dr. Maya Angelou: 5 Things to Know About Her Beautiful Life. Retrieved from https://time.com/5226045/dr-maya-angelous-90th-birthday/

CNN has an article on “five ways you can celebrate Black History Month virtually.”

I posted the link below!

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/02/us/black-history-month-2021-celebrate-virtually-trnd-iyw/index.html

I hope we use this month to learn, engage and understand how important African Americans are to our society. I hope we continue to educate those around us about the hard truths, the harsh reality and the unedited version of history.

Here is a list of black owned businesses -

Skincare/Haircare

Briogeo

The Honey Pot

OUI the People

Rosen Skincare

Clothing

CBAAF

Coco and Breezy

Daily Paper

Diop

Label by Three

Let’s get celebrating!