by Ashley A. Williams
UM News
02-26-2019
Black History Month is celebrated each February, and can be traced back to 1926 when historian Cater G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the celebration of “Negro History Week.” The second week of February was chosen as a way to commemorate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, born on Feb. 12 and Feb. 14, respectively.
In 1970, black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in Ohio proposed celebrating black history for the entire month of February. Six years later, former President Gerald Ford recognized the celebration during the United States Bicentennial. He called on the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
At the University of Miami, where the first black students enrolled in 1961, Black History Month is celebrated as Black Awareness Month. A host of student organizations commemorate the month in partnership with the Division of Student Affairs Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership.
As February winds down, News@TheU asked several student leaders, faculty, and staff about the importance of Black History Month, and what the national holiday means to them.
