“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”
~ Marcus Garvey
Did you know in 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week to challenge the widespread exclusion of African Americans from history books and public education? According to his book, “The Journal of Negro History,” Woodson believed that a nation that ignores the contributions of an entire people damages both truth and democracy. His work emphasized that Black history is not separate from American history — it is foundational to it.
Did you know Black History Month became nationally recognized in 1976 during the United States Bicentennial? According to the Library of Congress, President Gerald Ford officially acknowledged the observance and called on Americans to honor the “too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.”
Did you know African American inventors have made groundbreaking contributions that continue to shape everyday life in the United States? These accomplishments include Marie Van Brittan Brown (1922–1999), who invented the first home security system; Garrett Morgan, who created the three-position traffic signal and improved gas masks; and Lewis Latimer, a draftsman for Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison who patented a more durable carbon filament for light bulbs.
Countless other African American inventors have also influenced American society through their innovations. Recognizing these achievements is not merely ceremonial; it reflects a growing understanding that the nation’s history was incomplete without their stories. This recognition serves as a reminder that freedom, citizenship and equality were not freely given, but rather fiercely demanded and defended.
Did you know that African Americans have shaped nearly every aspect of American life while simultaneously enduring systemic injustice? From the forced labor of enslaved people that built the nation’s early economy to mass incarceration, and from cultural innovations such as jazz, blues and hip-hop to literary movements like the Harlem Renaissance — emerging ironically during the Great Depression — Black creativity has profoundly transformed American culture. Leaders such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers expanded the meaning of liberty for all Americans, not just for Black communities.
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