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Showing posts with the label #CarterWoodson

The history of how February became the Black History Month

          #BlackHistorymonth #AfricanAmerican #CarterWoodson Black History Month in the United States is one of those periods whose origins are near-mythical narratives. This is apart from the fact that its ubiquity means we do not usually ask how it began. For millions of young people, African Americans and otherwise, the celebrations have always been there. They are tradition. What happens in February can be traced to the early 20th-century intellectual activism of historian  Carter Woodson  who is also credited as a pioneer of what is now known as African-American studies. Woodson was born into an impoverished home in New Canton, Virginia in 1875. He was only able to earn a high school diploma at age 20, a process delayed by his family’s poverty. He then took up teaching and subsequently furthered his education at the Berea College in Kentucky as well as the University of Chicago earning undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. He was the second Afri