An Opening Ceremony dinner to launch Black History Month will be held Monday, Feb. 2, at 5 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Williams Center. The event will be hosted by the Black Student Union. All students and faculty members are invited and encouraged to attend.
BSU President Jasmine Ranjitsingh announced that many events are being planned for the month. "We are planning a month that will be memorable and exciting," she said.
Other events this month include the Peace Train Concert on February 11 (see article), Cupid's Ball on February 14, a Step Extravaganza including performers from all over New York State on February 21, and finally Closing Ceremony on the 28.
Black History Month 2009
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History designated this year's theme for Black History Month as "The Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas."
Origins of Black History Month
Black History Month evolved from "Negro History Week," which historian Carter G. Woodson started in 1926.
Woodson, always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history.
Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
