Black History Month
The African American Resource Center provides extensive educational programming, social events, and celebrations for the African American and Black communities at California State University, Fullerton during Black History Month. We aim to engage the campus community in dialogue and reflection that highlights black excellence, allyship, and advocacy that caters to our community during the month of February.
Black History Month 2022
This year, the planning committee decided to celebrate Black Joy as our theme. Joy is When we experience joy and relish in its grace, we acknowledge the ownership over our Black bodies. Too often our bodies are only associated with conflict, struggle, and violence, in a never-ending battle for the respect of our humanity. Joy is our birthright. We bask in it to heal, restore and renew us. We tap into its roots to unapologetically love ourselves and others. Black Joy is our resistance, our rebellious act against hate, our innate superpower in the celebration of our people.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CALENDAR!
Event |
Date, Time, and Location |
|---|---|
| Understanding Black Joy: A Birthright & Breakthrough | February 2nd @ 11:30am on Zoom Meeting ID: 259-507-9974
|
| Men’s Basketball Game | February 3rd @ 7:00pm in Titan Gym |
| Black Book Chat: bell hooks: All About Love | February 5th @ 10:00am on Zoom Meeting ID: 939-0619-3422
|
| Women's Basketball Game | February 10th @ 7:00pm in Titan Gym |
| Soulful Wellness Wednesday: Protecting Black Joy with Self-Care | February 16th @ 1:00pm in the AARC (PLS 180) |
| Diaspora Dialouges: Black Thought | February 16th @ 2:00pm in the AARC (PLS 180) |
| Black History Month is Every Month | February 17th @ 11:00am on Titan Walk |
| Colors of Culture: Black History Month Art Gallery Reception | February 17th @ 2:00pm in DIRC (PLS 180) |
| Titan Table Talks: Resiliency in the Black Community | February 22nd @ 11:00am on Zoom Register for webinar |
| Spades Tournament | February 22nd @ 5:30pm in Housing |
| Blacks in Entertainment | February 23rd @ 7:00pm in Housing |
| The Freedom of Our Hair | February 24th @ 2:00pm on Zoom Zoom ID: 813-5999-0149
|
| An Evening with Angela Davis | February 24th @ 5:30pm in TSU Pavilions Registration required for entry
|
| Spring Fusion | February 24th @ 7:30pm in TSU Pub |
A History
The precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week.” This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and of Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which dates Black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century.
From the event's initial phase, primary emphasis was placed on encouraging the coordinated teaching of the history of American blacks in the nation's public schools. The first Negro History Week was met with a lukewarm response, gaining the cooperation of the Departments of Education of the states of North Carolina, Delaware, and West Virginia as well as the city school administrations of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Despite this far from universal acceptance, the event was regarded by Woodson as "one of the most fortunate steps ever taken by the Association," and plans for a repeat of the event on an annual basis continued apace.
At the time of Negro History Week's launch, Woodson contended that the teaching of black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of the race within broader society:
"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself. In spite of worldwide persecution, therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization." - Woodson (1929)
By 1929 The Journal of Negro History was able to note that with only two exceptions, officials with the State Departments of Educations of "every state with considerable Negro population" had made the event known to that state's teachers and distributed official literature associated with the event. Churches also played a significant role in the distribution of literature in association with Negro History Week during this initial interval, with the mainstream and black press aiding in the publicity effort.
Negro History Week was met with enthusiastic response; it prompted the creation of black history clubs, an increase in interest among teachers, and interest from progressive whites. Negro History Week grew in popularity throughout the following decades, with mayors across the United States endorsing it as a holiday.
On 21 February 2016, 106-year Washington D.C. resident and school volunteer Virginia McLaurin visited the White House as part of Black History Month. When asked by the president why she was there, Virginia said, "A black president. A black wife. And I’m here to celebrate black history. That’s what I’m here for.”
United States: Black History Month (1976)
The Black United Students first Black culture center was where many events of the first Black History Month celebration took place.
Black History Month was first proposed by Black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State one year later, in February 1970.
Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated all across the country in educational institutions, centers of Black culture and community centers, both great and small, when President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month, during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. He urged Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.
