Black History Month

The origin and development of ‚Black History Month‘ can be traced back to the U.S. intellectual Carter G. Woodson, who at the beginning of the 20th century advocated filling the vacuum of black American history in the collective memory of the United States (cf. Woodson 1926, 238f.).

Historical Development

Together with other black intellectuals, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History(ASNLH) in 1915 and established the Journal of Negro History a year later, which published essays on black history in the United States (Cf. Scott 2011). In a contribution to the ‚Negro History Week‘ in the same journal, Woodson denounced that in terms of the systemic oppression of Black Americans, the possibility of experiencing their own history was practically completely prevented (cf. 1926, 239) and also pleaded for a Negro History Week (cf. ibid., 241). With the help of Woodson’s organization, the first Negro History Week took place in February 1926 with the goal of reconstructing and popularizing knowledge about black history (cf. Scott 2011). The month of February was chosen carefully and with respect to existing traditions, as the birthdays of two men significant to Black History were celebrated at the same time: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass (Cf. ibid.). However, Woodson did not use this simultaneity of celebration to honor the genuinely male resistance, but rather to honor the anti-racist commitment of all Black women and men (Cf. ibid.). The central idea of the first Negro History Week celebrations was to remove the feeling of inferiority from the Black American population and at the same time to show white Americans that their perception of the world was dominated by racial prejudice (Woodson 2002, 27). To this end, Woodson’s organization created learning materials in the form of pictures, lesson plans, plays, and informational posters (Cf. Scott 2011). Woodson himself had advocated early on to expand the celebration, as he was convinced that Black history was much more important and extensive than could be portrayed in a week-long celebration. As early as the 1940s, Blacks in the state of Virginia began extending Memorial Week to a month. The events of the 1960s in the U.S. had a major effect on interest in Black history, and so Negro History Week transformed into ‚Black History Month‘ (BLM) over the course of the decade (Cf. ibid.). In 1976, on the 50th anniversary of the first celebrations, Woodson’s organization officially renamed Negro History Week as Black History Month and institutionalized the celebrations across the nation, which have been publicly supported by every president in office since (cf. ibid.).

Black History Month in Germany

In Deutschlang, Black History Month celebrations first occurred in Berlin in the 1980s, drawing heavily on their U.S. origins due to the participation of many employees stationed in Germany, as well as members of the U.S. armed forces (Cf. Asher 2015, 45). With the reunification of Germany, the Black German community diversified and grew, so the „initial[] focus on African-American history“ (ibid.) gave way to a new curriculum that dealt comprehensively with the African diaspora in Germany (Cf. ibid., 45; 49). Black History Month is now celebrated in many major German cities, with historical lectures, art exhibitions, screenings, readings, film screenings, theater productions, panel discussions, and also activities for children to bring the history of the Black Diaspora to the public (Cf. ibid., 49). Originally, the German Black History Month was initiated by the initiative ‚Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland‘ (ISD-Bund e.V.), after which many other associations and organizations joined. Due to some disagreements, this multitude of organizers may even have led to the German BLM not taking place for a short period of time. In the meantime, the „non-black organization […] ‚Institute of Cultural Diplomacy‘ (ICD)“ (Asher 2015, 45) the organization of the BLM, which had sufficient financial resources to offer an extensive program, but was sharply criticized for precisely not being a Black organization (Cf. ibid.). As a result of these disputes, since 2011 the organization of the German BLM has fallen under the remit of the ‚Workshop of Cultures‘ (cf. ibid.).

Literature

Asher, N. (2015): The history of Black History Month in Germany. In: D. Bergold Caldwell, L. Digoh et al. (eds.): Spiegelblicke. Perspectives of Black Movement in Germany. Berlin: Orlanda, 44-50.

Scott, D. (2011): Origins of Black History Month. https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black- history-month/ [09/27/2020].

Woodson, C. G. (1926): Negro History Week. In: The Journal of Negro History 11(2), 238-242.

Woodson, C. G. (2002): Observances of Negro History Week. In: Black History Bulletin 65(1), 21- 33.