February is Black History Month, which is an annual celebration of the achievements of African Americans and our central role in United States History.  Black History Month was first known as “Negro History Week, “coined by the Harvard trained historian, Carter G. Woodson and Minister Jesse E. Moorland, who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, an organization dedicated to researching the achievements of Black Americans and those of African descent.  Since 1976, Black History month is officially designated in the month of February.  Black history month began in 1915, after the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s led Negro History Week to evolve into Black History Month and in 1976, former President Gerald Ford officially signed documents to observe February as Black History Month.  We thank and honor those who suffered and fought for our civil rights, freedom and liberties for these human rights.  Thank you for paving the way for African Americans to live better lives, have a seat at the table, and create their own tables.  From Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Carter G. Woodson, John Hope Franklin, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Madame C. J. Walker, Marjorie Joyner, Alice Parker, Ruane Jeter, Mary McLeod Bethune, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Ava DuVernay, Ella Baker, Maya Angelou, Ida B. Wells, John Singleton, Spike Lee, President Barack Obama, Shirley Chisholm, Jackie Robinson, Blue Magic, Stylistics, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Prince, Temptations, Intruders, Tina Turner, Rick James, Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, Michael Jordan, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jesse Owens, Richard Wright, Richard Allen, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Alex Haley, Ella Baker, Medgar Evers, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Emmett Till, Sammy Davis Jr., Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Eddie Murphy, Sidney Poitier, Richard Pryor, Gregory Hines, James Earl Jones, Lena Horne, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Garret Morgan, Charles Drew, Bessie Coleman, Mark Dean, Booker T. Washington, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Kwesi Mfume, Ralph Bunche, Thurgood Marshall, Marian Anderson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Jeffrey Osborne, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Peabo Bryson, Donny Hathaway, Bessie Smith, Jimi Hendrix, Nat King Cole, Tina Turner, William Henry Lewis, Sissieretta Jones, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Glenn Jones, Bill Withers, George Washington Carver, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Phillis Wheatley, Alexander Walters, Charles Drew, Benjamin Oliver Davis, Hattie McDaniel, Tuskegee Airmen, Shirley Caesar, Jet Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Word Up Magazine, Right On Magazine, The Source Magazine, Charles Johnson, BET, John Hope Franklin, Alice Davis, Angela Davis, Sugar Hill Gang, Wesley Brown, Les Brown, Jesse Blayton Sr., William A. Hinton,  James V. Herring, William Grant, Thomas Dorsey, Whitney Houston, Jody Watley, Guy, Geezy Buckets, Augusta Savage, James Weldon Johnson, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, Katherine Dunham, Crystal Bird Fauset, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Jane M. Bolin, Alex Haley, Robert Weaver, Constance Baker Motley, Stokley Carmichael, Edward Brooke, Carl Stokes, Albert William Johnson, Berry Gordy, Arthur Ashe, Tommy Smith, John Carlos, Moneta Sleet, Jr., Howard N. Lee, Mark Clarke, Fred Hampton, Duke Ellington, Freddie Jackson, Four Tops, Take 6, Babyface, Commissioned, Hi-Five, New Edition, LL Cool J, Eric B. & Rakim, Tuff Crew, Lady B, KRS-1, Pubic Enemy, Direct Current, Sister Sledge, Ginuwine, Schooly D, Larry Larr, Kool Moe D, Rob Base, Cool G Rap, Nice and Smooth, Tupac, Nas, Diddy, Jay Z, Destiny’s Child, Hustle Child, Brother, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Dr. J, Allen Iverson, Moses Malone, Magic Johnson, Maurice Cheeks, Charles Barkley, Dred Scott, and the list can go on and on………THANK YOU!