AFSAC plans Black History Month event; explains history of the month

  • Published
  • By Kayelin Tiggs, AFSAC
The Air Force Security Assistance Cooperation Directorate (AFSAC) will host a luncheon in honor of Black History Month at the Wright-Patt Club on Wednesday, 15 Feb. The event takes place from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and will feature speaker Mr. Michael Carter, Chief Diversity Officer, and Senior Advisor to the President of Sinclair Community College. Cost to attend for club members is $14.95 and $16.95 for non-members. The AFSAC Choir and Dave and Flow will provide musical entertainment. Dress code is business attire.
 
Payments for tickets may be made via Ca$hApp ($wefjr31) or Venmo (@winferg). To attend the event, send payment and include first name, last name, and middle initial. Additional questions regarding the event contact POC’s via email; Winston Ferguson winston.ferguson@us.af.mil, Robin Fletcher robin.fletcher@us.af.mil, and Richard Scott richard.scott.4@us.af.mil


To mark Black History Month, AFSAC looks back on how we came to recognize the observance each February. 

The observation of Black History Month is an annual celebration of African-American achievement and triumph.

Historian Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in response to the lack of information of African American accomplishment and declared the second week of February as Negro History week in 1926. February was chosen in honor of former U.S president Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass- both of whom worked to end the practice of slavery in the United States.

As a graduate of Harvard University, Woodson wanted to promote the “scientific study of black life and history” to create bigger impact with the belief that “history was made by great people." Radically spreading, Negro History Week transitioned to Black History Month in February 1976. In a growing era of consciousness, the idea for Black History Month popularized and was celebrated across the country in schools, colleges, and community centers.
 
Each February, Black History Month serves as a powerful reminder that Black History is American history, and the stories of African Americans illustrate centuries of triumph, resilience, and profound moral courage. A continued engagement with Black history is vital to understanding an African American experience that transcends struggle.

The 2023 Black History Month Theme is “Black Resistance” and describes an opposition to historically oppressive rhetoric and systemic injustice. Black History Month reminds us that resistance is something that we can all practice to create a future that is bright for all people.

Facts about Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950):
 
  • Known as the “Father of Black History Month”
  • Worked as an education superintendent in the Philippines before receiving a Bachelor’s Degree
  • Became the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University after W.E.B Dubois
  • Founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915
  • Wrote more than a dozen books on African American history which are still widely used in classrooms today
  • Created The Associated Publishers publishing company to help himself and many other black scholars to disperse their work, including Paul Laurence Dunbar
  • Founded Negro History Week in 1926 which would eventually turn into Black History Month after his death
Things everyone can do:
 
  • Learn More about our country’s Black Historical facts and ask questions
  • Visit a Black History Museum near you:
    • National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio
    • National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Located in Cincinnati, Ohio
    • The African American Museum in Cleveland, Ohio
    • National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.
  • Show Support to Black Owned Businesses
  • Recognize and acknowledge Black History as United States History