Black History Month for Kids | Learn about the month-long celebration of African American history
NOTE: Around the 4:40 mark, we mention that President Ford expanded the celebration of Black history from one week to the full month 50 years after President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. The correct number is 113 years later. We apologize for the error.
Every February, Americans use the month to reflect on and celebrate the achievements of African Americans in American history. That is what Black History Month is all about. In this video for kids, you will learn how this particular month-long celebration came to be. At one point, the country didn't even study any events related to African American history because it dealt with such a tragic period in our history. In 1915, an African American historian named Carter G. Woodson decided to change that. "You must give your own story to the world," he wrote.
Woodson recognized that the predominately white historical association from which he was banned had no interest in attributing advances in science, technology, and other fields to non-White people. And very few people studied Black history at this time. School textbooks didn't even contain information about it. To give proper recognition to the accomplishments of Black Americans, he started the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and declared the second week in February as "Negro History Week."
Carter Woodson chose this week because it commemorated the birthdays of two significant historical figures related to the freedom and equality of African Americans: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist who was born enslaved in the early 1800s. He was able to escape to the North and declared himself a free man, becoming an abolitionist and advocate for human rights. He met Abraham Lincoln on several occasions and may have influenced Lincoln's ideas on slavery.
It wasn't until Gerald Ford was president of the U.S. that the week-long celebration of Black history became a month-long period instead. Black History Month matters because it celebrates the sacrifices that so many Black Americans faced and endured to bring the country to where it is. As former President Obama stated, "We recommit to reaching for a day when no person is judged by anything but the content of their character."
We hope you and your student(s) enjoyed learning about Black History Month! If you want even more information, head over to our website and download one of our many free lesson plans, full of activities, worksheets, and more!
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What you will learn in Black History Month for Kids:
0:00 Introduction to Black History Month
0:30 Various famous African Americans
1:05 History of African Americans in the U.S.
2:29 Carter G. Woodson documents Black history
3:37 Second week of February becomes Negro History Week
4:04 Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
4:59 Importance of Black History Month
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