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In 1926 Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an African American author, scholar, founder of the Journal of Negro History, the Associated Publishers, the Negro History Bulletin, and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History established the second week in February as "Negro History Week" in celebration of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays. It was by means of the Association's work and Dr. Woodson's pioneering efforts that by 1976 the event officially became established as "Black History Month" today often referred to as "African American History Month".

Dr. Woodson's purpose in establishing Black History Month was to pay tribute to the many Black Americans that, for generations, urged America's reform by fighting for African American rights despite the many barriers planted before them. The efforts of these brave freedom fighters played roles in giving credibility to America's endeavors to support worldwide human rights. Honoring the memories of advocates like world renowned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., underground railroad abolitionist Harriet Tubman, and Hiram Rhoades Revel who managed to become the first African American to sit on the U. S. Senate (filling the remaining term of slave endorser Jefferson Davis the first and only confederate president) during the "Reconstruction" period are tributes more than well deserved.

Although the underlying reasons for acknowledging African Americans during the course of Black History Month are important, equally and perhaps more important are the degrees of usefulness the acknowledgments of these advocates instills, in particular, in the African American population.

There are still too many Americans who shy away from discussions of the African American plight. There are still too many Americans who are to some degree in denial of their part in the slow progression of ridding this plight. And there are still too many African Americans who continually blame the "system" for their continued lack of success.

Every time Black History Month is celebrated represents a twenty-eight to twenty-nine day time-frame during which the "Black Experience" can be studied and learned from; and every time Black History Month comes around Americans in denial of, Americans shying away from, and Americans complaining about the yet-to-be perfected system are afforded a renewed opportunity to discuss, come to terms with, and move in the direction in which our freedom fighters intended the country to travel.

On February 18, 2005,

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