Black History Month: How has Obama changed it?
Today is the start of Black History Month in the United States. It began as Negro History and Literature Week in 1920, through the efforts of black historian Carter G. Woodson and the historically black fraternity Omega Psi Phi.
In 1926, Woodson renamed the holiday Negro History Week, marking the remembrance in February, to celebrate the birth dates of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History changed Negro History Week into a month-long celebration.
Seemingly, Black History Month this year won't be much different than those that have come before. Municipalities, governments, churches and schools will commemorate figures such as Ida B. Wells-Barnett, George Washington Carver and Malcolm X. Of course, the digital age has provided more options for commemoration, such as this tweet celebrating a black history milestone from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division:
On Feb. 1, 1960, four African American students in Greensboro sat down to order lunch and launched a nationwide movement
Or this essay from Baratunde Thurston on what Martin Luther King Jr. would have tweeted during the civil rights movement.
But the biggest change in America's celebration of Black History Month might be the emergence of Barack Obama as a major figure in black history. Recently, the black news and culture site TheGrio.com conducted an African-American Leadership Survey, asking "25 contemporary academics, artists and activists to assess the most impactful African-American leaders in U.S. history."
In that survey, Obama didn't just make the top 10 of the more than 170 black leaders considered; he ranked second, bested only by King and beating black historical figures such as Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall and Rosa Parks.
The president's ranking has set off a heated debate in the comment section of the Grio's post on the results. And the effect Obama has on black history and Black History Month remains to be seen.
It might well be the case that Obama's presidency has allowed the United States to reexamine the history of African Americans under a new lens and with a stronger focus. But there's also the risk of an Obama vacuum of sorts: The Obama presidency might take attention away from the sacrifices of countless African Americans since the country's inception. Some even argue that a black man in the White House eliminates the need for us to celebrate Black History Month.
How has the emergence of Obama changed how you celebrate Black History Month? Is Obama good for black history? Or is he overshadowing other historical figures? Where should he rank in the the list of great black leaders in U.S. history?
TweetUse #blackhistorymonth to tell us what you think or let us know in the comments.
| February 1, 2011; 4:45 PM ET
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