WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Today on Bring It On!, host Clarence Boone speaks with Shatoyia Moss, director of Safe and Civil Cities for the City of Bloomington, and Gloria Howell, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center on the Bloomington campus of Indiana University, about Black History Month.
The foundations of Black History Month started with Daryl Michael Scott, Professor of History at Howard University, in Chicago during the summer of 1915. An alumnus of the University of Chicago, Carter G. Woodson traveled from Washington, D.C. to participate in a national celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of emancipation sponsored by the state of Illinois. Thousands of African Americans travelled from across the country to see exhibits highlighting the progress their people had made since the destruction of slavery. On September 9, 1915, Woodson met at the Wabash YMCA with four others and formed the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).
As early as 1920, Woodson urged black civic organizations to promote the achievements that researchers were uncovering. In 1924, they responded with the creation of Negro History and Literature Week, which they renamed Negro Achievement Week. The 1960s had a dramatic effect on the study and celebration of black history. Before the decade was over, Negro History Week would be well on its way to becoming Black History Month. Since the mid-1970s, every American president, Democrat and Republican, has issued proclamations endorsing the Association’s annual theme.
Credits:
Today’s host is Clarence Boone.
The show’s executive producer is Clarence Boone.
The assistant producer is William Hosea.
Our consultant and WFHB News Department Director is Kade Young.
The program engineer is Chantalle LaFontant.
The original theme music was created by Jamyl Efiom, with additional background tracks by David Baker.
