2024 Black History Month Theme: African Americans & the Arts
Black Inclusion Group Committee
James Freeman
Maren Caldwell
Brian Hinds
Michelle Cockrell
Imani Mosley
Chantella Willis
Sojournia Oates
David Coelho
African American art is infused with African, Caribbean, and the Black American lived experiences. In the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression, the African American influence has been paramount. African American artists have used art to preserve history and community memory as well as for empowerment. Artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism, have been led by people of African descent and set the standard for popular trends around the world. In 2024, we examine the varied history and life of African American arts and artisans.
Supporting African Americans and the Arts through Bridge Gives in recognition of “the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more”.
This February we can honor the integral role of Black Americans in the culture of our country, and all other aspects of life in the US.
Black History Month 2024
It started as a week...
Carter Woodson:
The Father of Black History
February was chosen
for a reason
A week becomes a month
Honoring African-American
Men & Women
In 1915, Harvard-educated historian Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse Moorland founded what’s now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. That organization established Negro History Week in 1926, which strived to inspire schools and communities to organize local celebrations and host performances and lectures.
Woodson was tireless in his lobbying to establish Negro History Week as a program to encourage the study of African-American history. He dedicated his career to the subject and wrote many books on the topic. His most famous volume is The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933), which has become required reading at numerous colleges and universities.
Negro History Week was the second week of February. Why? To coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. President Lincoln, of course, was the 16th U.S. president and paved the way for the abolition of slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation. Douglass was an escaped slave turned activist and author, and a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement to end slavery.
The civil rights movement of the 1960s helped elevate Negro History Week to national prominence… and turn it into a month-long celebration. As a result, in 1976, President Gerald Ford made things official, proclaiming February to be Black History Month.
You don’t have to look far to notice the many impressive achievements of black men and women in the fields of science, politics, law, sports, entertainment, and many others. Here are some of the most notable names you’re probably hearing celebrated this month. Learn more here.
Featured Figures
Underground Railroad "Conductor" and Civil Rights Activist
Chemist
Singer, Dancer, Civil Rights Activist
Baptist Minister and Social Activist
Civil Rights Activist
Scientist, Mathematician, NASA's first Black female engineer
Civil Rights Activist, Author, Poet
First African-American U.S. Surgeon General
U.S. Secretary of State, Four-Star General (U.S. Army)
U.S. President, U.S. Senator, Lawyer
Photographer
Blues musician