Black History Month

February 2013

Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions to U.S. society of African Americans.

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) has selected “At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington” as the 2013 theme for Black History Month. 

The following is adapted from the description on ASALH.org:

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation set the United States on the path of ending slavery. A wartime measure issued by President Abraham Lincoln, the proclamation freed relatively few slaves, but it fueled the fire of the enslaved to strike for their freedom.

In 1963, a century later, America once again stood at the crossroads. Nine years earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had outlawed racial segregation in public schools, but the nation had not yet committed itself to equality of citizenship. On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of Americans marched to the memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the author of the Emancipation Proclamation, in the continuing pursuit of equality of citizenship and self-determination. It was on this occasion that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his celebrated “I Have a Dream” speech. Just as the Emancipation Proclamation had recognized the coming end of slavery, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom announced that the days of legal segregation in the United States were numbered.

Materials on U.S. Civil Rights and the March on Washington

• Articles:
  • Music Inspired Courage During Civil Rights Era
  • Martin Luther King’s Words Still Inspire Debate
  • Before Occupy Movement, the Poor People’s Campaign
  • Dedicating the King Memorial
  • Thousands Gather to Dedicate King Memorial
• Photo Gallery
  • The U.S. Civil Rights Movement
  • The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
• In Brief: 
  • Memorial Honors Life of Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Continuing the Work of Martin Luther King Jr. 
  • Singing for Freedom
    • Video of Freedom Singers at White House
    • Remarks by President at Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement
• Materials on African-American Female Changemakers
  • eJournal USA: Making Their Mark: Black Women Leaders
  • Articles:
    • Entrepreneur Engineers Her Own Success
    • Remembering “Extra Special” Space Shuttle Flight
    • Ursula Burns’ Path to Success in the Fortune 500
    • Michelle Obama Presents Modern Image for Black Women
    • Little Rock Nine Member and Daughter Relive Struggle, Victory
    • The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks
    • African-American Sumayya Ali a Rising Opera Star
    • Actress Jurnee Smollett: HIV/AIDS Activist
  • Photo Galleries:
    • A New Generation of Black Women Leaders
    • Visionaries: African Americans Tell Their Stories

  • Resources

     

    • Association for the Study of African American Life and History
      • The ASALH  Bookshelf showcases the work, scholarly and popular, of ASALH members on the experiences of Africans and peoples of the African Diaspora.  If the book is currently available online via the ASALH Store or Amazon.com, they will make every attempt to include it on the Bookshelf.
    • National Museum of African American History and Culture
    • Biography.com – Black History Videos
    • History.com – March on Washington Video

    For English Language Learners – ECA Publications

    • Martin Luther King Jr. Day – a 6-page booklet about the life of Martin Luther King

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African American History Month 2010

Free At Last – The U.S. Civil Rights Movement

This book recounts how African-American slaves and their descendants struggled to win — both in law and in practice — the civil rights enjoyed by other Americans. It is a story of dignified persistence and struggle, a story that produced great heroes and heroines, and one that ultimately succeeded by forcing Americans to confront squarely the shameful gap between their universal principles of equality and justice and the inequality, injustice, and oppression faced by millions of their fellow citizens

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