Black Is American History: For(bes) The Culture’s Campaign To Move Black History Month To June

#BlackIsAmericanHistory #BlackHistoryMonthInJune 

#BlackIsAmericanHistory is a multifaceted campaign, powered by For(bes) The Culture, that’s focused on three goals:

• Make a historical case to move Black History Month observance from February to June. 
• Create the opportunity for Black-owned businesses to participate in and profit from Black History Month.
• Integrate Black History into the full-scale history curriculum throughout the school year.

History Behind Black History Month:

In 1915, while in attendance at a 13th amendment 50th anniversary celebration, Harvard alumnus Carter G. Woodson had an idea to study the achievements of Black Americans. In 1924 his fraternity Omega Psi Phi created “Negro Achievement Week” and in 1926 Woodson declared the second week in February as "Negro History Week" to coincide with the birthdays of abolitionist Fredrick Douglas (February 12th) and President Abraham Lincoln (February 14th), a former slave owner himself who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and signed the 13th amendment abolishing the practice of slavery and involuntary servitude and peonage. 

Black History Month was first proposed by black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State one year later, from January 2 to February 28, 1970. It wouldn’t be until 50 years after the first Negro History Week that President Gerald Ford would declare Black History Month as “official” during a speech delivered in 1976. However, it was actually Ronald Reagan’s Congress who signed Public Law 99-244 in 1986, deeming February "National Black (Afro-American) History Month. Multiple presidents have made proclamations recognizing it as “national observance,” but it is still not a federally recognized or mandated holiday. 

 

The Business Behind #BHMinJune: 

The most important reason for this campaign is economics. Every February, the achievements of Black athletes, rappers, celebrities, inventors and civil rights movement leaders are highlighted in visual ads, hip-hop-powered commercials, and must-see TV specials that scream opportunistic. The recent promises of limited grant programs from silicon valley’s top companies pale in comparison to the multiple promises that a “portion of the proceeds” from some exploitive consumerist campaign will merely trickle down to the Black community. 

Small Black businesses are largely left out of the commerce generated by Black History Month. The majority of the advertising space is purchased by S&P 500 companies, and what’s left is priced completely out of range.Generally, businesses are able to make more money in the summer than in the winter months. Once the holiday season is over, families begin saving for summer vacations and other warm weather-related activities. 

For these reasons and many more, it is time for us to no longer accept the leftovers handed to us by America and take control of Black History once again by moving our celebration from the shortest, coldest, and darkest month of the year and give it a fresh start in the best time for celebration in the sunny and warm top of the summer, June. 

 

C.H.O.O.S.E: The Case For #BHMinJune Continued:  

Climate

1. In its current state, Black History Month lives in the coldest, shortest and darkest month of the year. We have 28 or 29 days to capture as much Black magic as we can, but that’s not enough and the weather doesn’t support a full range of celebration. June is the top of the summer and a prime time for outdoor activities,which can generate revenue for Black businesses that is not available to them in February. 
2. 
   From a health perspective, as melanated people, it’s no secret that the sun is our friend. All human beings require an adequate amount of Vitamin D, however, Black people are able to absorb a significant amount of Vitamin D from the sun. vitamin D has recently been shown to lower the risk of diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, memory loss and several types of cancer. Some experts have called vitamin D deficiency a “hidden epidemic” and have speculated that low levels are to blame for higher rates of diseases such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. The Chicago Sun-Times went even further, linking African-American death rates from aggressive forms of breast and prostate cancer to low levels of vitamin D. 

History

1. Two of the original reasons for Black History Month (originally called Negro History Week) being placed in February were the birthdays of Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. The celebration of Frederick Douglas makes sense and we should continue to honor February 12th.  But the only reason Abraham Lincoln is included in this equation is because he signed the 13th amendment, which has been misinterpreted for centuries as freeing all Black Americans from chattle slavery, an act he did not actually execute.
2. Abraham Lincoln is known as “The Great Emancipator” because he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which was nothing more than piece of paper granting freedom from slavery in places where the government had no power. It states: "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious/ states "are, and henceforward shall be free." It did not apply to slaves in the loyal slave states or in those parts of the Confederacy under Union control. 
3. One of many pieces of proof is Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley in which he wrote that “my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”
4. The 13th Amendment wasn’t introduced until two years later.
5. Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day)
6. While Abraham Lincoln’s “freeing” of Black Americans in rebellion states from chattle slavery was triggered by the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the signing of the 13th amendment two years later in 1865, the last Black Americans were not free from slavery until, June 19th, 1865. We commemorate this day with celebrations that, once moved, will henceforth take place during the new Black History Month. 
7. LGBTQ+ Pride Month - June is currently LGBTQ+ Pride month which is a time to commemorate the 1969 stonewall riots. Many of the early leaders at the forefront of this movement were Black LGBT activists who often go overlooked as well.  

Opportunity  

1. In moving Black History month to June, we honor its original celebratory spirit— shifting Black History Month from a bleak, short February to a warm summer’s commemoration, (the ideal time for community fairs, block parties, etc.) just in time for Juneteenth. 
2. We have the opportunity to make a significant and historical change that will move us beyond commemorating a few legends of the Civil Rights movement and remembering a singular slave narrative—instead, allowing us to tell a fuller and more accurate story.  
3. We will create new economic opportunities for Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. Black History Month will no longer simply support the giant, white-owned corporations which have historically reaped the majority of the profits.

Organization 

1. Due to the very loose nature of the officiality of Black History Month’s holiday status, collective organized agreement is enough to move the observance time. 
2. Ronald Reagan’s Congress signed Public Law 99-244 in 1986 deeming February "National Black (Afro-American) History Month, but it’s not obligated. Every President since Reagan has made an annual, reaffirming speech, therefore signaling February’s Black History Month is not a foregone conclusion without the presidential affirmation.
3. States are not obligated to observe Black History Month. 
4. If we can collectively agree to take control of our own destiny, relocating Black History Month to a more convenient time for Black people, this will be a meaningful step toward exercising our will in other areas, (i.e. reparations), which will require more collective cooperation.

Students

1. Currently, in most U.S. classrooms, Black history is often only taught during the month of February. The version of Black history that is taught makes it seem as though Black history isn’t a part of American history; it is handled almost separately from the rest of history and then used as means for profit. In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center conducted a study entitled Teaching Hard History. One key point in this study revealed that only 8% of high school seniors surveyed can identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War.
2. Similar to the removal of the word minority, we need to ensure that we are not simply teaching Black children that their ancestors used to be slaves but that they were also creatives, titans of industry, inventors, etc. This also needs to move beyond the Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and  W.E.B. Dubois trio, who are often the only names that arise in this conversation.

Expansion: More Than A Month

1. The obvious yet unspoken problem with Black History Month is that it, just like Hispanic Heritage Month, Women’s History Month and Pride Month, only lasts for a month  (and for us, it’s  the shortest and coldest month). Historically, Black Americans have always been given the least amount and expected to acclimate and survive. From the chiterlings force fed to our ancestors during slavery to the disproportionate and unnecessary amount of force utilized against us when exercising our first amendement right to protest, equal and equitable treatment has not been what we’ve seen from sea to shining sea. 
2. While moving Black History Month to June is a step in the right direction, the contributions of Black Americans can not fit into 28, 29, 30 or even 31 days. The larger conversation that needs to be had is in the form of a question: Why is white history the de facto history and not relegated to its own 28-31 day stint? The inference here is crystal clear and shows which version of America, history as it is written, has been crafted to portray. It has often been said that history is written by the victor but the only way to determine who’s history should be counted is to count all history.
3. Many companies have made promises to do their part in righting the wrongs of yesteryear but none of those solutions involve educating and informing the people about what happened, how we got here, and how to avoid repeating such a despicable time in history. 

Resources:

• Black Americans make up 13.4% of the U.S. population, but only 9% of businesses are Black-owned
• Black or African Americans owned 124,004 employer firms in 2017 with 32.0% (39,714) of these firms in the healthcare and social services industry.
• This accounted for 2.2% of the 5.7 million employer businesses in the United States.
• Black-owned businesses are concentrated in three sectors: healthcare and social assistance businesses comprising 11.4% of all employer businesses, the sector made up 32% percent of Black-owned businesses. Of these, 53% (21,321) were led by women. Thirteen percent of Black-owned businesses (16,392) were in professional, scientific, and technical services.
• Lastly, businesses in the administrative & support, and waste-management sector comprised 8.2% of Black-owned businesses (10,136).
• In 2002, there were 94,518 Black-owned businesses with employees. That increased to 124,000 in 2017, up 31.2%. For comparison, the Black population increased 16.7% during that period.
• In 2017, of the approximately 25.3 million nonemployer businesses, about 8.2 million were Black-owned, accounting for around $279.3 billion in receipts out of a total of approximately $1.2 trillion.
• ‘The Humanity of Blackness' Missing From History Classes: How to Transform Black History Education in Schools
• Morgan Freeman on Black History Month 
• The US still does a wretched job of teaching Black history. An expert in African American history education explains how to fix it.
• When black history isn’t relegated to a single month