BLACK

The origin of Black History Month began in 1915 when Harvard-educated historian, Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) and minister, Jesse Moorland (1863-1940) founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), dedicated to the research and promotion of achievements by Black Americans and others of African descent. Over the next several decades various cities across the country started annual observations of “Negro History Week”. With the growing national consciousness by the late 1960s of the Black civil rights movement, and Black identity, it had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford formally declared February as Black History Month, calling the American public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

The theme of Black History Month- 2024 is “African Americans and the Arts.” I’m very proud to present this group of five individual artists; each with a unique personal history; some self trained and others with academic backgrounds; working in varying styles, and ranging in age from thirty-four to seventy-five. Their work tells a story that embodies personal experience and reflects the larger historic or cultural narrative of the Black community.

Artists have been the “truth sayers” throughout history, speaking “truth to power” – that which wasn’t to be expressed openly and at great personal risk. While they are celebrated and honored today, famous artists like Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) and Romare Bearden (1911-1988) among others, faced racism and discrimination with many galleries refusing to exhibit their work for fear of offending their White patrons. That picture has evolved and today as both artists, as well as Contemporary figures like Kerry James Marshall, Sam Gilliam, Kehinde Wiley, Kara Walker, Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, and others are exhibited and honored in the top galleries and museums in the U.S. and internationally.

The Black experience in America, historically has been suppressed, silenced, and “white-washed”. Even today, in the third decade of the 21st century, and as we begin a national election year of critical (one might even say existential) importance, there are still those in power vociferously trying to mute the Black narrative, the honest and forthright telling of the African American experience. There are also those who we’ve seen and heard use the none-too-subtle appeal of racism and fear of “The Other”as a path to power. But Black history is American history, indeed Human history, and it cannot be erased, forgotten, or revised in service to a political agenda.

Nearly fifty years after its formal declaration by President Ford and over a century since it was first conceived by Mr. Woodson, there’s never been a more urgent time to be honoring and celebrating BLACK HISTORY MONTH.