Today, February 1, in 1926

Today, February 1 is the beginning of Black history month. Back in 1926, a man named Carter Woodson fought hard to get a national week of recognition for African-American History. Woodson saw this as an opportunity to raise the consciousness of both the black communities and the white communities about the culture and the struggle of persons of African descent in the "New World". Although there has been legitimate critique on the way America handles Black History Month, Woodson's struggle was to institutionalize the study of Afro-American and African societies and cultures in a world where they were largely ignored.