History of Black History Month

Black History Month, also known as African American History Month, honors Americans of African descent throughout history who fought against adversity, oppression, and discrimination, as well as those who continue to work towards equality, equity, and unity for all. Black History Month grew out of Negro Week, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in 1925. The second week of February was selected to honor the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. After the Civil rights movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, in 1976, President Gerald R. Ford designated February as the nation’s first African American History Month.

For more information on the national recognition of African American History Month, visit https://africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/

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Boy dressed as Barack Obama holding basketball with text Living hIstory museum

The 2022 Virtual Living History Museum of African American Heroes was held on Sunday, February 27, 2022.

Featuring video portrayals by children of their heroes, the museum is a celebration of the important African Americans who fought against adversity, who work towards equality, who create music and art, and who demonstrate the power of sports in society. In 2022, 18 children ranging in age from preschool to 8th grade portrayed their heroes, which included James Jamerson, Katherine Johnson, Nick Gabaldon and more. Winners for the Living History Museum, Inc. Scholarship Competition awards were also announced.

Watch the official 2022 Living History Museum announcement here:

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Check out Living History Museum of African American Heroes event from 2021 here!

Meet Walter Scott, Katherine Dunbar, Langston Hughes, and more at the The Living History Museum of African American Heroes! Thirty-six children from 4th - 8th grade created and submitted outstanding videos in which they portrayed their heroes. The first Living History Museum Essay Award winners were also announced.

Photos from past Living History Museums: 2018, 2017

This program is sponsored by The Rolling Hills/Palos Verdes Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Living History Museum, Inc., Palos Verdes (CA) Chapter The Links, Incorporated, and South LA Chapter, Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

Questions? Contact Laura Henry: lhenry@pvld.org

Kids

Crown : an ode to the fresh cut by Derrick Barnes (Book, Hoopla eBook, Hoopla eAudiobook)
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (Book)
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison (Book, CD Audiobook)
Chasing Space by Leland Melvin (Book, Hoopla eBook)
Heart and Soul: The story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford (Book, DVD, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla Movie, Hoopla Readalong Movie)
Preaching to the chickens : the story of young John Lewis by Jabari Asim (Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Hidden figures : the untold true story of four African-American women who helped launch our nation into space by Margot Lee Shetterly (Book, Hoopla eBook, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Book, Overdrive eBook, Overdrive eAudiobook)
One crazy summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Book, Overdrive eBook, Hoopla eBook, Hoopla eAudiobook)

For more titles for kids, click here

Teens

A Phoenix Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles (Book)
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Overdrive eBook)
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Overdrive eBook)
Make it Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life by Marcus Samuelsson (Book)
Swing by Kwame Alexander (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla ebook)
A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook)
We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson (Book)

For more titles for teens, click here

Adults

Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby (Book, Overdrive eBook, Overdrive eAudiobook)
We Ride Upon Stick by Quan Barry (Book)
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (Book, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Fights : One Boys' Triumph Over Violence by Joel Gill (Book, Hoopla eComic Book
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Book, Overdrive eBook, Overdrive eAudiobook)
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin (Book)
Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile (Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Overdrive eBook, Overdrive eAudiobook)
Freedom is a constant struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the foundations of a movemeny by Angela Y. Davis (Book, Hoopla eBook, Hoopla eAudiobook)
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley (Book, Large Print Book, CD Audiobook)
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Book)
Sula by Toni Morrison (Book, Overdrive eBook)
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, Overdrive eBook, Overdrive eAudiobook)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Book, CD Audiobook, Overdrive eBook, Overdrive eAudiobook)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X (Book)