Many people across the US know that February is Black History month.   The reason for this focus on black history can be traced back to the black pride movement.   Black culture has a rich and diverse history.   The black pride movement has helped bring this history to the forefront.   Black history and black pride go hand-in-hand in raising awareness of the black culture in society.   Black history month lets us celebrate the historical icons of Americas black culture.

Historical black icons like Frederick Douglas (1818-1895) who published an Abolitionist newspaper called the North Star after escaping slavery himself.   Frederick Douglas became an infamous orator on the abolitionist movement and Douglas even became the president of the Freedmans Savings Bank during Reconstruction.   Frederick Douglas was an important figure in black history and Douglas was a precursor to the black pride movement.

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) was another influential leader in black history and indeed the black pride movement.   Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery, launching Tubman to one of the most celebrated and influential leaders of the Underground Railroad.   Harriet Tubman was able to help hundreds of African Americans escape the perils of slavery.

The Dredd Scott v. Sanford (1857) decision dealt a blow to abolition and black pride when the US Supreme Court ruled against Dredd Scott, who argued that while traveling with his master had entered free states and was therefore a free man.   The Court ruled that Dredd Scott as an African American was not a citizen, and therefore could not bring a case to the Supreme Court.   In black history, the Dredd Scott decision is a black mark, but a necessary one to bring about the change sought by the black pride movement.

The Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1881 by former slaves Lewis Adams and George W. Campbell under the leadership of Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) as a teachers’ training school.   The Tuskegee Institute was a step in the right direction for black pride as it helped African Americans develop a sense of pride.

Unfortunately in 1932 a horrible experiment by the same Tuskegee name began in which 399 black men who were infected with syphilis were denied treatment so as to study the effects of the disease.   Another step backwards in the black pride movement, the Tuskegee experiments were not ended until 1972.

The Harlem Renaissance was an important time for black pride in America.   The Harlem Renaissance was a period of about 15 years when some of the most important and prolific black writers, artists, and musicians emerged and settled in Harlem, NY.   Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Eugene O’Neill, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, and Oscar Micheaux are just some of the names that helped drive black pride in this historical time.

The 1960s was a tumultuous time for black pride and black history in America.   Everyone knows about Rosa Parks being arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus, Martin Luther King Jr and his peaceful teachings of equality, and Malcolm X.   Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X all played an infinitely important role in black pride.   Parks, King, and Malcolm X are without a doubt some of the most influential members of the early beginnings of the black pride movement in America.

Malcolm X was assassinated in February of 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, NY.   Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN in 1968, marking what many consider the end of the civil rights movement, and the beginning of black pride.