LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As the calendar flips to February, the nation is celebrating Black History Month— but why was this month chosen in observation?
Black History Month was established by Carter G. Woodson in February 1926 as a time to celebrate African American history and culture.
According to Brian Rodgers with the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC), what started as 'Negro History Week' eventually became what we now know as Black History Month.
"He [Carter G. Woodson] chose February because it was the month that Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas were born, which then evolved into Black History Month," explained Rodgers, adult education interpretive specialist with the MTCC.
Fast forward nearly 100 years and Black History Month is more widely celebrated than ever before.
"We spend every day celebrating Arkansas’s legacy in African American history and culture,” Rodgers added.
At the MTCC, Arkansans can step into the past to learn about celebrated Black heroes as well as the discrimination African Americans faced.
“There were boycotts, there were sit-ins, there were lynchings. All the things that were happening nationally were happening here in Little Rock, so it is important that we remember that history, that we celebrate that history, and we work hard to not repeat that history,” Rodgers said.
He also added that it's important to reflect on and celebrate this history not only in February, but all year long.
“Thinking about these stories, thinking about these people as we go through our daily lives is important. You never know as you walk down the streets in Little Rock who walked here before me,” he said.