Black History Week

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Black History Month began in 1924 as “Negro History Week” due to the efforts of Carter G. Woodson, one of the founding figures in the study of African-American history. In 1976, the week became a month-long celebration held annually in February. From the start, the commemorative dates included the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglas (February 20). At ECU, the first black history celebration occurred in February 1969, under the rubric of “Black History Week.” In addition to campus displays in Joyner Library, the week was celebrated with a two-page spread, including photographs and articles, in the East Carolinian.

The articles, all by ECU students, introduced the campus to new expressions of the Black Power Movement, its history and its future. William Lowe authored a sketch of the Black Panther political organization established by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in October 1966. Bill Owens contributed two pieces, one on African-American history and future prospects for a “black revolution” meant to realize “integration into society and equality before the law.” In another article, Owens discussed the role played by “white liberals” joining in the struggle with black students, thus contributing to a common cause of social reform. Janice McNeil contributed an essay on the importance of music in African-American identity, calling it the “Black Man’s second heart,” second only to God.

Johnny Williams composed a poem, “A Day Is Coming,” expressing the hopes and aspirations of blacks for a better tomorrow. Janice Horton wrote an essay on the alternatives faced by blacks living in a white world, suggesting in the end greater sensitivity towards others in recognition of them as people. James Whittington discussed the difference between “the Negro” and the “Black man,” seeing in the latter a revolutionary force meant to bring realization of equality for all. Carlton Hadden discussed “Black power in elections,” noting the achievements that had once again empowered blacks with suffrage and the resulting strength that would come to them through exercise of it. Another piece introduced James W. Johnson’s, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the black “national anthem.”

In addition to their contribution to ECU’s first Black History Week, these essays were important as means of communication and education advanced by black students in advance of the presentation of ten demands by black student leaders in the spring of 1969. Each of the contributors to Black History Week spread in the East Carolinian were later signatories to the demands. The articulate and civil manner in which the first Black History Week was celebrated did not alone sway the campus or the administration in the months ahead, but that black student action had been preceded by articulation made the black student movement on campus in the spring of 1969 seem all the more responsible and appropriate to the university campus that it sought to advance.

Sources

Citation Information

Title: Black History Week

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 7/18/2019

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