Black History Month
February is Black History Month (also known as African American History Month). This annual celebration highlights the people, events, and histories of the Black community in the United States and internationally.
Half a century after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in September 1915. Known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the organization focused on researching and promoting the achievements of Black Americans and others from the African diaspora. The group sponsored a national Negro History Week in 1926 during the second week of February to coincide with Abraham Lincoln’s and Frederick Douglass’ birthdays. The celebration gained popularity by the late 1960s, and in 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, Jr. officially recognized Black History Month nationally.
To recognize and celebrate this month, CEHHS curated a list of resources centering Black voices and stories. These resources are available through the UT Library and online.
African Americans and the Arts
The 2024 Black History Month theme is African Americans and the Arts.
African American art, rooted in a fusion of African, Caribbean, and Black-American experiences, spans various cultural expressions such as visual arts, literature, music, and more. Artists have employed their craft to preserve history, empower communities, and lead influential movements like the New Negro, Black Arts, and Afrofuturism. Despite the historical denial, there’s an unbroken chain of Black art production from antiquity, evidenced in the sweetgrass basket-making tradition and the birth of spirituals during enslavement. The Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the emergence of hip-hop in the Bronx further propelled Black artistic contributions on a global stage. Afrofuturism envisions a liberated future for Black people, as seen in works by musicians, writers, and visual artists. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) marks its 98th Annual Black History Theme by highlighting the richness of African Americans in the arts, acknowledging the past, and present, and anticipating future impacts in the twenty-first century.
Learn more about this year’s theme through the ASALH website.
Learn More
- 2024 BHM Theme – ASALH | Printable PDF
- African American Artists and Selected Works | Multimedia
- Blacktalk: Artists on Native, African, and African American Stereotypes | Multimedia
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler | Physical Book – E-Book – Illustrated Edition
- Singing the Gender-Bending Blues (Sidedoor) | Podcast EpisodeTap World | Documentary
Black Voices
The resources below feature some of the voices in the Black community through different media formats. Bolded resources signify those written/created by Black individuals.
General Educational Resources
- An African American and Latinx History of the United States | Physical Book – Paul Ortiz
- A Black Women’s History of the United States | E-Book – Daina Berry and Kali Gross
- Four Hundred Souls | Physical Book – Ibram X. Kendi (Ed.) and Keisha Blain (Ed.)
- How the Word Is Passed | Physical Book – Clint Smith
- The Warmth of Other Suns| Physical Book – Isabel Wilkerson
Essays, Poetry & Memoirs
- African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song | Poetry – Kevin Young (Ed.)
- Call Us What We Carry | Poetry – Amanda Gorman
- James Baldwin: Collected Essays | Essays – James Baldwin
- Wandering in Strange Lands | Essays – Morgan Jerkins
- The Yellow House| Memoir – Sarah Broom
Movies, Documentaries & Videos
- Black American History – Crash Course Series | Video Series
- Eyes on the Prize | Documentary
- Olympic Pride, American Prejudice | Documentary
- Selma | DocumentarySoundtrack for a Revolution | Documentary
Multimedia Resources
- African American History Online | Resource Guide
- Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs | Digital Collection
- NMAAHC Virtual Museum Exhibitions | Virtual Exhibit
- Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories | Digital Collection
- With an Even Hand: Brown v. Board at Fifty | Virtual Exhibit
Physical & E-Books
- Americanah | Physical Book – Chimamanda Adichie
- Felix Ever After | Physical Book – Kacen Callender
- Love in Colour | Physical Book – Bolu Babalola
- The Nickel Boys | Physical Book – Colson Whitehead
- The Vanishing Half | Physical Book – Brit Bennett
Podcasts
- Code Switch | National Public Radio
- Historically Black | American Public Media
- The Read | Kid Fury and Crissle
- The Secret Adventures of Black People | Nichole Hill
- The Stoop | Hana Baba and Leila Day
Previously Highlighted Resources
2023 Highlighted Resources
- The Emancipation Circuit | E-Book
- Freedom, Resistance, and the Journey Toward Equality | Multimedia
- Ida B. Wells (No Man’s Land) | Podcast Episode
- Why Puerto Rican Bomba Music Is Resistance | Video
Updated February 2024 by Miranda N. Rutan, Doctoral Student, CEHHS A&E, UT Knoxville | Curated February 2022 by Miranda N. Rutan, Doctoral Student, CEHHS A&E, UT Knoxville