This February marks the 100th year of recognizing what we now know as Black History Month in the United States.
It was started as Black History Week in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Woodson chose February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. President Gerald Ford was the first to recognize Black History Month during the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976.
The City of Orlando is celebrating this 100th anniversary with a slate of events, including a new downtown art exhibit filled with more than two dozen local Black artists’ interpretations of this year’s national theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations.”
The performing arts take center stage on February 9th when the city presents the “Black History Month Community Celebration” event at the Plaza Live.
Marcia Hope Goodwin, the city’s Chief Service Officer and Director for the Office of Community Affairs, planned these events. She said this year’s 100th is a unique opportunity to examine how Black History Month celebrations themselves influence how we recognize the American story.
Goodwin noted that the city’s programming centers on examining how Black history has been studied, shared, and celebrated over the past 100 years, and how these commemorations continue to shape education, culture, and public understanding.
The newly opened art exhibit is inside City Hall’s rotunda Terrace Gallery features 52 exclusive works by 28 local Black artists. “We had over 100 submissions from artists that are all local,” said Goodwin.
The “Black History Month Community Celebration” event at the Plaza Live features local talent, too, along with city lawmakers like Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Commissioner Shan Rose, and Commissioner Bakari F. Burns.
“We will have our poet laureate, Camara Gaither, who will be presenting a piece that will resonate with our theme,” Goodwin said. “And then we also have several of our city employees that are vocalists! They have their own chorus - the City Beautiful Voices will be performing as well.”
Goodwin spoke on the importance of acknowledging Black History Month, especially during this 100th year of recognition. “I feel strongly that the history of every sector of our community should be preserved, shared…so that we can all grow and learn together from each other.”
“Black history, of course, is my heritage,” added Goodwin, “but I think even if it’s not your heritage, it is something that we all can grow from, learn from, and really just become more aware of why we all are the human family, why it is that we all value our country and believe in the values we believe in.”
