February is America is set aside to honor and celebrate the achievements of African Americans in the nation and the contributions they have made to the United States. However, no matter what is contributed to the nation, there are some people across the country who feel Black History Month is unnecessary.

Whether you realize it or not, Black History is American History, which surrounds us daily, from sea to shining sea. Every corner or aspect of American society has a connection to African Americans, and those connections are key to why Black History Month exists and why we celebrate it in Buffalo and beyond.

I began to be bugged by the teaching of American history because it seemed that the history that had been taught without covenants of my presence.
-Dr. Carther G. Woodson, Ph.D.

The Harvard-trained historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Ph.D., fully understood the contributions African Americans made to the success of America but was saddened by how these accomplishments were largely ignored. To make sure that such a large percentage of the country's population got some recognition, he helped to establish the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH)'s Negro History Week in 1925.

According to data from the Library of Congress, the first official Negro History Week happened in the next year, 1926. February was selected as the designation month due to the fact that the birthdays of both Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln are this month.

The nation celebrated Black History Week for 50 years until President Gerald Ford urged Americans to celebrate the Black Americans for the entire month. Shortly after that declaration, President Ford officially changed Black History Week to Black History Month in 1976 as part of America's bicentennial celebration.

...seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.
-Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States of America

Buffalo, like many other communities, has a deep and rich connection to black history. That history, which is a part of American history, stretches all the way back to the founding of the nation. There are all sorts of ways to celebrate the contributions of this group of Americans, if you're looking for an idea or suggestion or two of how you can celebrate these contributions, you can find a list of Black History Month Events here.

5 Locations That Are Important to Black History in Buffalo

Gallery Credit: Ed Nice