Thaddeus Miller / The Collegian

African Peoples’ History Month, also known as Black History Month, kicked off Monday with poetry, guest speakers, and a dance performance.

The celebration will continue throughout the month with more events and activities to come.

Dr. Malik Simba, an Africana and American Indian studies professor at Fresno State, said “Negro History Week,” as it was originally called, was started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in the 1920s, but is now celebrated throughout the month of February. Woodson was the second African-American to ever receive a doctorate from Harvard.

“Black History Month was started in order to reclaim the achievements African-Americans made to make this country better,” Simba said.

Woodson believed history was written in a way that was defending racism, Simba said.

“There is one thing about him [Woodson] that is very unique,” Simba said. “He believed that a racist history produced a racist people and a racist nation. For this nation to become nonracist and the people to become nonracist, the mis-education must stop.”

“What he dedicated his entire life to, obsessively, was research. “By locating the facts that were left out or denied in history by the white supremacist school of historical writing.”

Simba said that Woodson was relentless in his mission to right the wrongs that were written in history books.

“He felt that if he could research and publish all the accomplishments and contributions to the growth of civilization made by black men and women that it would set this country free,” Simba said. “This would accomplish a rejection of racist history.”

Woodson is now known as the “Father of Black History” and created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which chronicled achievements made by African-Americans when it published “The Journal of Negro History.”

Simba said these contributions to history must continue and Black History Month must be used to inspire more African-Americans today.

“There is a class dimension to the African-American community,” Simba said. “The ones left behind by the civil rights movement and affirmative action in the inner-cities need inspiration and hope.”

Simba said this year’s celebration held extra importance with Barack Obama marking his first year as President of the United States.

“This is a one year celebration of a great achievement,” Simba said. “This is to think about the past and influence the future.”

Rion “Chicago” Spears performed a poem that was inspired by Black History Month.

“It’s basically a way to celebrate the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Spears said. “It’s a way to show appreciation to those who have given me an opportunity to come to this university and to get an education, to ride anywhere on a bus, to celebrate everything that was given to me.
Celebrate those who fought through a time when people of my color weren’t able to do anything.”

Even though February is designated as Black History Month Spears said, he celebrates all year.

“I like to celebrate being a descendent of Africa every day of the year because it’s a very proud culture,” Spears said. “When this month comes around it makes me feel even more special because we have this time to celebrate and come together as a culture.”