Black History Month in America begins today, February 1.
Black History Month is a federally recognized celebration that became law in the U.S. in 1976.
The monthlong celebration was created to recognize the achievements of Black Americans who helped shape this nation.
The Omega Psi Fraternity created Negro History and Literature Week in 1924.
READ ALSO: February is Black History Month in America
Civil rights leader Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the son of former slaves, believed deeply that a celebration of Black history would have a lasting impact on future generations of leaders.
So he campaigned tirelessly to expand Negro History Week celebrations around the country.
Dr. Woodson campaigned for Negro History Week extensively throughout the 1930s. By the time Dr. Woodson died in 1950, mayors across the country supported Negro History Week.
Additionally, West Virginia celebrated Negro History Month.
In 1974, then President Gerald Ford met with civil rights leaders, including Vernon Jordan, Bayard Rustin, Dorothy Height and Jesse Jackson.
Less than two years later, in February 1976, Black History Month was born.
Attitudes towards race relations haven’t improved since that moment in history.
Last week a vandal stole a statue of baseball legend Jackie Robinson from a Wichita, Kansas, park.
Park officials found the statue burned and dismantled in a trash can on Tuesday, the day before Robinson’s birthday.
Grainy video shows the vandal cutting the statue off at the ankles. So far, there have been no arrests.
This week, Major League Baseball announced the statue will be replaced.
The statue was erected in 2021 at the front of McAdams Park. The park is the home of League 42, which provides affordable baseball for kids.
Bob Lutz, the executive director of League 42, launched a GoFundMe page that collected over $156,000.
Lutz announced on Tuesday they will create a new Robinson statue using the original mold.
“It will be a joyous occasion — unlike today, unlike the past five days,” he said Tuesday.
