Our names are Paola Flores and Jesus Barrios from the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society. With the help of the AP African American Studies class, we will be celebrating Black History Month by acknowledging significant African American individuals every day throughout February.

But how was Black History Month created? Carl G. Woodson was an American historian who taught the long-neglected field of African and African American history to scholars and popularized the field in schools and colleges across the United States. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week in the second week of February to match up with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The goal was to showcase the contributions of African Americans. This concept would later be expanded to Black History Month in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, who issued a proclamation declaring February as Black History Month.

This year, 2025, the theme for Black History Month, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, is African Americans and Labor. This focuses on the major ways that work—of all kinds, including free and unfree, skilled and unskilled—has intersected with the collective experiences of African Americans.

Now then, the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society and the AP African American Studies class will acknowledge significant African American individuals throughout February via the morning announcements. A full list can be seen below and on the Rho Kappa display in the hallway by Guidance.

Without further ado, let’s begin by recognizing our first two individuals:

Mae C. Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first African American to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Booker T. Washington was an African American who advocated for the advancement of African Americans through improving their vocational skills and economic status. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute to teach self-sufficiency.

The rest of the individuals are listed below and will be recognized in the morning announcements.

List of Recognized Individuals:

February 3rd – Carl G. Woodson, Mae C. Jemison, and Booker T. Washington

February 4th – Thurgood Marshall

February 5th – Beyonce

February 6th – Nat King Cole

February 7th – Barack Obama and Malcom X

February 10th – Madam CJ Walker

February 11th – Rosa Parks

February 12th – Harriet Tubman and Rebecca Lee Crumpler

February 13th – Ida B. Wells

February 14th – Henrietta Lacks

February 24th – Jesse Owens and Earl Lloyd

February 25th – Oprah Winfrey

February 26th – Frederick Douglass and Usain Bolt

February 27th – Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.

February 28th – Bill Kenny and W. E. B. Du Bois