There are MIDI hidden histories
that have been have yet to be told.
Happening now, it's Black
History Month, the celebration of
all the accomplishments
and contributions African Americans
have made for our country.
But where did this month come from?
K's reporter joins us now to take a
look at the behind the scenes origin.
So the Black History Month or
what it's meant to celebrate.
Yeah. So celebrating Black History
Month got it start from historian of
black educators dream in the early
1900s of recognizing and preserving
what black people had done for America.
And that has grown into what
we know it as today.
We have all four elements represented.
We have metal up here,
and then we have we have simple,
elegant totems.
Nowadays, black history is
seen everywhere, including art.
So I'm asking individuals
to take these simple tags.
But that wasn't always the case.
So when people write on here,
they can write their name and attach it.
But all of our shared ancestries
are represented here.
Austin artist Reggie Thomas.
Yes, please says representation matters,
and it's important to show people
what's possible. From history
I would have been.
Probably doing a lot of things a
lot sooner than 20 or 30 or 40.
But I didn't have the examples.
Each year, Black History Month has a theme.
This year's theme, resistance,
and Reggie says that's reflected
in some of her work.
This is another piece of resistance here,
the African Golf course.
I believe that it's extremely
important to celebrate black history
because I don't feel that anyone
should be cut apart for themselves
or not be able to see themselves.
All right, good afternoon, everyone.
While black history is now taught
in classrooms across the country,
it wasn't always that way.
I'm going to go ahead and pass these
out to you now. I believe that
African American history
is oftentimes overlooked.
Dr. Talitha Floria, an associate history
professor at the University of Texas.
Now to. To the gun part says
it's important to study African
American history to understand
the problems in society today.
In order to address those issues,
we have to understand what's
at the heart of those issues
and what's at the root of them.
It's a sentiment she shares with black
history pioneer Carter G Woodson.
Well, I feel incredibly honored
to be carrying on the legacy of
Carter G Woodson as a scholar
of African American history.
In 1915, Woodson formed the Association
for the Study of ***** Life.
In history. OK, good.
She believes he wanted to raise
awareness of the role African
Americans had in shaping the country.
There wasn't much emphasis or recognition
of African American people or their
contributions to American history.
Then in 1926, he went on to start
the first ***** History week.
The goal was to get public educators,
particularly black teachers and
progressive white teachers,
to teach African American
history in the public schools.
And so it was. It was very popular.
In 1970, the first Black
History Month was launched.
And in 1976, Gerald Ford became the
1st president to officially recognize
February as Black History Month.
This was the result of Black
college students who wanted
to see a longer celebration.
You know, they didn't want Black
History Month confined to one week,
and neither did Woodson.
From art to historic buildings like this
one, we feel like you're really seeing.
The equivalent of the fingerprint
of the Craftsman who did this work,
black history lives on in ways
for people to experience. I'm
a preservationist, and preservationists
really believe that putting your
feet in the places where people
have been before brings history to
life in a way that nothing else can.
Rowena Dash, the executive director
of the Neil Cochrane House Museum,
says that the quarters on their
property are the only intact public
slave dwellings left in Austin.
It's important it's still
standing here because.
Without these physical structures,
it's far easier to, um,
focus on narratives that are
perhaps prettier, perhaps happier,
and and fit in a little bit better with
the story we want to tell ourselves.
While Black History Month has come a
long way, many agree there's still
work to be done to acknowledge the
black contributions in America,
and it shouldn't be limited
to just one month in Austin.
Eric, Pointer K View News.
Now, Reggie's work in the slave
quarters are both on display right now
at the Neil Cochrane House Museum.
And we've also got an extensive
timeline for you with more
significant black history dates.
You can find that over
at our website, ku.com.
I gotta go check.
Take a look at that.
Those quarters.
I just to see the history.
I've never been inside
one like that before.
I know now we know about it.
And you know, Eric, you were talking
to us about how you studied, obviously,
black history in high school, right?
And maybe a little bit in college,
but you also studied it at home. Why so?
Well, because my mother was a Sunday
school teacher and she taught it.
In our church. And so it was
all around us all month long,
about all year long as well.
Yeah, very nice.
It's good to learn. Appreciate
that very much, Eric. Thank you.