Black History Month 2024 | Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (2024)

FAQs

What is the Black History Month theme for 2024? ›

The 2024 theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” explores the creativity, resilience and innovation from a culture that has uplifted spirits and soothed souls in countless ways across centuries.

“Caged Bird” Maya Angelou

This poem, published in Maya Angelou's 1983 poetry collection Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? describes the different experiences of two birds. One is caged and suffers due to being held in captivity, while the other is free to live and roam the world with no restraints.

"The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression." "In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute." "Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us." "Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit.

Celebrate Black History Month with Smithsonian events, resources, exhibitions, and podcasts. The 2024 theme is "African Americans and the Arts" spanning the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more.

It was first celebrated during the second week of February in 1926 to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and abolitionist/editor Frederick Douglass (February 14). In 1976, as part of the nation's bicentennial, the week was expanded to a month.

As a whole, do you think white Americans are disinterested in African American history? What facts did you use to form your opinion? Today, there are museums and memorials to honor African Americans who played a vital role in working towards equality for the race. Is it enough to honor these men and women this way?

The Black History Month 2024 theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” explores the key influence African Americans have had in the fields of “visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression.”

“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.” -Morgan Freeman 111. “Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud.” -Maya Angelou 112. “The time is always right to do what is right.” -Dr.

What is a quote for leadership for Black History Month? ›

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Black History Month 2024 theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” explores the key influence African Americans have had in the fields of “visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression.”

The theme, “African Americans and Labor,” intends to encourage broad reflections on intersections between Black people's work and their workplaces in all their iterations and key moments, themes, and events in Black history and culture across time and space and throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora.

Black History Month Theme for 2024

This year's Black History Month has the theme "African Americans and the Arts." The ASALH shares, "African American art is infused with African, Caribbean, and the Black American lived experiences.

This year, the Black History Month theme is “African Americans and the Arts,” which explores the key influence African American have had in the fields of music, film, fashion, visual and performing arts, folklore, literature, language, culinary and other forms of cultural expression, according to History.