National Black History Month, February 2025
Departmental News
Posted: Jan 31, 2025 - 12:00pm
UNM celebrates National Black History Month (also known as African American History Month), February 2025. Click on the red links below for more information. Scroll down to read about events, Black scholars, the history of Black History Month, research, news and organizations.
UNM Department of Africana Studies
"The Africana Studies Program at the University of New Mexico gives students of all races, ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds a full understanding of the global linkages between peoples of Africa and other African descended people in the Southwest, the contiguous United States, and throughout the Black Diaspora in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Africana Studies provides an excellent university experience in a discipline that investigates African descended peoples' experiences from the perspective of their interests, aspirations, possibilities, and envisioned destinies."
Dr. Garnett S. Stokes, President of UNM, writes "In 1970, following the lead of our students, faculty, and staff, UNM created its Afro Studies program, as it was called then, which was the first ethnic studies research program at UNM, and it remains one of the oldest Black studies programs in the nation.
Over the next decade, Afro Studies would grow and evolve, becoming African American Studies in 1982, and then a degree-granting program in 1993. Designated today as the Africana Studies Program, the program is in its sixth remarkable decade of facilitating academic freedom of Black faculty and building Africana, African Diaspora, and African American Studies as viable and vibrant academic disciplines. I am delighted that it is soon to become its own department, and I want to welcome and congratulate Dr. Kirsten Buick, who is presently serving as the interim director of Africana Studies and will soon step into the notable role as The University of New Mexico’s inaugural chair of our Africana Studies Department." President's Weekly Perspective, 1/31/2022
"Dr. Kirsten Pai Buick, [Department Chair of the Department of Africana Studies], is a professor of art history at the University of New Mexico where she has taught since 2001. She was a SAAM Predoctoral Fellow and a Charles Gaius Bolin Fellow at Williams College. Her recent publications have appeared in exhibition catalogs for artists such as Deborah Roberts, Augusta Savage, and an essay on Renee Stout that appears in the catalog for the VMFA exhibition “The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse.” Her work has been included in anthologies such as The Routledge Companion to African American Art History edited by Eddie Chambers; and in Race and Vision in the Nineteenth Century edited by Shirley Samuels. She lectures nationally and internationally. Buick is a recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize for African American Art and was named Distinguished Scholar by the College Art Association for 2022. She has published extensively on African American art, including her book Child of the Fire: Mary Edmonia Lewis and the Problem of Art History’s Black and Indian Subject (Duke Univ. Press, 2010). Her second book, In Authenticity: “Kara Walker” and the Eidetics of Racism, is in progress." Read more
"Professor Kathy Powers is an Associate Professor of Political Science [and Associate Chair of the Department of Africana Studies] at the University of New Mexico. She is interested in the nature of institutional authority as well as institutional change and effects. Much of her present research focuses on the design of international institutions and law with respect to human rights, restorative justice, trade, and war. Specifically, she examines the institutional and legal determinants of transitional justice in the form of global reparations efforts following mass human rights violations, the international legal personality of international organizations, and how regional economic institutions that transform into military organizations impact war....She was recently awarded multiple fellowships to conduct research for her book Making Amends: The Institutional and Legal Landscape of Global Reparations while in residency at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C.... An international relations scholar, Powers’ project at the Wilson Center was "Violence and Victim Redress - Understanding the Causes of Reparations: Bosnia and Herzegovina Transitional Justice Efforts in the Aftermath of Civil Conflict." Read more
The University of New Mexico Africana Studies Department Celebrates Black History Month
"In 1926, Harvard educated historian, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, ushered into the American experience a celebration of the accomplishments of Black Americans under the banner: Negro History Week. Woodson, always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history. Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, and former US president, Abraham Lincoln. Since 1976, Black History Month has been celebrated from February 1 to February 28th across the United States and Canada." The University of New Mexico Africana Studies: Why we Celebrate Black History Month
UNM African American Student Services
"The mission of African American Student Services is to recruit, retain, and uplift the Black student population at UNM by providing educational discourse, leadership development, holistic wellness, and community engagement. We support students in realizing their full potential self through collaborative advocacy, intentional allyships, and the exploration of the many facets of Blackness. As an essential resource, AASS contributes to the University’s commitment to a diverse campus culture by appreciating and creating space for Black student scholars to thrive. The vision of African American Student Services “Afro” is to inspire excellence in culture, research, and innovation for Black student scholars at the University of New Mexico." Check out their Black Faculty Spotlights
Brandi Stone is the Director of African American Student Services at UNM. "A UNM alumni, Stone received both her BS in Political Science, and her MA in Public Administration. Throughout her seven-year tenure with AASS she has served in numerous capacities beginning in a work-study position and transitioning into various professional roles. As interim director she led the development, expansion, and implementation of undergraduate and graduate programs inclusive of targeted recruitment, first-year mentoring, and research exposure through the annual research symposium. She also worked on retention-based programming including the new Black Minds Matter transition course and the Black Cultural Conference which has gained regional participation from Black scholars and practitioners." She was appointed Director in 2020. Learn more
#BlackatUNM
UNM Black Student Union Celebrates 55 Years
Black History Project honors Dr. Barbara Brown Simmons
"With a swipe of the screen, the history and legacy of the Black experience at The University of New Mexico is now available thanks to a new touchscreen at the African American Student Services office in Mesa Vista Hall. The website touchscreen project Black History at UNM is the result of a collaboration between the AASS and UNM Communications and Marketing Department Web team. “The project came from a need to archive the Black experience at UNM in a way that students can engage with it in real time,” said program director Brandi Stone. “We wanted to expose students to the legacy of our Black community on our campus. We want student to understand the history and lived experiences of those that came before them. We also want to disrupt narratives that don't include the Black experience when talking about the University of New Mexico.” Learn more
Events
February 1-28 Temporary Exhibit: Celebrating Black History Month at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, 601 Eubank Blvd SE, Albuquerque, NM
February 3, 11-12 UNM African American Student Services Pan African Flag Raising Ceremony, Scholes Hall
February 3 12 noon Knowledge Bowl, hosted by UNM African American Student Services, AASS Lounge
February 5 8:30 PM UNM Men's Basketball game Featuring UNM NPHC, UNM Pit
February 6 2 PM Greenleaf Scholar Presentation: Black Prints: Modernist Networks of Anti-Racist Solidarity in Latin America presented by Bruno Pinheiro, hosted by the UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute; Zoom
February 7 TBD National Black HIV Aids Awareness Day at the African American Performing Arts Center, Albuquerque
February 7 10-3 PM National Black HIV Aids Awareness Day, testing in the SUB & 1 PM workshop in the African American Student Services lounge
February 12 12-1 PM BeAJEDI Speaker Series with Dr. Robert W. Livingston: "The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations" hosted by the UNM School of Medicine; UNM Domenici Center Auditorium (Register in Advance)
February 13 12 noon Love & College, hosted by UNM African American Student Services, AASS Lounge
February 13 3 PM AfroChicanx Digital Humanities Project: Memories, Narratives, and Oppositional Consciousness of Black Diasporas presented by Dr. Careaga Coleman; hosted by the UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute. LAII Conference Room
February 13 7 PM UNM Women's Basketball game Featuring UNM Afroettes; UNM Pit
February 14 All Day, African American Day at the New Mexico Legislature; NM State Capitol
February 14 8 PM Love and Luther, hosted by the African American Performing Arts Center, Albuquerque
February 18 All Day, Lorde Morrison Day, hosted by UNM African American Student Services; AASS Lounge
February 19 12-1 Without Permission or Apology: The Life and Career of Mary Edmonia Lewis, hosted by the UNM Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; via Zoom (Register in Advance)
February 19 3 PM, Rebellion, Resistance, Retention; SUB Ballroom C
February 21 2 & 3 PM, Flavors of Freedom: Soul Food Cooking Class with Kat; UNM Johnson Center
Februarry 22 5:30 PM UNM Black Alumni Chapter Trailblazers and Living Legends Awards; Bobo Room, Hodgin Hall. RSVP Required.
February 26 TBD Black Education Act Conference Kickoff, African American Performing Arts Center, Albuquerque
February 27 6 PM Hip Hop is Resistance: The Future of America an Interactive Conversation with Kevin Powell, hosted by UNM African American Student Services; SUB Ballroom B
February 27 7:30 pm Dr. Jada Benn Torres presents the LVI Journal of Anthropological Research Distinguished Lecture, entitled Marketing Race: The Allure, Promise, and Pitfalls of Genetic Ancestry Testing; hosted by the Journal of Anthropological Research and the Department of Anthropology. Hibben 105.
UNM HSC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Highlights Black Owned Businesses, Black Artists, and more on their Black History Heritage Page
The International African American Museum Digital Exhibits
The African American Performance Arts Center, Albuquerque NM
The African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Eight Online Exhibits to See Right Now on Black History, Racism and Protest
Philadelphia Museum of Art, African American Art (online exhibition)
Google Arts and Culture: Black History Month Collection (online exhibition)
Contemporary Art Gallery Online: Celebrating Black History Month (online exhibition)
The National Portrait Gallery Collection: Portraits of African Americans (online exhibition)
Albuquerque Historical Society presents African American Homesteaders in Albuquerque, NM
African American Museum in Philadelphia: Through His Eyes (Youth Activists during the Civil Rights Movement)
American Writers Museum presents Frederick Douglas: Agitator
National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center - Ohio History Connection
Smithsonian Art Resources, Sidedoor Podcasts, and Virtual Exhibits
Smithsonian: Eight Online Exhibits to See Right Now on Black History, Racism and Protest
National Archives: Virtual Programs Commemorate African American History Month
Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum presents: Madeline Moore Burrell Documentary So Good, So Far 2015
and Illuminating Du Bois: Examining the Legacy of a Sociologist through Research and Design
Casa Afro in Puerto Rico offers 3D Tour and Virtual Exhibition
Google Arts and Culture Black History and Culture: Explore Stories and Collections from Top Cultural Institutions
School for Advanced Research President's Lecture: The Invention of Race, A Conversation with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Andrew S. Curran
National Museum of African American History and Culture: Pauli Murray's Proud Shoes
Rediscovering Pauli Murray: A Schlesinger Library Event, Radcliffe Institute
Black Scholars
Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) was a prominent historian who became known as the founder of Black History Month. "After being barred from attending American Historical Association conferences despite being a dues-paying member, Woodson believed that the white-dominated historical profession had little interest in Black history. He saw African-American contributions "overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them." For Black scholars to study and preserve Black history, Woodson realized he would have to create a separate institutional structure. With funding from several philanthropic foundations, Woodson the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 in Chicago, describing its mission as the scientific study of the "neglected aspects of Negro life and history." The next year he started the scholarly Journal of Negro History, which is published to this day under the name Journal of African American History." Read more on the NAACP website
Dr. Audrey Smedley (1930-2020) was a pioneering anthropologist whose work on the history of the concept of “race” earned multiple awards and helped shape the treatment of race in academic institutions, such as the American Anthropological Association. "Smedley’s major contribution to the social sciences and society is her classic textbook, Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview (1993), in which she showed how folk culture popularized race while science, through white power and privilege, gave the social construct authority. Because of the significance of this award-winning book, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) asked her to prepare its official 1998 statement on race, and in 2006 she was a consultant on the AAA’s initiative, “Understanding Race and Human Variability: A Public Education Program.” She was also featured in the influential PBS documentary series, Race: The Power of an Illusion (2003)." Read more on the American Anthropological Association website
"Dr. John Wesley Gilbert (1864-1923) was a classical scholar who was the first African-American archaeologist. Gilbert discovered the ancient Greek city, Eretria, and produced the first map of the ancient structure. He was also the first graduate of Paine College, the first African-American professor of that school, and the first African-American to receive a master’s degree from Brown University." Read more on the Kentake Page website
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American author, anthropologist and film maker. "Hurston became the most successful and most significant black woman writer of the first half of the 20th century. Over a career that spanned more than 30 years, she published four novels, two books of folklore, an autobiography, numerous short stories, and several essays, articles and plays. Her most popular novel was Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)." While at Columbia University, she was a student of Franz Boas. Read more on the official Zora Neale Hurston website
"William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) was an American civil rights activist, leader, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar...In 1909, Du Bois was among the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and from 1910 to 1934 served it as director of publicity and research, a member of the board of directors, and founder and editor of The Crisis, its monthly magazine." Read more on the NAACP website
"Dr. Harold Bailey, President of the NAACP Albuquerque Branch and a community leader, died on Monday, January 13, 2025, at the age of 78. For over five decades, Dr. Bailey dedicated himself to dismantling systemic barriers, working directly with local government, schools, law enforcement, and community organizations to ensure that marginalized voices were heard. Dr. Bailey attended the University of New Mexico (UNM) on a track scholarship, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, a masters in special education UNM and later Ph.D. in American studies. In 1972, Dr. Bailey became a director for social research at UNM. During his time at UNM, he challenged discriminatory practices, helped develop the Africana Studies Program, and advocated for better support for Black students. Dr. Bailey’s deep commitment to civil rights included joining student-athletes in a 1974 boycott of UNM sports to protest racial inequities. He served as director of the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs, worked to enhance recruitment of minority officers at the Albuquerque Police Department, and twice held the presidency of the Albuquerque NAACP. Throughout his career, Dr. Bailey remained a steadfast advocate for expanding opportunities in education, healthcare, and economic development. As president of the NAACP Albuquerque Branch Dr. Bailey led the endorsement of the Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Option Act in 2020 helping lead to its passage in 2021." Learn more
"Alfred Dennis Mathewson is an Emeritus Professor of Law and former Co-Dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law. ... From 2009 to 2014, he served as the Acting and Interim Director of the UNM Africana Studies Program. From 1997 through 2002, he served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. He has taught primarily courses in business and sports law. He has published numerous articles and given speeches in these areas and he brings this expertise to his teaching. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has served as the president of the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association and the Sam Cary Bar Association (Denver). He is a member and past chair of the Section on Law and Sports of the American Association of Law Schools. He was selected as the Business Lawyer of the Year in 2009 by the New Mexico State Bar for his efforts in developing the UNM School of Law's Business and Tax Law Clinic."Learn More
Harris D. Smith (MFA) was appointed the Dean of the UNM College of Fine Arts in June 2020. "...Smith is a product of the nationally ranked MFA Acting program at the University of Washington. He was the Chair for the Department of Theatre at the University of Utah. He also served as Director for the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska. He is a Certified Teacher of stage combat through the Society of American Fight Directors and a former member of Actors Equity and SAG (Screen Actors Guild)." Upon his appointment as dean, he wrote “I am honored and excited to have been asked to serve as the Dean for the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico,” said Smith. “Being a father of four Afro/LatinX children it is my goal to work with the talented faculty, staff and students of the CFA to positively impact the region, and empower all underrepresented people of the state. Additionally, I am looking forward to the CFA being an active partner in supporting the success of President Stokes’ Grand Challenge Initiative, helping make our school a destination university." Read more
Barbara "Brown Simmons, along with a group of students at UNM helped create a Black Studies Program – a move supported by the dean of students at the time, Charles Roberts. Now known as the Africana Studies Department, it uses an interdisciplinary approach to uncover and examine the historical, political and cultural experiences of peoples of Africa and of African descent in the American Southwest, and across the globe...In May 1974, she received a Juris Doctorate from UNM’s School of Law, becoming the first black female to graduate from the law school. She was also the first black female to become a member of the New Mexico State Bar — an experience she documents in The UNM Black Alumni Chapter Oral History Project. In law school, Brown Simmons served as the Black American Law Student Association regional director, responsible for recruiting Black law students to UNM. After law school, she was a co-founder of the UNM Alumni Association Black Alumni Chapter." Learn more
Dr. Tryphenia Peele Eady is the UNM College of Education Associate Dean for Equity, Inclusion, and Faculty, an Associate Professor in Educational Thought and Sociocultural Studies, and holds a secondary faculty appointment in the UNM Department of Anthropology. She received her PhD from Claremont Graduate University in Anthropology and Linguistics, and conducts qualitative and ethnographic research focused on the education of African American children in school and non-school community settings as well as teaching and learning practices in the African American community. Read more
"Sonia Gipson Rankin teaches [at the UNM School of Law] in the fields of Torts, Family Law, Technology and the Law, Assisted Reproductive Technologies & the Law, CyberTorts, and Race and Law. Professor Gipson Rankin’s work combines her computer science background with her passion for legal justice. Her work focuses on all things innovation, particularly related to technology, the family, and legal education. Her 2021 article, “Technological Tethereds: Potential Impact of Untrustworthy Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Justice Risk Assessment Instruments,” was published in the Washington and Lee Law Review and explored the impact of cyberattacks and the unintended consequences of unmonitored AI on criminal justice risk assessment instruments. Her 2023 article, “The MiDAS Touch: Atuahene’s “Stategraft” and the Implications of Unregulated Artificial Intelligence,” was published in the New York Law Review Online and discussed a faulty algorithm in Michigan that illegally garnished money from citizens. Additionally, Professor Gipson Rankin has written about legal pedagogy focusing on race and family law issues and this work appears in the Connecticut Law Review and Family Law Quarterly." Learn more
Dr. J.E. Jamal Martín joined the UNM Faculty [in the Department of Africana Studies] in 2010. He is the Director of the Peace and Global Justice Studies Program and affiliated faculty with the UNM Sustainabilities Program. "His readings in the ‘black experience’ started in 1968 at the Schomburg Collection in Harlem, NYC and more extensively with postdoctoral area studies in the Africa and Middle East Reading Rooms at the U.S. Library of Congress. Alongside his complex problem solving (interdisciplinary) research and teaching interests lies African-Iberian historiography, the Moors, the ancient manuscripts of fabled Timbuktu, the study of Islam in Africa and the Americas, and Africa in antiquity. ...In short, the globalization of western educational ideologies and school organizations has racially colonized, oppressed, and exploited continental and diasporan Africans. Notably an agenda for research, policy, and practice for people of African descent means resisting ‘epistemic apartheid.’ In reality, ‘decolonization and revolutionary re-Africanization’ ought to promote the right to learn transformative knowledge and knowledge transfer for the construction of ‘shared human products’ (culture and civilization)." Read more about Dr. Martin's work
"Professor [Tiffany] Florvil is a historian of the modern and late modern period in Europe, especially social movements, gender and sexuality, emotions, and the African diaspora. Her manuscript, Both Black and German: Women and the Making of a Movement, is a cultural history of the interplay of emotions, social activism, transnational feminism, and the African/Black diaspora in Germany, in which she explores the emergence of the Black German movement of the 1980s and 1990s and traces the evolution of a Black German intellectual and activist tradition inspired by Caribbean-American feminist poet Audre Lorde. She has written several articles that revolve around the Black German movement and its transnational connections as well as gendered aspects of Black German activism. Together with Vanessa Plumly, Florvil has co-edited a volume, Rethinking Black German Studies: Approaches, Interventions and Histories with Peter Lang Press (2018)." She published Mobilizing Black Germany: Afro-German Women and the Making of a Transnational Movement in 2020. In 2022, she was a recipient of the Berlin Prize ...from the American Academy in Berlin, Germany. Learn more
Dr. Cortez Williams (1937-2008) Professor Emeritus of African American studies at UNM, was curator for a special exhibit in the Center for Southwest Research in Zimmerman Library. The exhibit, “Blacks in the Southwest” provided stories [and original artwork] about Blacks who played instrumental roles from the time of the early explorers to contemporary society. From Sebastian Rodriguez, drummer for De Vargas, to Stagecoach Mary, the woman with the strongest right arm in the west, the exhibit provides interesting tales of adventure [and history.] Dr. Williams was vice-president of Historical Research Patrons, Inc., a New Mexico non-profit foundation that researches and promotes the history of African Americans in the western territories.” In 2019 the UNM Africana Studies program established the Cortez Williams Lecture Series in his honor.
Dr. "Belinda Deneen Wallace is [Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at UNM and] an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico in the Department of English Language and Literature, where she teaches courses in Afrofuturism, Contemporary Caribbean Literature and Culture, Afro-Diaspora and Afro-Latinx Studies, Postcolonial Literature(s), and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research is rooted in intersectionality and critical race theory and her writings have appeared in Cultural Dynamics; Journal of Canadian Studies; Women, Gender and Families of Color; and ProudFlesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics, and Consciousness. Dr. Wallace is presently completing her first manuscript, which queers literary reimaginings of Caribbean slave rebellions, political revolutions, and socio-cultural resistance movements through an examination of historiographic metafiction." Learn more
Dr. Richard White (aka R.A.W. Tuba) is Professor in the UNM Music Department, the Principal Tubist of the New Mexico Philharmonic, and Associate Director of the UNM Marching Band. "With over two decades of performing on the world’s classical music stages, tubist Richard White has matured into a musician known for his clear sound and stylistic flexibility. He began his tuba studies with Ed Goldstein at age twelve at The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts, where he graduated with honors. He then went to the Peabody Conservatory of Music to study with David Fedderly (Principal Tubist, Baltimore Symphony) where he received his Bachelor’s degree. On the advice of Mr. Fedderly, Richard traveled to Indiana University to study with the legendary Professor Daniel Perantoni. He continued his studies there receiving both his Master’s and Doctoral degrees." Visit his website to read more and learn about his award winning documentary R.A.W. Tuba
Dr. White was awarded a UNM Research and Creative Works Leadership Award in January, 2022
"Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (1924-2005) was the first African American woman in Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972). Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbought and Unbossed—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives." Read more at the National Women's History Museum
"George McJunkin was a former slave from Texas who became a bronco busting cowboy, as well as a bi-lingual ranch foreman...His intellect and drive to learn led him to make an incredible discovery that changed the world of North American archeology forever." Read more on the Archaeology Southwest website
About Black History Month
“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”
― Carter G. Woodson
"As a Harvard-trained historian, Carter G. Woodson, like W. E. B. Du Bois before him, believed that truth could not be denied and that reason would prevail over prejudice. His hopes to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization was realized when he and the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The response was overwhelming: Black history clubs sprang up; teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils; and progressive whites, not simply white scholars and philanthropists, stepped forward to endorse the effort." Click here to read more about Black History Month, see online panels and discussions, exhibits, events and more
"Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history." Read more about the origins of Black History Month on the History website
(Pictured: Rosa Parks (1913-2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States and later became one of its primary organizers when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery , Alabama bus in 1955.)
Smithsonian Institute
Celebrate Black History Month with Smithsonian events, resources, exhibitions, and podcasts. The 2025 theme is "African Americans and Labor" with a focus on the various and profound ways that work of all kinds intersects with the collective experiences of Black people.
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
"Black History Month is a time to celebrate the fullness of African American history and culture, but that cannot be contained in one month alone. Join us, the world's largest African American museum, to humanize history and objects through the lives, tragedies and triumphs of everyday people—while paying tribute to Black pioneers' trailblazing contributions....
Is Black History Month still relevant today?
Despite the profound change in race relations that has occurred in our lives, Carter G. Woodson’s vision for black history as a means of transformation and change is still quite relevant and quite useful. One thing has not changed. That is the need to draw inspiration and guidance from the past. And through that inspiration, people will find tools and paths that will help them live their lives." Learn more
African American History National Archives
"The National Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the African American experience and highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media. Explore our records documenting African American History through the African American Research page and within the National Archives Catalog."
Association for the Study of African American Life and History Black History Month
"The 2025 Black History Month theme, African Americans and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture. Be it the traditional agricultural labor of enslaved Africans that fed Low Country colonies, debates among Black educators on the importance of vocational training, self-help strategies and entrepreneurship in Black communities, or organized labor’s role in fighting both economic and social injustice, Black people’s work has been transformational throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. The 2025 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of this work." Learn more
National Parks Service
When Dr. Carter G. Woodson created what is now Black History Month, he hoped it would encourage the learning and sharing of Black history throughout the year. Find resources to learn, teach, experience, and reflect on Black history and heritage beyond February.
BlackPast.org Offers a Variety of African American History Resources Year Round
"Every month is “Black History Month” here at BlackPast.org. Nonetheless we recognize that hundreds of thousands of our visitors specifically seek out the website for information on African American history during the month of February. We have gathered much of that data that may be helpful for teachers, students, and the general public who want to participate in the various celebrations or commemorations or who simply want to use that time to reflect on the history of black people."
PBS Showcases Rich Collection of Stories to Celebrate Black History Month
"Celebrate Black History Month this year with a closer look at the lives of various Black Americans who have made indelible marks on history with their artistry, professional achievements, and community activism. We've compiled a list of films premiering this month, as well as programs available to stream in February....PBS is celebrating Black History Month by throwing a Block Party! Throughout the month of February, stream new and beloved programs celebrating Black excellence. Whether it’s history, music, documentaries, science or genealogy, PBS is your destination." Learn more
Research
UNM Black Alumni Oral History Project, Center for Southwest Research
Read about the American Anthropological Association's Understanding Race Project
New Mexico State Library Blackdom, NM: General Resources
Transforming Anthropology, the flagship journal for the Association of Black Anthropologists
NAACP Civil Rights Leaders
Race: The Power of an Illusion
Read about The Double V Campaign (1942-1945)
The Harlem Renaissance
Tuskegee Airmen United States Military Unit
Grant Chapel AME Church is the oldest Black church in New Mexico
Innovative Lives: Lewis Latimer (1848-1928): Renaissance Man
Hidden Figures: The Story of NASA's Black Women Mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden
These 19 Black Women Fought for Voting Rights
Black History: The Civil Rights Movement
Timeline: African American Civil Rights Movement
30 Civil Rights Leaders of the Past and Present
NAACP: Civil Rights Leaders
15 Black Women Civil Rights Leaders You May Not Have Heard Of
Women in the Civil Rights Movement Historic Context Statement and AACRN Listing Guidance (African American Civil Rights Network)
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Black History Timeline: 1700 - 1799
Black History Timeline: 1970–1979
Black History Timeline: 1980–1989
16 Queer Black Trailblazers Who Made History
Notable African Americans Who Helped Change the World
5 Black Canadian Leaders Who Inspired a Generation
African Archaeological Review, Springer Science
The International African American Museum Center for Family History Digital Archives
City of Albuquerque Population Demographics: About the Black Community
Seeing Africa in Afro Futurism: Hippolyta and Lovecraft Country
UNM Digital Archives: Black History at UNM
Celebrating African American Women in the Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections
Jane Norling and Lenora (Nori) Davis Poster Collection
Meaning Behind the Movement: Black Lives Matter
Black Student Excellence Springs from Historic Inequalities: UNM offers resources to help students succeed
University Libraries Africana Studies Video Resources
Conversation with the Becknells: careers, racism and Black Lives Matter
Inside & Out: More Treasures from UNM Library
Addressing New Forms of Racism Part II: Preventing Microaggressions
Transformative Education as the Key to Dismantling Racism: How colleges and universities are the path to an equitable future
Racism in Healthcare
Identifying, Understanding and Combating Complex Inequality: The fight to make the invisible, visible
University of New Mexico Anti-Racism Action Plan 2021
Recognizing Anti-blackness in Media and Other Institutions
Unbought and Unbossed: Janelle Monae’s Productive Performances at the Intersections of Black Political Consciousness, Black Materiality, and Afro-Futurism
AfroFronterism: Blackdom New Mexico (1900-1930)
News
Student Activism, the NAACP, and the Albuquerque City Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, 1947-1952
"On 12 September 1947, George Long, an African American student at the University of New Mexico, was refused service at Oklahoma Joe’s café in Albuquerque and sparked a boycott of local businesses that did not serve racial minorities. The boycott began a five-year campaign that resulted in 1952 in the passage of the Albuquerque City Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, which outlawed racial discrimination in the city. The victory was secured through a combination of student activism, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch involvement, and broad community participation, including the cooperation of white civic leaders and Hispanics....The New Mexico state legislature, with a realistic and practical template to follow, passed an antidiscrimination law similar to the Albuquerque ordinance in 1955 to cover the entire state." Read more about this historic achievement
