NAACP Highlights Historical Moments for Black History Month

A Reintroduction to the groundbreaking work of the NAACP

Black History Month acknowledges the rich contributions that African Americans have made to our country’s history. This year, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has produced an online program as a reintroduction of the NAACP that highlights important moments in its 106-year history that helped shaped our modern world.

Each week, a new historical topic will be addressed. Such topics covered will include the NAACP’s Image Awards, lynching, voter empowerment, criminal justice and health.

In 1915, Birth of a Nation, probably the most controversial and racially biased film in the history of the motion picture industry, was released. Although Birth of a Nation is still regarded as a milestone in Hollywood filmmaking, the efforts of the NAACP aided in earning the film the reputation it rightly deserved, making the film’s modern presentation that of a historical snapshot of racism, rather than historical fact. With the upcoming 47th NAACP Image Awards program airing  live on TVOne on Friday, February 5 at 8PM ET, the week of February 1 – 7, visitors to the site, naacp.org, will learn of the NAACP Image Award’s work to combat racial stereotypes and ensure the inclusion, positive representation and recognition of African Americans in the entertainment industry.  This year, with controversy surrounding the lack of diversity in recognizing the contributions of African American artists, actors, musicians and writers throughout the media, this particular topic is even more current and potent.

Anyone looking to learn more about NAACP history, especially teachers, parents and students, should take a moment each week in February and visit the NAACP’s website for highlights on how African Americans not only shaped today’s modern culture, but aided in defining what it truly means to be an American.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. The NAACP’s 250,000 adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors. In the fall of 2011, the NAACP launched a process to develop its strategic direction and plan, creating a powerful vision for the future, and setting organizational goals that would focus its work for the 21st Century. The six NAACP Game Changers (Economic Sustainability, Education, Health, Public Safety and Criminal Justice, Voting Rights and Political Representation, and expanding Youth Engagement) are the major areas of inequality facing African-Americans that are the focus of the NAACP’s work.