This year, with the election of President Obama, we have even more to celebrate than usual.
The President has just made history again - by winning the Nobel Peace Prize after only 10 months in office!
International Significance
Click here to listen to an interview about the need for us to work together internationally. (It's in the second half of the show, so please be patient!)
A Short Black History Film
London Black Film Festival recently.
Click here to listen to a radio interview with Zhana about the importance of telling our stories.
The History of Black History Month
Our culture was stolen from us. We were told we were no longer Africans, that we had no history or culture.
But we remained Africans and we are rediscovering and reclaiming our culture. We celebrate this in Black History Month/African Heritage Month.
Black History Month began as Negro History Week. Founced by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the son of former enslaved African American people, its aim was to document and celebrate the contributions of African American people.
The identity of a people is dependent upon that people's knowledge of its history. In Africa, the griots were responsible for keeping the stories of the people, spinning them, weaving them into a cloth which preserved the collective memories for future generations. Black History Month can be seen as a continuation of this tradition.
Black History UK
- London Black Film Festival 2009
- Black Filmmaker (bfm) International Film Festival (IFF) is the leading and longest running platform for Black World Cinema in the UK. The short film based on "Harriet: A Choreopoem by Zhana" will be screened.
- Wordpower Literature Festival 2009
- International Black Literature Festival And Book Fair.
Europes largest collection of Black Writers, Poets, Speakers and Seminars - Black History Month 365
- The premier all year round independent comprehensive portal; Celebrating and highlighting Caribbean and African activities, with profiles, articles and news.
- More BHM UK Events
- Black Women in Europe lists some key BHM events including film screenings and Black British Perspectives: Music.
- Queen Charlotte Sophia
- The consort of George III, this German princess had African blood and is an ancestor of Elizabeht II. .
- Black History with Tony Warner
- Blog from last year about Tony Warner of London Black History Walks. Includes link to radio shows.
Great Stuff on Amazon
Race, Law, and American Society: 1607 to Present (Criminology and Justice Studies)
Amazon Price: $33.94 (as of 11/28/2009) 
When We Ruled: The Ancient and Medieval History of Black Civilisations
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 11/28/2009)
Soul Survivors (Black Classics)
A collection of narratives by women in the U.S.A. and the Caribbean about their experiences during slavery. This book spans over 100 years of the history of enslavement in the African Diaspora.
Amazon Price: $11.01 (as of 11/28/2009)
Celebrating the Positive
Positive cultural identity is key to our self-esteem and sense of self-worth. For more on this, see:
The Key to Confidence
Success Strategies for Black People
Learning history can be fun. This was the idea behind the Nubian Jak board game. Its creator, Jak Dodd, is interviewed in the book Black Success Stories. For more on this, see Do You Think Like a Success?
Black History Lenses
Celebrating the achievements and positive contributions of people of African heritage.-
Celebrating the Legend that Is Motown
-
I have created this lens to celebrate the legendary Motown record label.
-
Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom
-
This is the autobiography of the first democratically elected President of South Africa. His vivid, and often moving, descriptions bring to life the influences that shaped one of the great leaders of our time. For loads of books about Black history a...
-
Do You Think Like a Success?
-
This book is a great present for Xmas, Kwanzaa or New Year. For lots more gift ideas, see African American Holiday Shopping. We are highly talented, highly skilled, highly gifted and highly successful. Black people are good at everything. The m...
-
Endgame - The Beginning of the End of Apartheid
-
In 1985, a few very courageous individuals began top secret talks which led to the end of Apartheid in South Africa. This subtle, understated thriller depicts real-life events.
-
Obama's Inauguration Day
-
Barack Obama is the first African American to become President of the United States. His inauguration was watched and celebrated around the world.
Black Heroes and Sheroes Lenses
Lenses that Celebrate the Black heroes, sheroes and freedom fighters who laid the groundwork so we could have better lives.-
Rosa Parks?
-
Sojourner Truth traveled to the South o tthe free slaves. Rosa Parks stayed right where she was, with her bottom firmly on a bus seat until it was forcibly removed, to start the next liberation of blacks, women and ultimately all people. During the...
-
Harriet Tubman
-
When escaping slaves fled extreme cruelty at the hands of their masters, Harriet Tubman could be counted on to help guide them on their perilous journey to freedom. During the mayhem of the Civil War, she helped escaping slaves navigate their path to...
-
Doctor Martin Luther King Jr
Great Stuff on Amazon
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela : With Connections (HRW Library)
Mandela talks of his life and places his commitment to liberate South Africa from apartheid squarely within his family and tribal traditions.
Amazon Price: $14.60 (as of 11/28/2009)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs's narrative of being born into slavery and later escaping her slavemaster by holing up in an attic for seven years.
Amazon Price: $23.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm Little describes his life as he goes from petty criminal to Black Muslim and inspirational African American leader.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography
The autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered refugees during the Rwandan genocide.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/28/2009)
Soul Survivors (Black Classics)
Narratives by women about their experiences during slavery in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Amazon Price: $11.01 (as of 11/28/2009)
Hotel Rwanda
Hotel Rwanda tells the story of one man, Paul Rusesabagina, who stood up and, with extraordinary courage, protected people during the Rwandan genocide.-
Hotel Rwanda
-
Hotel Rwanda tells the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, This film celebrates the courage of one man who stood against the group. A part-Hutu Rwandan, during the time of the 1994 genocide, Rusesabagina sheltered hundreds of mostly Tutsi refugees at th...
Black History Films
During the Second World War, people of African heritage from the United States, the Caribbean and Africa signed up to fight for the Allied powers. After the war, many Black people chose to settle in London and other UK cities, which they considered to be their home. England was seen as the "mother country", but it did not welcome its Caribbean children with open arms. For more information, see Black History Films.
See also: Africa and Africans on Film.
Black Writers and Artists
Celebrating African American literary and artistic traditions.-
Zora Neale Hurston
-
As an African American folklorist and writer, Zora's work was well before it's time. Much of her work was created during the Harlem Renaissance when so many strong black artists were emerging and thriving. She, however, was largely overlooked because...
-
Maya Angelou Quotes and Poems
-
Here is a collection of Maya Angelou quotes on love, success, achievement, courage and life. Get inspired by Maya's beautiful words and wisdom.
-
Toni Morrison
-
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, in 1931 in Lorain (Ohio), the second of four children in a black working-class family. Displayed an early interest in literature. Studied humanities at Howard and Cornell Universities, followed by an academic career at Tex...
-
African Women's Creativity
-
The Images of Black Women Film Festival is an international event which celebrates and promotes women of African descent in cinema, whether on screen or behind the camera. These are just a few of the films shown at the festival in 2009. This lens wi...
Great Stuff on Amazon
Song of Solomon
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 11/28/2009)
Sula
Amazon Price: $9.89 (as of 11/28/2009)
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Hurston's classic of a young woman discovering herself.
Amazon Price: $10.87 (as of 11/28/2009)
I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... And Then Again: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader
Edited by Alice Walker
Amazon Price: $12.98 (as of 11/28/2009)
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose
Alice Walker's collection of essays on rediscovering personal African American history and Black women's creativity.
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 11/28/2009)
Black History Lenses
-
Two Films about Haiti
-
African Remembrance Day celebrates the victory of Toussaint L'Ouverture over Napoleon's forces in Haiti. L'Ouverture mobilised enslaved African people to fight for their freedom. He was never defeated and Napoleon was forced to sign a treaty with him...
-
African Women's Creativity
-
The Images of Black Women Film Festival is an international event which celebrates and promotes women of African descent in cinema, whether on screen or behind the camera. These are just a few of the films shown at the festival in 2009. This lens wi...
-
Hotel Rwanda
-
Hotel Rwanda tells the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, This film celebrates the courage of one man who stood against the group. A part-Hutu Rwandan, during the time of the 1994 genocide, Rusesabagina sheltered hundreds of mostly Tutsi refugees at th...
Recent blog posts about Black History Month
- Black History Month Speaker
- Black History Month Speaker - Invite Speaker, Entertainer and author, Wambui Bahati, To enlighten and enliven your Black History Month event.
- The Black Friday/Black History Month mix up.. : Dog and Pony Show ...
- It's black friday not black history month... we should show respect every day, i say "let's blur the lines, shall we?"
- Association for the Study of African American Life and History
- Black History Association, ... Click here to view. President Barack Obama's proclamation of. February 2009 as. National African American History Month! Click here to post your condolences to. Dr. John Hope Franklin ...
- Presenting: Mr. Black History Month!!! « PostBourgie
- omg its still black history month! had you forgotten yet?? i hadnt, in spite of what my sparse updating may otherwise suggest. i didnt forget; im just exercising my right to be blatantly shiftless without having a white man cracking a ...
Resources
- Black History Arts Project
- Kuumba-Survivors: interviews with artists of African heritage about their responses to the bicentenary of the end of the slave trade
- Hidden Histories: Black People and World War II
- Often, we are not told about aspects of our history. Every time I attend one of Tony Warner's presentations, I learn more valuable information.
- Black History on Amazon
- Books about the achievements of people of African heritage.
- Black History on Amazon UK
- Books about the achievements of people of African heritage.
- Next Black History Events
- Lists future Black History events with Tony Warner.
Reader Feedback
-
Reply
- IcemanBaldy IcemanBaldy Apr 21, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
- Wonderful lens. I've added it to my Black Lensmasters Group.
Best,
Iceman Baldy
-
Reply
- Feb 18, 2009 @ 2:52 pm
- This is a real cool lens. I'm giving it 5 stars and placing it in my favorites. Plus, I am also doing a lensroll for it.
Additionally, I have accepted your lens into the group,
African Americans and Blacks Worldwide
Your visitors will probably be interested in reviewing this lens on
President Barack Obama Collectibles and Memorabilia
-
Reply
- Zhana21 Zhana21 Nov 17, 2009 @ 11:46 am
- Thank you very much for your comments. And keep up the good work!
by Zhana21
For more information about my work, Google Zhana +... (more)
