Black History Is American History

Black History Month begins with old and new trailblazers getting highlighted 

by Josh Nava | February 6, 2025  

CHICAGO- Black Americans have made innumerable contributions to the United States but have been often overlooked. Black History Month seeks to correct Black peoples’ omission from history. However, when did Black History Month start, and who are some of the Black trailblazers left out of history? 

Black History Month has its roots in the mind of Carter G. Woodson. Woodson was a Black historian and the second Black American to graduate with a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Woodson was a member of the American Historical Association but became unsatisfied with the group’s lack of interest in Black history and was later barred from their conferences. 

Woodson continued to find little representation of Black history within textbooks and from teachers. This led to the creation of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in 1915. The following year, Woodson created The Journal of Negro History, to document Black achievements and history. It is still published to this day as The Journal of African American History. 

Woodson kept pushing and wanted the achievements of Black people to be promoted. He hit a breakthrough when he decided to create Negro History Week in February 1926. February was chosen because of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass’s birthdays occurring in that month. The rest as they say is history as Woodson’s Negro History Week would be expanded into a month-long celebration in later decades and renamed Black History Month.  

Now with the background of Black History Month established, who were some Black pioneers? 

Born on January 2nd, 1884, in Metropolis, Illinois, Oscar Micheaux was one of the first Black independent directors in the United States. Micheaux directed, produced, and distributed over forty-five films from 1919 to 1948. 

Micheaux entered the film industry after his novel, “The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer” published in 1913 was set to be adapted. Negotiations fell through for the adaptation after Micheaux expressed the desire to be hands-on with the production. Micheaux decided to adapt his novel himself and released it in 1919 as “The Homesteader” 

Micheaux’s sophomore effort was released in 1920 and titled “Within Our Gates”. It was made as a response to D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” which featured caricatures and stereotypes of Black people. “Within Our Gates” was a success and is Micheaux’s most widely remembered film. His work was wildly popular among Black audiences for its portrayal of Black life in the U.S. and for having Black casts. Micheaux died in 1951 at the age of sixty-seven. 

Micheaux like another Black trailblazer showed another way was possible and it can be made on a person’s terms.  

Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19th, 1925, as Malcolm Little. Malcolm X had a life full of constant change. Malcolm X lost his father under mysterious circumstances, his mother was institutionalized, and he was fostered along with his siblings. He dropped out of the eighth grade and left for Boston to live with his half-sister where he began a life of crime that continued in Harlem. During his stint in Harlem, Malcolm X became a drug addict and dealer, pimp, burglar, and eventually a convict.  

While incarcerated, Malcolm X converted to the Nation of Islam (NOI) because of his siblings and Elijah Muhammad. He also discovered the power of reading and became autodidactic. This is where his story begins as he changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. Malcolm X in 1952 became a minister of the NOI and turned into one of the most famous Black nationalist leaders who preached self-defense, Black empowerment, racial separation, and the failure of peaceful civil rights leaders. 

However, the NOI was not Malcolm X’s place as he left the organization in 1964 after being dissatisfied with the NOI’s lack of participation in the civil rights movement and controversies surrounding Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X experienced more change as he took the holy pilgrimage to Mecca, converted to orthodox Sunni Islam, and became el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. He continued to change as he toured Africa and rethought his ideas on racial separation. On his return to the States, Malcolm X started the Organization of Afro-American Unity but was unable to expand on his new thoughts on Black liberation and racial integration as he was assassinated on February 21st, 1965. 

Malcolm’s legacy lives on through his highly lauded autobiography he wrote with Alex Haley. His autobiography is cited by the Library of Congress as one of the books that helped shape America. His beliefs in Black empowerment, self-defense, and Black enlightenment continue to reverberate throughout history. 

Naturally, Malcolm X was not the only civil rights leader to fight for Black liberation but there was another who butted heads with him and believed in nonviolence. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His Baptist upbringing helped inform his nonviolent approach and visits to the North showed him integration between Black and White people was possible. King entered Morehouse College at fifteen and was spurred by his father in his senior year to become a minister. King graduated in 1948 and attended the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he learned about Mahatma Gandhi, who became one of his biggest influences. He went to Boston and met his future wife Coretta Scott while he attended Boston University.  

Things ramped up for King as he married Coretta Scott and in 1955 after Rosa Parks’ bus protest, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed with King as their leader. He led boycotts against segregation in the transit system with the MIA. King blossomed as a leader and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). 

In 1963, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and participated in the March on Washington where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize and continued organizing nonviolent protests. King organized the protests in Selma in 1965 and continued to fight for Black liberation but faced criticism from figures like Malcolm X and young demonstrators for being too non-confrontational.  

King continued his peace rallies, now helping protest the Vietnam War but it all came to a tragic end. In late March 1968, King went to support a worker’s strike in Memphis, Tennessee but was assassinated soon after on April 3rd, 1968. King’s message of peace and nonviolence continues to inspire many. He is remembered as one of the most important Black leaders in the U.S. Following his death, Coretta Scott King founded The King Center to honor King’s teachings on nonviolence and peace. 

While Martin Luther King and Malcolm X fought for Black liberation there was another who came after them who led the fight for Black queer people. 

Marsha P. Johnson was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on August 24th, 1945. She was assigned male at birth but broke from gender norms and dressed as a girl in her childhood. She stopped after experiencing bullying and being sexually assaulted by an older boy. Johnson left New Jersey after graduating high school and went to New York at seventeen where she adopted the name of Marsha P. Johnson. The “P” stood for “Pay It No Mind” and was Johnson’s response to questions about her gender. Johnson used the parlance of the time and called herself a transvestite along with a drag queen and gay. 

In New York, she still experienced discrimination for being queer and worked as a sex worker where she faced abuse by clients and the police. She couch-surfed at friend’s houses and lived in hotels, restaurants, and movie theaters. Later, Johnson became acquainted with Sylvia Rivera, who was at the time an eleven-year-old transgender youth who had been living on the streets. Johnson acted as a mother to the youth, and they stayed together. In 1969, the pair participated in the historic Stonewall Riots which led to Johnson and Rivera becoming active in the fight for queer rights and other groups popping up after the riots.  

In 1970, Johnson joined the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activist Alliance but was disappointed by the exclusion of transgender individuals and queer people of color. Johnson and Rivera founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to help trans people who were kicked out of their homes and provided a sanctuary for them at the STAR House, a shelter for trans people. Johnson continued to gain prominence within the gay rights community as she performed with a drag group and rubbed shoulders with Andy Warhol.  

As she continued her fight for queer rights, Johnson experienced mental health crises, continued to be a sex worker, and in 1990 she was diagnosed with HIV. In 1992, Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River, the police ruled her death as a suicide and declined to investigate further despite pressure from LGBT organizations to do so. The police changed her death to drowning from an undetermined cause and her death remains a mystery. Johnson continues to be revered for her tenacity in the fight for queer rights and was honored alongside Rivera with a monument where the Stonewall Riots occurred.  

Johnson was not the only queer person to fight for the rights of queer people of color as another came forth to pick up the torch.  

Marlon Riggs was born on February 3rd, 1957, in Fort Worth, Texas. Riggs did not realize until he was attending Harvard University that he was a gay man but had already felt different and ostracized from White and Black people during his childhood. Riggs conducted an independent study on male homosexuality in American fiction and poetry before he graduated from Harvard in 1978. Riggs continued his education at the University of California, Berkeley receiving a master's degree in journalism and a specialization in documentary filmmaking in 1981. 

In 1987, Riggs released “Ethic Notions” his first documentary that examined Black stereotypes and how they persisted in the United States. His film “Tongues Untied” in 1989, became one of his monumental works as it depicted Black gay men and the adversity they face from White and Black people but also White gay people. The film’s depiction of Black queerness and its analysis of Black male sexuality proved to be controversial. It aired on PBS and was ripped to shreds by conservative U.S. senators who called the film pornographic. Furthermore, the film saw Riggs coming out as a gay man and announcing his HIV-positive status. 

Riggs continued making filmmaking with his short film “Affirmations” released in 1990 and it dealt with Black male sexuality and its interaction with the Black community. He released another short film in 1991, “Anthem” that continued to explore Black male sexuality. A feature-length documentary “Color Adjustment” was released in 1992 and was about the representation of Black people on TV. Riggs's final film “Black Is… Black Ain’t” was released posthumously in 1995 as Riggs succumbed to AIDS before he could finish the film. The film dives into the Black identity, its meaning, and, how it manifests. Riggs uses the film to criticize homophobia within the Black community and the lack of acceptance some Black people feel from being told they are not Black enough.

More Black queer figures have steadily emerged since Riggs’ premature death and increased the representation of Black queerness on the silver and small screen. 

Laverne Cox was born on May 29th, 1972, in Mobile, Alabama. Cox was assigned male at birth and raised by her single mother along with her twin brother. Cox had dreams of a stage career and took dance lessons. She attended recitals and talent shows at an early age. Cox’s mother encouraged her to take tap and jazz classes but did not allow her to be admitted to ballet classes as those seemed too feminine.  

Not being allowed to take ballet lessons along with bullying by other kids, and religious teachings caused Cox to feel shame about her latent femininity. These feelings hit a breaking point when Cox attempted suicide at eleven years old. However, things changed for Cox when she was accepted into the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham for high school. Cox changed her mind about gender conformity and became androgynous while attending.  

Cox earned a dance scholarship from Indiana University and attended for two years while she continued to embrace androgyny. She transferred to Marymount Manhattan College in New York and acted in student productions. Cox earned her bachelor's in fine arts in Dance and became more feminine presenting because of other New York trans women. Later, Cox transitioned and began to live as a woman.  

After graduation in 2007, Cox acted in local theater shows and independent and student productions with her passion for acting still budding. Cox’s career slowly built momentum with small roles in a pilot for HBO, two appearances on “Law & Order,” and the VH1 reality show “TRANSform Me.” Her career hit its pinnacle in 2012 when she appeared in “Orange Is the New Black.” In 2014, Cox became the first trans person to appear on a TIME cover and to be nominated for an Emmy Award. Since then, Cox’s career has broken barriers for trans people as she gained more success. 

The Black figures who have changed history and shaped the world come differently, some are men, women, straight, or queer but they all left an impact. Their contributions have not been forgotten because of Black History Month and will continue to be remembered. For more resources, information, and biographies about Black figures and history check out the NAACP website, the U.S. government’s Black History Month website, and the National Endowment for the Humanities website.