This broadcast of CoastLine originally aired on February 18, 2015.
It’s February. And that means that it’s Black History Month.
On this edition of CoastLine, we examine how we're handling this month in 21st century North Carolina and why the discussion of African history is inextricably intertwined with the contemporary issues of race with which we grapple today.
It was 1926 – 89 years ago -- when Dr. Carter G. Woodson pioneered National Negro History Week. Back then, it was celebrated the second week of February. Fifty years later, in 1976, National Negro History Week became Black History Month.
Why do we have a separate month for this part of our history?
Are we doing a better job of teaching our kids that there’s more to African American history than slavery and Martin Luther King, Junior?
To help us explore these questions, we have two in-studio guests:
Todd McFadden is the Director of UNCW’s Upperman African American Cultural Center(which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year)
and
Henry Gregory, Senior Pastor of St. Andrew AME Zion Church in Wilmington, Co-founder of Black Males Matter
