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February
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
Black History Month began as “Negro History Week,” which was created in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African American historian, scholar, educator, and publisher, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs, and host performances and lectures.
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.
In our own Foothills Presbytery, we have seven churches that carry a legacy of serving the African American community: Bethesda (Gaffney); Westminster Saxon (Spartanburg); Nicholtown (Greenville); Mattoon (Greenville); Salem (Anderson); Rock Hill (Norris); and Walkers Chapel (Reidville). These churches form the Racial-Ethnic Cabinet, which meets as a group every other month and shares what is happening at their churches. They are a close-knit group and come together at each other’s churches for celebrations.
Foothills Presbytery has an Antiracism Ministry Team (AMT) that meets monthly. In 2024, AMT created an Antiracism Policy that will be added to the Foothills Presbytery Manual of Operations after the second reading at the February 2025 Presbytery meeting. Currently, the team is engaging in Courageous Conversations asking questions such as “how are we listening and learning from our past to inform our future?” These conversations include seven interviews from members of the seven historically black congregations listed above. Throughout the month of February, AMT plans to feature resources on the Foothills Presbytery social media accounts.
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