News & Events
Flint River Technical College Celebrates Black History Month
Contact: Kay Williamson, Office of Public Relations and Information
Phone: 706.646.6131 ∙ Email: kwilliamson@flintrivertech.edu
Pictured above (top photo): Early Childhood Care and Education students present a skit at the 11:00 am program.
(lower photo): Dr. Celeste Matthews, Biology instructor at Flint River Technical College sings her blues inspired songs to the group.
On February 28, 2008, the Student Leadership Council at Flint River Technical College celebrated Black History Month with performances from an array of talented individuals. Faculty, staff, and students highlighted the occasion with songs, skits, poems, speeches, dance and special presentations.
Every February, in the United States, Black History Month is celebrated. This is a month set aside to honor, educate, and remember African American heritage. African American heroes are honored, and students are taught lessons focusing on African American History. The origins of Black History Month began in 1926, when a man by the named of Carter G. Woodson formed Negro History Week. This week was set aside to focus studies on black history, as African American history had not been largely integrated into school lessons and text books. The goal of this annual event was to eventually integrate both white and black history, eliminating the need for the Negro History Week. In 1976, the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History formed Black History Month. The month of February was chosen based on the birthdays of two key figures in black history; Fredrick Douglas, an abolitionist and former slave, and Abraham Lincoln, the president that declared the freedom to all slaves under the Emancipation Proclamation.
