Black History Month, or National African American History Month, is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. 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.

Origins of 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. That September, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting…

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Reviews of  books “Into My Mortal”

and “The River Is Blind”

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“Her (Allison Grayhurst’s) poetry appears visceral,

not for the faint of heart, and moves forward

with a dynamism, with a frenetic pulse. If you

seek the truth, the physical blood and bones, then,

by all means, open the world into which we were all born,”

Anne Burke, poet,  regional representative for Alberta

on the League of Canadian Poets’ Council, and

chair of the Feminist Caucus, 2014.

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“News from the Feminist Caucus, by Anne Burke

“This month, the case of York University and its handling of a male student’s

request to be excused from attending a study group with female students on

religious grounds. With reviews of Allison Grayhurst’s Into My Mortal

and The River is Blind.

Allison Grayhurst is a full member of the League of Canadian Poets. She

has more than 

as cherry trees
sway in southerly breeze –
depressions leave


Linked to Carpe Diem
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February 5. 2014