Black History Month 2026 offers a chance to look at the impact Black Americans have made on our lives, and a special chance to reflect on an event that has been a part of the nation’s calendar for 100 years.

“A Century of Black History Commemoration” is the theme that has been selected this year by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the founders of Black History Month. It’s a wide-ranging topic, and one that puts the focus on how the commemoration of Black history has evolved during the past 100 years, and the impact it has had on the status of Black people in the modern world.

Black History Month was established by Carter G. Woodson. Woodson, born in 1875 and the son of former slaves, himself a former coal miner and educator, understood a proper education was important in seeking to make the most out of one’s freedom. He earned his high school diploma in an all-Black high school in Huntington, W.Va., and advanced degrees at the University of Chicago.

Woodson was the second African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard, before he established the association in 1915 and began “Negro History Week” in 1926 after recognizing a lack of information on the accomplishments of Blacks in American history. February was chosen because of the correlation with the birthdays of abolitionist author Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln.

Taught the theories of “Black inferiority” the same as white students when he earned his degrees, Woodson knew better, and knew his mission was to teach truth.

That work is especially critical this year, according to the association, as the country commemorates its 250th anniversary of independence. It is important to tell not only an inclusive history, but an accurate one, the association added.

It’s knowledge that is available to all during Black History Month, and it presents an opportunity to ponder contributions made from all walks of life, to be educated, to respect and to appreciate.