In 2026, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the end of the first Reconstruction, the 100th anniversary of the origins of Black History Month, and the 50th anniversary of its official federal recognition.
In February 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) launched the first Black History Week, chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (Feb 12) and Frederick Douglass (Feb 14). This week-long observance was the seed that eventually grew into the full month we celebrate today.
President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. Ford called upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.”
Twenty-five years ago, Eva Paterson, Charles Ogletree, and other great civil rights leaders formed EJS to combat a baseless false equivalency narrative that America is colorblind and post-racial, no longer dependent on equity policies to level the playing field for equality. We countered the false narrative with social science establishing that explicit and implicit bias perpetuated white supremacy and institutional racism in every one of our sociopolitical and economic structures.
President Lincoln, in the throes of the war upon realizing that there could be no end to the conflict without abolition and the restoration of Black people’s inalienable right to liberty and equality, articulated this transitive principle: when two things are equal to one another, and one of those things is equal to a third thing, then all three are equal to each other.
Equality is the cornerstone of democracy and equity is the cornerstone of equality, until the lopsided scales culminating from 400 years of racial oppression are leveled. Accordingly, EQUITY is the cornerstone of democracy.
Today, we labor to level a playing field rutted and distorted by 200 years of genocide, labor, and land extraction, 100 years of Jim Crow segregation and terror, and 50 years of post-civil rights apartheid expressed through the prison industrial complex, the war on drugs, deregulation, and social safety net shrinking.
We advance and protect policies on the harm repair continuum from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to reparations, and center Black women’s health and Black student equity.
EJS is steadfast in this struggle, and though the course is elusive, the goal of equal opportunity is still attainable. All we need to deploy our proactive strategy and positive narrative is you.
Your dollars will help us grow our capacity to sustain the moment of positive, transformative change. In this time when so many things seem out of our hands, you still control your personal philanthropy and EJS would be humbled to be part of your giving this Black History Month. Please give to EJS today. Thank you so much for your support!
Lisa Holder, President
EQUAL JUSTICE SOCIETY