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Black History Month was borne out of “Negro History Week,” created by the African-American historian, author, journalist, and teacher Carter Godwin Woodson in 1926. Initially, it was the second week in February. During the 1960s, it was renamed and extended to encompass the entire month of February.

Woodson, who earned a PhD in History at Harvard in 1913, saw that African-American contributions had been “overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them” and he aimed to raise awareness of and understanding about experiences of African-Americans throughout school curriculum.

Canadian Context

A number of groups in Canada have been celebrating Black History Month since the 1950s and in 1979 the City of Toronto collaborated with the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS), which had been founded the prior year, to proclaim February as the official time period for this celebration. In 1995, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed a motion put forward by MP Jean Augustine declaring the national recognition of Black History Month.

Although Black History Month in Canada has been an opportunity to recognize past and present contributions that Black, African, and Caribbean individuals have made in areas such as education, medicine, art, culture, public service, economic development, politics, and human rights, the voices of Black, African, and Caribbean lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) people have predominantly been ignored.

The Queering Black History Campaign

Because Canada has a long history of LGBT activism within its Black, African, and Caribbean communities, Egale Canada began the Queering Black History Campaign in 2009 with an annual postcard dedicated to honouring the achievements of Black, African, and Caribbean LGBT people in Canada. The postcard is meant to attend to glaring omissions in our history books and increase the scope of inclusive education and, in turn, help foster safer and more welcoming school environments in Canada.

Each year, the Queering Black History Campaign reaches over 5,000 youth throughout Canada as well as national media, civil society organizations, universities, and every federally-elected Member of Parliament. The campaign provides a unique opportunity for Canadian society at large to learn about the history, participation, and accomplishments of Black, African, and Caribbean LGBT people in Canadian society.

Take Action

For more information or to order postcards, contact:

Egale Canada

and check out www.egale.ca