How big things start small, or: the story of Black History MonthPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter3 min readJust now-- Welcome backIssue #259: asking yourself why, Brian Enos life advice, and courageBy Harris SockelIn 1926, Carter G. Woodson, one of the first historians to focus specifically on the African diaspora, proposed a celebration of Black Americans contributions to the country (it was first just a week) coinciding with Abraham Lincolns birthday, February 12. In 1970, the holiday became a month-long celebration when college students and professors decided to make it a thing at Kent State University in Ohio. In 1976, it went national becoming the version of Black History Month we know today.I love that this holiday started small and built into something much bigger. A single historian proposed it; then, a group of students who were passionate about deepening their understanding of history turned it into a weeklong celebration. Meanwhile, for decades since the mid-1960s, activists and historians in West Virginia, Chicago, and elsewhere had been celebrating their own, local Black History Months. Eventually, 50 years after Woodson proposed the idea, it became a national institution.With that in mind, I want to spotlight a Medium publication focusing exclusively on perspectives and stories from overlooked (yet highly influential) Black Americans: William Spiveys Black History Month 365. Spiveys been running the publication since 2021, and has used it to feature over 400 landmark speeches, historic moments, and people, from Ella Baker (a civil rights organizer who largely worked behind the scenes) to Frederick Douglass. He also created a quiz, if youre the competitive type.One more story to bookmark: Marlon Weems Remembering the South End, an essay about Weems life in Arkansas during the 60s, when Jim Crow laws made Little Rock into a segregated city. Its a moving, highly specific window into the past Weems takes us to the South End, a neighborhood where Black entrepreneurs opened doctors offices, law firms, restaurants, and barbershops. Little Rock was a city still in the grip of Jim Crow, Weems writes, But as a Black fourth grader, I hardly noticed the system of apartheid that surrounded me. It was all Id ever known. Three great stories in 1 sentence or less.You wont finish that piece of writing until you know why youre writing it. (David B. Clear)The key to a long life, a good figure, a stable temperament, increased intelligence, new friends, super self-confidence, heightened sexual attractiveness and a better sense of humor? Singing (even if youre bad at it). (Brian Eno)Dori Kasa takes on a brief tour of the many flavors of Scotch whisky, from the highlands to the lowlands and beyond and clears up our confusion over how to spell it (whiskey for the American or Irish variants, and whisky for Scottish ones). The top highlight on Medium last weekThe real courage isnt in speaking every truth we hold its in knowing which truths serve a purpose and which ones were better off carrying silently away. Victoria Corindi, The Exit Interview Trap: Why Its Better to Lie