Black History Month is celebrated annually in the United States in the month of February. Black History Month originated as "Negro History Week", the second week in February. This celebration of black history in America was started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who wanted to bring national attention to the large contribution of African-Americans to the history of their country, in 1926. Woodson chose February as black history month because it was the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Langston Hughes. History books had barely started covering black history when the tradition of Black History Month was started. At that point, most representation of blacks in history books was only in reference to the low social position they held. Many black radical/nationalist groups, e.g the Nation of Islam, have criticized Black History Month.

In the United Kingdom, Black History Month is celebrated in the month of October.[1]