[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4899-4900]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING FEBRUARY AS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2003

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize February as Black 
History Month. As the month draws to a close, I urge my colleagues to 
join me as we commemorate and honor the achievements of African-
Americans throughout our nation's history.
  Black history month, a tradition for seven decades, is celebrated 
each February in cities and towns across the United States. During this 
time, we honor and celebrate the contributions African-Americans have 
made to music, the arts, and academics and we recall the many important 
milestones in black history. In 1915, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson 
recognized the need for our country to gain a more complete and 
informed understanding of African American history. Dr. Woodson chose 
the second week of February because two people he felt had dramatically 
affected the lives of Black Americans were born during that month: 
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In addition, the month of 
February is significant for the birthdays of W.E.B. DuBois, Langston 
Hughes, Eubie Blake and the founding of the NAACP.
  I am pleased to join in this celebration and I hope that every person 
will take a moment

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to reflect on the life and legacies of individuals like Harriet Tubman, 
Rosa Parks and Thurgood Marshall. Their fight, and the work of so many 
others, helped bring social justice to communities throughout the 
country. As we celebrate this year's theme, ``The Souls of Black Folk: 
Centennial Reflections,'' we also honor the achievements and legacy of 
African-Americans and are reminded that we must continue to remember 
the contributions and sacrifices throughout history.
  I encourage all Americans to gain awareness of and appreciation for 
African-American history.

                          ____________________