KJazz Celebrates Black History Month
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Black History Month Facts:
February is Black History Month, a time to honor the many contributions to our nation’s history made by people of African descent. Started as a special week in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson, the observance is now a full month of activities across the country.
African-Americans, in counting single race or in combination with others, number over 48 million in America. By 2060, this figure is projected to reach 74.5 million.
Source: United States Census Bureau
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Black History Month 2021 Online Digital Events:
- City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs
- Celebrate African American History Month with the L.A. Public Library
- Orange County Library System Black History Month Resource Guide
- National Museum of African American History & Culture
- Smithsonian Institute
- PBS SoCal & KCET Special Programming
- CSULB Black History Month Resource Guide
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Black History in America and Jazz Music:
Did you know that jazz was born in the United States? Did you know that the drum set was invented by jazz musicians? Did you know that the word "cool" and "hip" were originally jazz terms?
Learn more about the history of jazz from its birth in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the music we hear on the radio today when you click here.
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The Continuing Importance of Black History Month:
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Notable Blacks in Law:
Black History Month stories often celebrate Thurgood Marshall, the first black appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. The trail to that tribunal was broken over a century earlier.
This month in 1865 African-American attorney John Rock was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court. Rock was an MD who practiced medicine and dentistry, as well as law. He died at the age of 41, just a year after being admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court.
And the first black justice of a state supreme court, Jonathon J. Wright of South Carolina, was seated in 1870, and served until the end of Reconstruction.
Today, out of nearly million full time state and local government workers, judicial and legal functions occupy 400,000 people.
Source: United States Census Bureau
