100th Anniversary of Black History Month - Poster of the Week
- politicalgraphics
- Feb 6
- 2 min read
A Century of Black History Commemorations is the 2026 theme for Black History Month.
In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an historian, educator, and son of formerly enslaved parents, launched the first Negro History Week (NHW) to align with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Dr. Woodson’s goal was to integrate Black history into schools, libraries, churches, and communities across the U.S.
Woodson warned: “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition... it stands in danger of being exterminated.”
In 1976, during the U.S. Bicentennial, President Gerald Ford expanded the week into Black History Month, and in 1986, Congress passed a law officially designating February as Black History Month.
At a time when the painful parts of our past and present are being denied and policies promoting equity have been made illegal, it is more important than ever to reflect on and preserve the histories being erased.
CSPG would like to share a selection of posters that chronicle both the painful and the inspiring individuals and movements in Black history. To learn more about the history in each poster, click the posters’ title. We cannot understand U.S. history or world history without Black history.
Keep learning
Keep preserving
Keep fighting for Black lives and Black history!
Left: Too Soon for Sorry, David Thorne; Resistant Strains, Offset, 1998, Vermont, US, 10605
Right: Harriet Tubman, Dana Bass, Silkscreen, 1976, USA, 19553
Left: Keep Us Flying!, Betsy Graves Reyneau; United States Government Publishing Office, Offset, 1943, USA, 87866
Right: Demand Federal Action To Stop Lynching, Marv Grayson, Offset, 1955, Los Angeles, CA, 19784
Left: Now, Danny Lyon; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Lincoln Lithograph Company, Offset, 1963, New York, NY, 2622
Right: Move on Over or We'll Move on Over You, Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO), Offset, 1965-1966, Alabama, USA, 3157
Left: No Pride for Some of Us without Liberation for All of Us [Marsha P. Johnson], Micah Bazant, Digital Print, 2013, USA, 56744
Right: Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed, Wendell Collins, Silkscreen, Circa 1972, Los Angeles, CA, 16756
Left: I Am Trayvon Martin, Dignidad Rebelde; Santiago Armengod (Mazatl), Silkscreen, 2013, Oakland, CA, 42693
Right: Black Power Matters, Eastside Arts Alliance, Offset, 2014, Oakland, CA, 69360
Upcoming Celebrations:
References:
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