WHEREAS, Black History Month reminds us of our responsibility to honor the contributions and achievements of African Americans and their pivotal role in shaping our state and nation; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, first launched “Negro History Week” in 1926, and is widely regarded as the father of Black History; and
WHEREAS, African American activists, academics, military and political leaders, artists, and innovators have helped develop and shape North Carolina’s heritage and cultural landscape; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina is home to the largest number of four-year, degree-granting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the nation; our ten HBCUs have a rich heritage steeped in tradition, activism, and service dating back to the foundation of Shaw University in 1865; and
WHEREAS, African American activists in North Carolina launched the nation’s Sit-In Movement in Greensboro and assembled the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh; in our rural Eastern and Western regions, activists led the Edenton Movement demonstrations and organized the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality; and
WHEREAS, African Americans in North Carolina have long played a vital role in serving our state and nation during times of need, including through military service and through the practice of medicine; and
WHEREAS, African Americans in North Carolina entered formal medical practice after the Civil War; in 1866, M.T. Pope, L.A. Scruggs, and John T. Williams were the first African Americans in North Carolina to graduate from medical school at Shaw University in Raleigh; in 1896 St. Agnes Hospital was established at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, where heroic nurses saved lives during the 1918 influenza pandemic; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, Swannanoa native Ernest Grant, Ph.D. became the first Black male president of the American Nurses Association, and has served as a steadfast resource and advocate for nurses treating COVID 19; Hillsborough native Kizzemekia Corbett, Ph.D. led a team of investigators with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to research and find a vaccine for COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the events of the past year have made it clear that there is an ongoing need to address racial inequality across our institutions of medicine, law enforcement, government, education, technology, and more; and
WHEREAS, this year’s theme, Health and Healing, aims to address the history of health disparity and promote steps that Black North Carolinians can take to preserve their health; the State of North Carolina is proud to recognize the achievements, sacrifices, and progress of our African American community, but also acknowledges the important work that remains in service of achieving true equity in our system;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim February, 2021, as “BLACK HISTORY MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.