Since 1926, Americans have annually recognized black history, firstly as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month." Carter G. Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two prolific men who greatly influenced the Black American population, namely Abraham Lincoln born on February 12 and Frederick Douglass born on February 14.

Woodson born in 1875 and obtaining in 1912 his doctorate from Harvard University- making him the second after W.E.B Dubois to achieve such heights at that time, lived as a history preserver and promoter of the endless contributions of Blacks in America. Despite the challenges as an entrepreneur, he published using various platforms and strategically promoted education and preservation of ones heritage and culture, to eventually establish in 1926 the "Negro History Week" and in 1970 celebrated "Black history Month" which was officiated in 1976, also extending the duration from a week to a month.

In 2011 US Census Bureau estimated 43,884,130 African Americans in the United States meaning that 14.1% of the total American population of 311.5 Million is Black. This includes those who identify as ‘Black Only’ and as ‘Black in combination with another race’. The ‘Black Only’ category totaled 40.7 million African Americans or 13.1% of the total U.S population.

Woodson’s efforts therefore remind us that we stand on the shoulders of so many pioneers, inventors, history makers... From Benjamin Banneker, who was a pioneer in Astronomy and who developed an Almanac; George Crum who invented potato chips, which contributes to the US market a total revenue of $9,041.6m in 2013, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3% between 2009 and 2013; George Washington Carver who invented thousands of uses for the peanut which now contributes to the US economy more than $4 billion each year; Madam C.J. Walker who established a Black hair products empire which has established, as per the market research firm Mintel, an estimated size of $684 million in 2012, with a projection of $761 million by 2017; Patricia Bath who created a Laser Surgical device and becoming the first African American female doctor to patent a medical invention; Valerie Thomas who developed a 3-D Optical Illusion device and while she was managing a project for NASA's image processing systems, Thomas's team spearheaded the development of "Landsat," the first satellite to send images from space; and there are many more to whom such accolade should be given every day of the year.

Black Americans have continuously nurtured and built the economic and social relationships with African countries and nations. People like Bob Johnson, BET founder, Author Maya Angelou who lived in Accra shortly after Ghana became an independent country, and along with Martin Luther King celebrated the country’s independence. Another pioneer, W.E.B. Du Bois founder of NAACP also relocated to Ghana and later gained his citizenship.

America's brand of "land of opportunity" for all would not be upheld if such realities were not evident. As it remains the greatest country for everyone to tap into their creativity to actualize consumer goods, we see the value in honoring the ones before us, and the ones still living with us. For more information about African American contributions to America, and thus the World, please visit the Africans on record page on our website.

As we close black history month, we are committed to continuing the celebration of the African Diaspora presence in the US/Canada especially through our delivery of solutions and strategies to engage the African Diaspora in the US/Canada, craft culturally relevant messaging/content to connect consumer markets, and strategies to tap into the African Diaspora markets, and to establish linkages between Africa and the US/Canada through the active participation of the African Diaspora who would be able serve the private sector as your cultural brokers.