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@katiecouric : Today is the first day of #blackhistorymonth, and this year’s theme is “Black Migrations.” Black History Month’s roots can be traced to the Great Migration of the early 20th century - when millions of African Americans from the South moved to northern cities hoping to find better job opportunities. It seems fitting today to honor the man who created Black History Month, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Woodson was one of the most significant educators of the 20th century, and is known as the “father of black history.” He is also the second black man to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard University (W.E.B. Du Bois was the first!) Dr. Woodson spent his life advocating for scholarly research, study, and publication of works about the African American experience. In 1915, he founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History because many historians in the 19th and 20th century left African Americans out of their history books, or if they were included, the facts were often untrue or distorted. In 1922, Dr. Woodson founded Associated Publishers, a publishing agency which he operated from his house in Washington DC. In February of 1926, he created “Negro History Week” to celebrate the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, which eventually turned into Black History Month. His most famous book, “The Mis-Education of the Negro” which he wrote in 1933, attacked the black middle class and educated black elite for adopting white values and attitudes. He also attacked black colleges who mostly had white presidents and were slow to include black history in their curriculum. It became a manifesto for black leaders advocating radical social change. “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world. And it stands in danger of being exterminated.” Thank you for your work Dr. Woodson, and happy #blackhistorymonth