February is Black History Month

Updated: February 1, 2024

CWNY CELEBRATES INSPIRATIONAL BLACK WOMEN

African American History Month – US Library of Congress

National Women’s History Museum
Votes for Women Means Votes for Black Women
Unsung Voices of Black Women and Their Role in Women’s Suffrage – Lesson Plan
National Association of Colored Women
Mary McLeod Bethune: The Education of Young Black Girls
Shirley Chisholm
Stacey Abrams
Kamala Harris

Black Women’s History in the U.S. – Past and Present – Not Even Past
Influential Black Women – Photo Essay – Oxford African American Studies Center
African American Mental Health Resources – National Alliance on Mental Health (California)
Inspirational Black Women – PBS
Prominent African-American Women and the White House – The White House Historical Association
Celebrating Pioneering Black women in Science – Association for Women in Science (AWIS)
Understanding America: From Slavery to Stacey Abrams: The Year of the Black Woman – US Department of State
Constance Baker Motley, Jean Fairfax, Elaine Jones, Mary Hamilton, Katherine Carper Sawyer, & Sheila Holt-Orsted – LDF (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund)
Five African American Women Pioneers in U.S. Finance – Columbia University Press Blog
African-American Female Instrumentalists: An Archive of Black Female Sound from the Late Nineteenth Century to Now – Yale Campus Press
Inspirational Black Women You Should Know – UNWomen
Three African-American Women Who Revolutionized Modern Dance – KCET (PBS SoCal)
“We Made it, Friend” The First African American Female Officers in the US Navy – National WWII Museum
History of Black Women in the Military – National Association of Black Military Women
Maya Angelou: the First Black Woman on a U.S. Quarter – NPR
Marian Wright Edelman – Children’s Defense Fund
Marian Wright Edelman: Reflections from a Lifetime Fighting to End Child Poverty – Ted Talk

National Park Service
Underground Railroad: Freedom Network 
African Burial Ground National Monument New York
Black Women and the Struggle for Equality

Civil Rights, Military Service, and Slavery in New York – New York State Archives Trust
Elizabeth Jennings Graham – National Inventors Hall of Fame ®
Black History Month Events at NYPL – New York Public Library
Shirley Chisolm Declares She is a Candidate for President – New York Public Radio Archives
Mid-Hudson Anti-Slavery History Project – Putnam History Museum
Black History Month Resource Guide for Educators and Families – Center for Racial Justice in Education
Joysetta & Julius Pearse African American Museum Nassau County
African Americans and the Arts: A Black History Month Celebration – National Museum of African American History and Culture

Center for the Women of New York had a chance to connect in 2021 with Dr. Bessie W. Blake, a widely known and respected educator, adjunct professor of English at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York, and a recognized expert on adult learning. Her lecture tours have carried her to every corner of the United States and abroad to countries like England, Scotland, and Senegal. Dr. Bessie Blake spoke to Kati Fernandez and Cecilia Venosta at CWNY about the women before her, the impact of mothers on her journey, and the “she-cession” and mental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also shared with us her fondest moment with Rosa Parks, her fight for equality and justice, and her life’s work.

“Black History Month is Every Month!” is a 2022 interview with Adrienne Whaley, Queens Underground International Black and Brown Film Festival Founder. Interview hosted by: Kati Fernandez and Cecilia Venosta-Wiygul, Center for the Women of New York.

CWNY’s Black History Month social media posts on some of the Black women across the U.S. who have contributed to our country’s history:
Elizabeth Jennings Graham: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Dr. Patricia Bath: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Susie King Taylor: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Georgette Seabrooke Powell: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Maya Angelou: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Sojourner Truth: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Barbara Jordan: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Marsha P. Johnson: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Ella Baker: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Ida B. Wells: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Shirley Chisholm: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter