ASALH RECOGNIZES 400 YEARS OF PERSEVERANCE
WASHINGTON, DC — The Association for the Study of African Life and History (ASALH), the Founders of Black History Month, will launch its first public event in a yearlong commemoration of the forced migration of Africans to the Virginia Colony in 1619. A stimulating discussion on the meaning of this year in African American History and in the context of “400 Years of Perseverance” will occur on Friday, February 1, 2019, at 12:30 p.m. at the National Press Club located at 529 14th Street, NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about this press event please contact Mr. Roy Betts at 202.256.4174 or by email at Roybtts2@comcast.net. A dedicated website to the 400th Commemoration was launched on Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s Birthday, December 19th 2018 at asalh.org/400-years.
Founded in 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known today as the Father of Black History, ASALH continues the tradition of linking the past to the present. Thus, the event will highlight the importance of this commemoration and its relevance through the centuries right up to today. This first arrival of Africans in British mainland North America is tied to the larger story of the founding of our nation and its long racial history. The panelists will highlight the historical importance of this date, the role of historical preservation and memorialization in illuminating the past, the centrality of black migration in the twentieth century, and the role of race in the American legal process, including issues of criminal justice. The diverse perspectives will emphasize both the struggles and triumphs of African Americans as they have navigated their way through Slavery, Jim Crow, and today’s combination of covert and overt racism.
Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, ASALH’s National President and Chair of the History Department at Harvard University, will moderate the panel discussion. Panelists include: Professor Gloria Browne-Marshall, ASALH 400th Commemorative Chair and Professor at John Jay College; Mr. Brent Leggs, Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Professor Spencer Crew, Professor of US History at George Mason University; and Roger A. Fairfax, Senior Associate Dean and Research Professor of Law at George Washington Law School. Greetings will be brought by Lonnie G. Bunch, III, Founding Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, President of the National Press Club.
Also, please join us for our 93rd Annual Black History Month Luncheon on February 16, 2019 at 12 pm. Learn more at: https://asalh.org/events/93nd-annual-black-history-luncheon/
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The Association for the Study of African Life and History (ASALH), the founders of Black History Month, founded in 1915, is the premier organization devoted to the research, interpretation, preservation and dissemination of the history of people of African descent to the global community. For more information about the Annual Black History Theme, the 400th Commemorative Calendar, and the Annual Black History Luncheon, visit asalh.org.