Fiscal Note
No fiscal impact.
Title
Celebrating February 2024 as Black History Month in the City of Madison
Body
WHEREAS, to commemorate and celebrate the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent, American historian Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week nearly a century ago; and,
WHEREAS, the event was first celebrated during the second week of February 1926 and subsequently expanded to a month in 1976 during the nation’s bicentennial; and,
WHEREAS, Black History Month is an opportunity to reflect on the complex history of the United States, while remaining hopeful and confident about the path ahead; and,
WHEREAS, African Americans continue to serve our city, state and the United States at the highest levels of business, government, non-governmental agencies and the military; and,
WHEREAS, the theme of Black History Month for 2024 is “African Americans and the Arts”, celebrating and focusing on the ways “African American artists have used art to preserve history and community memory as well as for empowerment”; and,
WHEREAS, this year’s theme of African Americans and the Arts explores how “In the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression, the African American influence has been paramount”; and,
WHEREAS, “for centuries Western intellectuals denied or minimized the contributions of people of African descent to the arts as well as history, even as their artistry in many genres was mimicked and/or stolen”; and,
WHEREAS, despite these efforts to silence and appropriate their art, “artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Renaissance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism, have been led by people of African descent and set the standard for popular trends around the world”; and,
WHEREAS, it is imperative that, in order to truly be an inclusive and welcoming place, all Madisonians learn about and ...
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