February invites us not only to remember history, but heed its warning as the present unfolds around us. Black History Month, also referred to as African American History Month, has always been more than a retrospective exercise. It is a living archive shaped by scholars, artists, organizers, educators, and communities who have insisted that knowledge be preserved not just in textbooks, but in stories, movements, neighborhoods, classrooms, and cultural memory. In 2026, as the nation marks a century of Black history commemorations, we are reminded that the act of remembering has never been passive. It has always been intentional, collective, and deeply human.
For the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, this moment resonates profoundly. CSSH disciplines have long served as spaces where African American thought is not treated as an addendum to history, but as a driver of inquiry shaping how we understand democracy, migration, culture, language, resistance, creativity, and care. From sociology to political science, history to philosophy, Africana Studies to English, Black intellectual traditions continue to inform how we study power, meaning, and the social world itself.
Boston, too, holds a particular relationship to this history. As a city shaped by abolitionist organizing, literary traditions, educational institutions, and ongoing civic engagement, it reflects both the promise and complexity of African American life in the United States. The stories rooted here of scholarship, struggle, artistry, and leadership mirror the broader national arc while offering local lessons about perseverance, imagination, and community building.
Remembering as Responsibility, Not Retrospect
This year’s national theme, A Century of Black History Commemorations, quietly reminds us that the very idea of formally recognizing Black history was once an act of defiance. It emerged from scholars and community leaders who understood that history does not preserve itself; it must be named, protected, and shared. A century later, that responsibility continues. The work of studying, teaching, and engaging African American history remains essential not because it looks backward, but because it helps us make sense of the present and imagine what comes next.
Within CSSH, African American history lives not only in archives and syllabi, but in dialogue across generations, disciplines, and experiences. It lives in classrooms where difficult questions are welcomed, in scholarship that centers lived experiences, and in public conversations that bridge theory and practice. It is carried forward by students asking new questions, faculty reframing old ones, and communities continuing to shape the cultural and civic landscape beyond the college campus.
African American History Month offers an opportunity to pause not to conclude a story, but to recognize our place within it. To honor the intellectual labor that made this moment possible. To acknowledge the cultural contributions that continue to shape art, language, politics, and collective life. And to reaffirm the role of the humanities and social sciences in helping us understand one another more deeply.
As we move through February, we invite members of the CSSH community to engage with this history not as a static narrative, but as an ongoing conversation, one that challenges, inspires, and expands our understanding of the world and our responsibility within it.
History as Method, Not Monument
African American history has never functioned as a static monument. It operates instead as a method, an approach to understanding the world that insists on context, power, memory, and lived experience. It asks not only what happened, but who recorded it, whose voices were preserved, and what knowledge was excluded along the way.
Within the social sciences and humanities, this methodological contribution has been transformative. African American scholars have expanded the boundaries of historical inquiry, reframed sociological analysis, reshaped political theory, and challenged dominant narratives of progress and democracy. Their work insists that culture matters, that storytelling is evidence, and that intellectual rigor is strengthened, not weakened, by proximity to lived realities.
This tradition continues to shape how knowledge is produced within CSSH. It appears in interdisciplinary research that crosses borders and generations, in pedagogical approaches that invite students to interrogate assumptions, and in scholarship that recognizes the ethical dimensions of inquiry itself. African American history, in this sense, is not a topic we visit; it is a framework we use.
The Classroom as a Site of Memory and Imagination
Within the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the classroom functions as a site where history is actively shaped, interpreted, and carried forward. Nowhere is this more evident than through the work of the Africana Studies Program, where African American history is approached as both an intellectual tradition and a living framework for understanding the world.
Africana Studies at Northeastern is grounded in the study of people of African descent across time, geography, and experience. It situates African American history within a broader global context, one that connects local narratives to diasporic movements, cultural exchange, political struggle, and creative expression. In doing so, it invites students to see history not as a fixed record, but as an evolving conversation shaped by power, perspective, and lived experience.
These courses ask expansive questions: How is knowledge produced? Whose stories are centered or marginalized? How do memory, culture, and resistance travel across generations and borders? Students engage with archival materials alongside contemporary scholarship, cultural texts alongside social theory, and historical analysis alongside present-day realities. The result is a learning environment that values rigor and reflection in equal measure.
Africana Studies also models an interdisciplinary approach that mirrors the complexity of African American history itself. Drawing from history, sociology, political science, literature, philosophy, media studies, and the arts, the program demonstrates how no single discipline can fully capture the breadth of Black experience. Instead, understanding emerges through dialogue between fields, between faculty and students, and between past and present.
Importantly, these classes cultivate imagination as a scholarly practice. They encourage students not only to analyze what has been, but to consider what could be, by envisioning new social arrangements, cultural possibilities, and modes of belonging. In this way, African American history becomes a tool for interpretation and a resource for ethical and civic thinking.
Culture, Creativity, and the Work of Meaning-Making
African American history has always been carried forward through cultural expression. Music, literature, visual art, performance, and oral tradition have functioned as archives in their own right, preserving memory, transmitting knowledge, and articulating visions of dignity and self-definition.
Within the humanities, this cultural practice is recognized as intellectual labor. African American artists and cultural workers have theorized freedom through sound and movement, mapped social realities through narrative and image, and offered critiques of power that are as rigorous as they are resonant. Their work reminds us that culture does not merely reflect society; it shapes it.
Boston’s cultural landscape offers many examples of this tradition in motion. From historic Black neighborhoods to contemporary artistic spaces, the city reflects how African American creativity has contributed to civic life, public dialogue, and collective identity. These cultural contributions are not peripheral to history; they are central to how history is understood, remembered, and felt.
A Century of Commemoration, A Future of Responsibility
The national recognition of a century of Black history commemorations invites reflection not only on what has been achieved, but on what remains unfinished. Commemoration is not an endpoint. It is a commitment—one that requires continued scholarship, teaching, and engagement.
The founders of early Black history initiatives understood that memory is fragile and that historical narratives can be erased, distorted, or neglected if left unattended. Their work laid the groundwork for institutions, disciplines, and public practices that continue to shape how African American history is studied and shared today.
For institutions of higher education, this legacy carries responsibility. It asks us to steward knowledge with care, to support inquiry that is rigorous and inclusive, and to ensure that history remains accessible—not locked away, but actively engaged. It also asks us to recognize that the study of African American history is inseparable from broader questions about democracy, justice, culture, and human flourishing.
An Ongoing Conversation
African American History Month does not mark the beginning or end of this work. It offers a moment of collective attention, a pause that allows us to listen more closely, to reflect more intentionally, and to recommit ourselves to thoughtful engagement.
At CSSH, this engagement takes many forms: research that challenges dominant narratives, teaching that equips students to navigate complexity, and public scholarship that connects academic inquiry to the world beyond campus. Together, these efforts affirm that African American history is not simply something we commemorate; it is something we carry forward.
As February unfolds, we invite members of the CSSH community to approach African American History Month as an open conversation, one grounded in respect, curiosity, and shared responsibility. A conversation that honors the past while remaining attentive to the present. And a conversation that recognizes history not as a closed record, but as a living archive, one that continues to shape how we think, learn, and imagine what comes next.
Community Events and Opportunities to Engage
Those interested in marking African American History Month through public programs, scholarship, and community gatherings may consider the following events taking place this February:
Northeastern University Events
A Litany for Survival: Black Studies, Black Scholars, & Black Students Today
Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Time: 4:00–6:00 PM
Location: Cabral Center, 40 Leon Street, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Boston Community Events
Black History Month Kickoff and Flag Raising
Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Time: 12:00–1:30 PM
Location: City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201
Culture Class: A Seat at the Table
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Time: 7:00–9:00 PM
Location: 4228 Washington Street, Roslindale, MA
BCYF Black History Annual Skate Night
Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026
Time: 5:00–8:00 PM
Location: 11 Rhoades Street, Dorchester, MA 02124
Black Veterans Appreciation Luncheon
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM–2:00 PM
Location: Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley Street #200, Boston, MA 02119
Museum of African American History – Black History Month Programming
Date: Throughout February 2026 (multiple dates)
Time: Varies by event
Location: Museum of African American History, Boston & Nantucket
Oakland-Area Community Events
Afrofuturism: Black History Month Celebration
Date: Friday, February 6, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Chabot Space & Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd, Oakland, CA 94619
Lunar New Year x Black History Month: Celebrating Asian & African American Solidarity
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM–4:00 PM
Location: Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Suite 290, Oakland, CA 94607
Black History Film Festival – Oakland
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland, CA 94607
Black Joy Parade
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2026
Time: Begins at 12:30 PM
Location: Starts at 14th Street & Broadway and ends at Broadway & Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA
Arlington, VA / Washington, DC-Area Community Events
Black History Month Program: Echoes of Resilience – Voices Through Time
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Time: 2:00–4:00 PM
Location: Lubber Run Community Center, 300 N Park Drive, Arlington, VA 22203
“Imagine a World Without…” Scavenger Hunt
Date: February 1–28, 2026 (during open hours)
Time: During library operating hours
Location: Benning (Dorothy I. Height) Neighborhood Library, 3935 Benning Road NE, Washington, DC
Crafter-noon: Black History Month Crafts
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026
Time: 4:30–5:30 PM
Location: Cleveland Park Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC
Chez Joey: A Bold Reimagining of Rodgers and Hart’s Pal Joey
Date: January 30–March 15, 2026
Time: Varies by performance
Location: Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street SW, Washington, DC
Discover Local Stories at the Anacostia Community Museum
Date: Throughout February 2026
Time: Varies by program
Location: Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Place SE, Washington, DC
Closing Reflections
African American History Month reminds us that history is not something we merely inherit; it is something we steward. The knowledge passed down through generations, shaped by resilience, creativity, scholarship, and care, asks something of us in return. It asks that we listen with intention, teach with integrity, and engage the world with curiosity and responsibility.
Within the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, this work continues every day through inquiry that challenges assumptions, scholarship that expands understanding, and learning that connects past, present, and future. African American history, thought, and culture do not reside only in archives or commemorative moments. They live in classrooms where questions are asked boldly, in research that centers lived experiences, and in communities where memory is carried forward through action.
When February draws to a close, the work of remembrance does not. It becomes part of how we move through the year, how we teach, learn, write, listen, and imagine. In honoring African American history, we affirm not only what has been, but what is still possible. And in doing so, we recognize that the most enduring legacy of history is not what it preserves, but what it inspires us to become.
