Black History Month 2023 Events Planned In Metro Detroit

METRO DETROIT — There are numerous events planned in metro Detroit this February to observe Black History Month.

“Black Resistance” is the theme of this year’s observance, which starts Wednesday and continues through the month. Since 1976, every U.S. president has set aside February as a month to celebrate the achievements of African Americans and their role in U.S. history.

Events in February will explore “how African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms and police killings” since their arrival on the shores in the 1600s, according to the sponsoring Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

In metro Detroit:

Black History Month at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

• The museum will be open on Tuesdays for the entire month of February from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to explore and celebrate African American history and culture.

On the Shoulders of Giants: Black History Month at the Detroit Historical Museum

• The in-person celebration will honor Black entrepreneurship in the city, including highlighting some businesses and history makers who make and made Detroit great.

Black History Month at The Henry Ford

• The museum has multiple celebrations planned, including North Star Chorale, Institute of Dance at Marygrove, McLenon and Mann and The Will Cyprian Trio.

Black History Month Performance at Ford House

• Poet One SINGLE Rose will host performances of original stories were written and directed by Robbie Tayor at the Ford House in Grosse Pointe on Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.

Southfield Black History Month celebrations

• The celebration will be centered on an in-depth conversation between Dr. Khalid el-Hakim, the founder of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, and Dr. Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the former wife of Muhammad Ali. The event takes place Feb. 4 at the Southfield Pavillion at 26000 Evergreen Rd. from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The first Black History Month observance was held 97 years ago. Called Negro History Week at the time, it was established by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson, the son of illiterate former slaves, who believed that the important contributions of Black Americans had been largely overlooked in published accounts of U.S. history.

• Related: 2023 Black History Month: 5 Things To Know

He established the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1915 to create a social scientific collection recording and publicizing the accomplishments of Black Americans.