Hello there, it's Kelly Carter Jackson chiming in with this day. On Sundays, during the first year of the second Trump administration, we're doing episodes that we like to call some Sunday context.

Sometimes those are chats about the news, and sometimes those are episodes from the archives that might help us better understand what's going on today.

And today, since we're at the very end of a very weird Black History Month,

we wanted to bring you an episode about the origins of Black History Month,

originally known as Negro History Week.

But first, some thoughts on what this Black History Month has been like.

First of all, I've been busier than ever.

With each new announcement about closing or canceling black celebrations,

black graduations, or cultural institutions, folks are also refusing.

People are doubling down and I am here for it.

Shoot, I'm about to go to Black Excellence Gala this weekend.

And I've been thinking about not just Black History Month, but about Black Studies.

As you know, I'm the chair of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College. And my department

was birthed from activism. Black students across the country and here at Wellesley demanded a

department where they could learn about black history, leaders, and black contributions to American

society, and even be taught by professors that shared their blackness or values. And it was in the

1960s that a wave of scholars, both black and white, began to revise textbooks

and create new scholarship that included

the lived experiences of black people.

College campuses created affinity groups

and safe spaces to celebrate black pride

or lament in moments of loss.

...