SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring February 2017 as Black History Month in the State of California.
The text of the proclamation is below:
PROCLAMATION
African-Americans have played a central role in our nation’s history, but for too long historians ignored or glossed over their contributions and the injustices they have suffered. The origins of Black History Month can be traced to the scholar Carter G. Woodson, who in 1926 conceived a yearly celebration to help rectify the omission of African-Americans from history books. Today, the observance of Black History Month throughout the United States stands as testament to the success of Woodson’s project and an example of how we can work together to make the teaching of history more honest.
The theme of Black History Month 2017 is “The Crisis in Black Education.” This theme hearkens back to Woodson’s calling as an educator and his belief that accurate teaching about the accomplishments of African-Americans would help remedy the educational injustices they have suffered. Facing centuries of barriers from a slave regime that forbade them from learning to read and write, through Jim Crow laws that effectively blocked them from access to education, to persisting segregation and inequalities today, African-Americans have made heroic strides in literacy and educational attainment. But the effort is far from complete, as attested by my administration’s ongoing efforts to make school funding more equitable and accountable while returning control of educational policy to the teacher and the classroom. This Black History Month, let us salute the efforts of educators, parents and others who are working hard to bring great teaching and learning to every child, especially those who face the greatest challenges.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim February 2017, as “Black History Month.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 1st day of February 2017.
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EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
ATTEST:
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ALEX PADILLA
Secretary of State