SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring February 2018 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 2018 is “African-Americans in Times of War.” This month we reflect on the contributions of black people who have helped shape our state and nation, such as William Alexander Leidesdorff, who as U.S. Vice Consul for the Port of San Francisco played a key role supporting and chronicling the Bear Flag Revolt; the Buffalo Soldiers, black army regiments formed in the wake of the Civil War whose contributions included serving as some of the first rangers in our state’s national parks; and the hundreds of black servicemen who lost their lives in the Port Chicago Disaster, the legacy of which helped set in motion the desegregation of the Navy.
This Black History Month, let us remember the prominence of African-Americans in our military history and pay tribute to those serving in all branches of the Armed Forces today.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim February 2018, 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 8th day of February 2018.
___________________________________
EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
ATTEST:
__________________________________
ALEX PADILLA