Black Love guided Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson’s scholarship and activism. In 1926, Dr. Woodson established Negro History Week; through collaborative efforts, it evolved into Black History Month. One hundred years later, we acknowledge Woodson’s labors of love by celebrating Black history and pursuing collective actions to improve schools and our community year-round.
At the Umoja Community Education Foundation (UCEF), we place Black Love at the center of our services, programs, and courses. We declare that elevating our students is a top priority and partner with schools to provide various forms of academic, social, and cultural support. Black Love encourages us to achieve our mission by actively serving and promoting student success.
What is Black Love?
In a 2022 Journal of Black Psychology article, Turner et al. explained, “Love is realized in Black activism through caring and loving relationships, love of Black people and African diasporic culture, love of God and knowing that one is loved by God, and expressions of love in the form of collective joy and collective grief” (551). Black Love begins with our relationships and continues with the causes we guide in our community.
The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program embraced Black Love.
Kwame Knkrumah’ Pan-African beliefs and political efforts embodied Black Love.
The single, unknown mother who cares for her children and advocates in her community is Black Love.
Black Love is not a stagnant feeling. It is an action For the People.
This internal love also surfaces in the various forms of affection we display for our culture and our spiritual values. Black Love is illustrated through the wearing of Dashikis, dreadlocks, relaxers, and high-top tennis shoes. It’s in the Christian, Muslim, Rastafarian, Buddhist, Candomblista, and General Adherent; we embody Black Love through respecting multiple understandings of identity and Divinity.
In February and throughout every month, we can embrace Black Love by staying true to ourselves and building community. To do this, we must stay consistent and together to destroy barriers erected by colonialism, colorism, sexism, racism, ageism, and classism.
If I missed an “ism,” please insert it here_______.
This love charge is applicable to psychologists, counselors, educators, non-profit leaders, employees, and students. Our current and future generations need us to function at our best.
As the title of Dr. Joyce Ann Joyce’s book, Warriors, Conjurers, and Priests, implies, we need African-centered leaders and followers from various walks of life. Our community needs warriors with physical and intellectual skills. Conjurers are necessary for their abilities to tap into ancestral spiritual practices. Priests can provide religious teachings to impact lives outside the walls of sanctuaries.
Each one of us has a role in our liberation.
The UCEF’s eighteen guiding practices emphasize awareness of the African diaspora and collective action. Our “Ethic of Love” practice encourages moving to touch the bodies, minds, and spirits of students. We demonstrate this form of Black Love by sharing our stories to “make the classroom real.” It’s our way of building on the origins of Black History Month.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson valued the diversity of Africans and their contributions to society. He founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) with William B. Hartgrove, Alexander L. Jackson, George Clevland Hall, and James E. Stamps in Chicago to ensure our history prevailed against the dominance of Eurocentric perspectives in curricula. His pivotal book, The Mis-Education of the Negro, identified the problem in schools and suggested solutions.
Among other critiques, Woodson wrote, “What Negroes are now being taught does not bring their minds into harmony with life as they must face it” (1933, 24). He argued against an irrelevant curriculum and advocated for an education that prepared Black students for entrepreneurial and agricultural endeavors. Black America had scarce economic opportunities during Woodson’s era.
Yet, the struggle for socioeconomic opportunities continues.
Employment challenges persist today. Black women lost more than 300,000 jobs in 2025. The art of business ownership and the history of the African diaspora are essential components of curricula aiming to empower Black students beyond the classroom.
This year, we celebrate 100 years of Black History Month observances. If we reflect on last year’s challenges to diversity month observances and current socioeconomic political difficulties, we can acknowledge the vitality of Woodson’s work. Let’s continue building our stories through daily clinical practices, school lessons, around the dinner table, and inside community centers.
Black History lives in us.
To further develop your skills to shape Black minds, read the resources referenced in this article and join the Association of Black Psychologists. The ABPsi’s resources will help you uncover strategies to deepen your commitments to Black Love and Black History throughout the year.
References
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
Photo by Anthony McKissic on Unsplash
Turner, A. E., Harrell, P. S., Bryant-Davis, T. (2022). Black love, activism, and community (BLAC): The BLAC Model of Healing and Resilience. Journal of Black Psychology. 48(3-4), 547-568
Woodson, C. G. (1933, 2023). The mis-education of the Negro. Penguin
Joyce, A. J. (1994). Warriors, Conjurers, and Priests, Third World Press
