title
A resolution recognizing February 2026 as Black History Month in Nashville and Davidson County.
body
WHEREAS, Black History Month is celebrated each February and recognizes the legacy of Black Americans whose collective power to overcome, lead, and build great works has expanded the meaning and practice of American democracy and helped the United States of America to become a more fair and just society; and
WHEREAS, the United States was established upon the profound but simple idea that all people are created equally and should be treated as such. However, America has fallen short of this idea on occasion; and
WHEREAS, in 1925, a Black American scholar, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, launched an effort to focus awareness on the immeasurable contributions of Black Americans to American society that, in 1976, became Black History Month, a month-long celebration every February of the contributions of Black Americans to this country; and
WHEREAS, Black History Month provides for the celebration and recognition of Black leaders, inventors, artists, musicians, educators, entrepreneurs, professionals, workers, organizers, activists, and creators on a national level including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Fannie Lou Hamer, Nikki Giovani, Belle Hookes, Shirley Chilsolm, Marsha P. Johnson, George Washington Carver, Lewis Latimer, Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas, Jackie Robinson, Billie Holiday, and many more; and
WHEREAS, the event allows for the celebration of those locally who have contributed to the rich history of our community in Nashville and Davidson County; and
WHEREAS, Black Americans enslaved and free made-up 20 percent of Fort Nashborough's settlers in 1779. From these early years through the Civil War, a growing Black community in Nashville, led by a small group of Black elites, quietly built the foundations of a future society, developing schools, churches, and businesses; and
WHEREAS, from August to December 1862, over 2,700 Black American...
Click here for full text