February 2008 Is Coming Fast...

In a few days, the month of February will be here. Educators, media groups and businesses across the country are preparing for African American History Month. Here are a few news releases from various sites and companies. I will continue to update this list until 02/10/08:

• Wal-Mart has posted they will provide educational opportunities and host in-store activities on the heritage and experiences of African Americans. "Wal-Mart will also feature an advertising series -- including print, radio and television advertisements -- encouraging African-Americans to live history today." For more information and downloadable materials about Wal-Mart's Black History Month 2008 series, click here.
• KMart will host in-store events, workshops and activities to pay tribute to African American inventors through its KMart Shares the Word series. For more information about KMart Share the Word series, click here.
• CNN has posted a student fact sheet on the origins of Black History Month. It has a great article on Carter G. Woodson, considered the father of African American History. It has another fact sheet for students to engage in class acitivities and discussions.
  
• BET and TVOne will have their own Black History Month TV specials.
• Smithsonian Magazine has a special February issue, "Portraits of Resistance," on the inaugural show of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. For more information about the museum, click here.
• NBC News has launched an expansive African-American Studies curriculum resource to be used by schools during Black History Month and throughout the school year. The curriculum is comprised of more than 500 two-to-five minute video clips spanning hundreds of years of history and designed to be easily integrated into teachers' lesson plans.
• Black Voices announced plans to honor Black History Month this February by celebrating trailblazers in the African American community from the past, present and future.
• SIRIUS satellite radio will host a series of programming specials in the celebration of Black History Month.
• Thinkfinity.com (Verizon Foundation) has listed a comprehensive resource for teachers to educate students about African American history and culture.
• United States Census Bureau will have a radio series on Black History Month on their Profile America section (02/02/08).
• The Library of Congress has a special collection on African American History Month.
• Borders, a worldwide retailer of books, music, movies, gifts and stationery items unveiled a newly designed gift card to commemorate Black History Month.
• PBS celebrates Black History Month with groundbreaking series exploring African American history. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is joined by Maya Angelou, Morgan Freeman, Tina Turner and other prominent African Americans in AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a sequel to the series The New York Times called “the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time.”