Students gathered in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union yesterday to discuss the purpose of Black History Month.

The presentation was given by Angela M. S. Nelson, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Advisor in the department of Popular Culture.

Black History Month, established during the 1970s, began as Negro History Week in the 1920s. This week was founded by Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard graduate and the second African American to receive a doctorate degree.

“Woodson and other scholars felt there was a need to set aside a time in the year to recognize African American contributions,” Nelson said. “Blacks were seen as a race that had made no contributions to human civilization.”

An effort to reverse this view was one of the main focuses of Negro History Week.

“They (scholars) wanted to neutralize the apparent ignorance of blacks and cut out deliberate distortions,” Nelson said. “Scholars also wanted to have scientific studies of black life and culture in America and abroad.”

In order to aid researchers and future generations, the Journal of Negro History was established so research of African American behaviors and accomplishments could be published.

According to Nelson, Black History Month continues to allow the population to look at the current state of blacks in America.

“We (Americans) should still have Black History Month to consider population, peculiarity and production,” Nelson said. “Looking at population tells us that African Americans are not the largest minority group in America anymore. Peculiarity challenges us to look at the uniqueness of individuals, and production shows what blacks have produced in America.”

Blacks have particularly contributed to American popular culture through music and television.

“Black popular culture is any product created by a person with African descent that causes enjoyment or pleasure,” Nelson said. “These products can be artifacts, people or ceremonies and activities.”

“Successful people like Oprah and Michael Jordan, are possible because of the Civil Rights movement and Black History Month,” Nelson said.