Help Celebrate Black History Month

What we now call Black History Month was originated by Carter Godwin Woodson in 1926, as Negro History Week. The month of February was selected for the celebration because both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, champions of the struggle for African American equality, were born in that month.

African Americans, unique to all American ethnic groups, had no choice in coming to America. Their ancestors were captured by slave traders and transported to America. Then, they were sold to plantation owners in the southern states for forced work in the fields. These slaves were considered legal property without any of the rights accorded to free men.

The Civil War began in part because of the moral issue of slavery. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. The proclamation essentially provided the impetus for freeing all Negro slaves in the Confederate states.

Since that time of "freedom," African Americans have been subjected to a variety of legal, social, and economic barriers to genuine equality. After more than 100 years, most of the legal barriers were overcome through the efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Lyndon Johnson in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The recent election of President Barack Obama indicates that many of the social barriers are eroding. The education and job creation programs envisioned by President Obama offer hope that African Americans will eventually achieve economic equity as well.

One of the paths to economic equity that other ethnic groups have chosen is entrepreneurship. This type of endeavor has not generally been exploited by African Americans in the past, but has seen greater involvement during the last decade.

You can help your students learn more about African American business and entrepreneurship by copying and assigning a ProQuest BookCart learning activity called "Black Business & Entrepreneurship."



It includes essential questions for critical thinking and student direction as well as models that students can download to create their reports or presentations.

To copy this BookCart for your students to use:

• Logon to the eLibrary CE Teacher Edition.
• Click the BookCart Admin link of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Type "Black Business & Entrepreneurship" in the Search box to locate it quickly.
• Click the Copy icon in the Actions column to the right of this title.
• Click Return to My Local Carts.

To edit and tailor the BookCart for your students to use:

• Click your new BookCart Title--it will have the prefix "Copy of."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your name in the Author boxes and your email.
• Type student directions and call numbers in the Description box for your students to use.
• Scroll down and click Save.
• Return to My Local Carts.
• Note: Students will be able to open this BookCart by clicking the BookCart tab on the search page.

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words or a presentation of at least seven slides. Students should cite at least three resources in addressing the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can create more or substitute others):

• Why aren't there more black entrepreneurs?
• How can starting black businesses lead to greater economic power for all African Americans?
• What types of businesses would probably be the focus of a new wave of black entrepreneurship and why?
• What should be the federal or state government's role in increasing black business and why?

Use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Assign each student a different African American author to research from the following group using this pathfinder:

Type "African American authors" in the Search box > Click "More" to see the entire listing

Students can then do an individual search on their author by clicking the Author icon on the main Search page and typing the name of the author in the Search box.

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources and addresses the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can add or substitute others):

• What is the literary criticism related to the work of this author?
• What is your opinion of any of these works that you may have read?
• What overall themes does this author focus on and why?
• What background helped to develop this author's ideas and skills?

PROQUEST SUPPORTS 21ST CENTURY LITERACY & SKILLS

ProQuest has developed a set of online teaching and learning solutions supporting
major initiatives to integrate 21st Century Skills into today's learning environments.