One Last Chance...
It's your final opportunity to honor Black History Month 2025
Next year is the 100th anniversary of officially commemorating Black history.
Carter G. Woodson started Negro History Week in 1926 as a way to honor the achievements of Black people in a society that routinely and intentionally whitewashed their story from the national narrative.
Facilitated by the group founded by Woodson, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), Negro History Week proved so popular that it not only expanded to geographic regions across the country, but demand grew over the decades to lengthen the celebration.
In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford became the first U.S. president to officially endorse Black History Month.
Every president since then, both Democratic and Republican, has endorsed Black History Month annually.
That may not be true next year.
Under this regime, we may see the first president in half a century refuse to endorse Black History Month.
You can be sure, however, that Black people nationwide, and especially historians, don’t need a president to recognize Black history.
We will keep lifting up our past and our stories no matter what the White House declares.
While we cannot know for certain what challenges we will face celebrating Black History Month in 2026, we still have today, the last day of Black History Month 2025.
I am asking you, my Substack readers, to support Black history and a Black historian during Black History Month by purchasing one or all of my latest books: The Spirit of Justice, Stories of the Spirit of Justice (ages 8-12), and I Am the Spirit of Justice. (ages 4-7)
Together, I refer to the three books as “Justice for All Generations.”
Moment of transparency, The Spirit of Justice is my lowest selling book to date.
Maybe it’s the cultural season we’re in where people are nervous about highlighting Black history. Maybe it’s just the reality that people’s attention span for Black history has always been fleeting, so there’s no appetite for books like The Spirit of Justice. Maybe I’ve just done a poor job of marketing the book.
But despite the low sales, I figured I’d give it one last try during Black History Month.
These books do not focus on Black suffering, they tell the story of Black resistance to oppression and how Black people found the power to persevere because of their faith.
If that sounds helpful or interesting to you or someone you know, today is the perfect day to get the books.
What If I Already Bought the Book?
Thank you!!!
Be sure to snag Stories of the Spirit of Justice and I Am the Spirit of Justice
Leave a review of the book online and let others know what you think.
Share this article with others who may be interested in getting the book
Share the pic below on social media, tag me, and use the hashtag: #TheSpiritofJustice
Get the Books
P.S. All the links go to my Bookshop page, but feel free to purchase elsewhere.
I will purchase them tomorrow with gratitude, as you have penned great, essential books, but today February 28 is “Do Not Buy” Day nationwide.
I bought all three books. I gave copies of i Am the Spirit of Justice and Stories of the Spirit of Justice to both of my daughters to be read to and with their children, ages 3, 7, 7. 10, and 11. I read I Am...book to teo grandchildren on MLK Day and several weeks later my granddaughter saw the book on my piano and said. "That's the book we read!"
I have been reading my copy of Stories each day this month and cannot believe how much I didn't know about the faithful people highlighted and the circumstances under which they fought for justice. These books are beautifully written snd I have recommended them to family and friends.