We want to hear from you! Besides being a month full of love and candy, February is also Black History Month! We want to know who you think is the most influential African American in our Country’s history. Leave a comment below to express your thoughts.

You can also tweet us @TV20Cleveland or post on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ClevelandTV20.

Here are some fun and informative facts to make yourselves aware of:

1. The tradition was first known as “Negro History Week”, in 1926, and was then changed to “Black History Month” in 1976, as part of the United States Bicentennial, recognized by former President, Gerald Ford.

2. “The father of black history”, Carter G. Woodson believed that rather than just focusing on a few men and woman in American, the black community should focus on the countless African American men and woman around the world who had contributed to the advancement of human civilization.

3. February was chosen as the month to observe black history because it is the birth month of Abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass and former President Abraham Lincoln.

4.  Spurred by racial violence in the early 20th Century, particularly in Illinois in 1908, a group of African American leaders joined together to form a new permanent Civil Rights Organization, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, otherwise known as the NAACP.

5.  The United States is not the only Country that celebrates Black History Month, other Countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom do as well.

Leave your comments below on who you feel is the most influential African American in our Nation’s history! And stay tuned to TV20 for the latest on events happening to celebrate this amazing month!