EMCC Professor explains what Black History Month really is

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) -News 11 sat down with a professor from East Mississippi Community College to get a full understanding of what Black History Month really is.

Ashley Walker, an American history professor at East Mississippi Community College, is sitting down with her students during the month of February and teaching them about the influence African American people have had on the united states. Walker tells us the purpose of black history month and why it is important.

“February, we celebrate the accomplishments and the positive contribution to our society made by people who migrated from or descended from Africa. Now we’re not the only country that celebrates Black History Month. Other countries celebrate black history month as well, and they include Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands now before it was Black History Month. It was actually Black History Week, and it was celebrated the second week of February, which coincided with the birthdays of our U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who was the 16th President, and the abolitionist Frederick Douglass,” said Walker.

Walker is teaching a new class at EMCC over the summer titled African American studies.

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