BrassRing Media Network and the Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy, in association with the Youth Crime Watch of America and Ghana Television (the official Television Station) are organizing Black History Month 2007. The series of events throughout February will have the theme of drugs, crime and violence. It started with “Negro History Week” in 1926 when African Americans decided to reinvent themselves in the world that knew them only as slaves. It has progressed over time to become “Black History Month” celebrated by African-Americans and millions of other people of African descent. Thanks to Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who took on the challenge of writing black Americans into the history of the United States, people of African descent who were able to attain some prominence in the history books of their time have now become martyrs. Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history. Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population -- Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. This year’s Black History Month celebration coincides perfectly with the theme of the Ghana@50 celebrations this February-- Emancipation’. “Black History Month is not something to be downplayed. It is of immense significance to African Americans.” says Kwame Tawiah, CEO of BrassRing Media. “It is the result of many sacrifices made by those who knew what it meant to be racially segregated and to be assigned an inferior social position by reason of color.” This year’s celebrations will be used to conscientize the youth on the dangers of immoral behavior and its effects, with particular emphasis on drugs, crime and violence. This will be achieved using the language that the youth understand the most: entertainment. Through rap battles, poetry slams and videos on civil rights, young people will be enlightened on the many roads that African Americans marched on and the prices some paid for liberation. This will be the perfect platform to exhibit the exploits of black people who have contributed to the advancement of America and Ghana -- Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Harriet Tubman and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. JIVE