February is designated as National African American History Month.

The Department of Defense's (DoD's) theme for 2010 is "The History of Black Economic Empowerment"

National African American History Month, also called Black History Month, is celebrated each year in the month of February to recognize and appreciate the contributions African Americans have made to this nation in their struggles for freedom and equality. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) develops the national observance theme for African American History Month. The theme for 2010 is "The History of Black Economic Empowerment."

Peter Hemmer, DEOMI illustrator, designed this year's Black History Month illustration. "The poster provides a visualization of the time when African Americans toiled in cotton fields as slaves - and with the Emancipation, and equal opportunity for all, how all avenues of economic empowerment opportunity are available today in American life." To see this year's Black History Month poster, please go to www.deomi.org.

The theme of economic empowerment highlights one of the most central elements of the more than 300-year experience of African Americans in America. The role of economic empowerment from the beginning until now, from economic impoverishment to prosperity, from economic despair to faith, from owing to owning, has been the most visible indicator of the status of the African American community on the road to success. One stop along that economic road worth mentioning is Black Wallstreet, where 15,000 African American citizens thrived in a 36-block business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the turn of the 20th century, this same section of town housed over 600 black owned and operated businesses. Black Wallstreet, often called Little Africa, consisted of hundreds of black businesses functioning on local, national, and international levels. Little Africa embodied over 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, 2 movie theaters, libraries, schools, pawnshops, law offices, jewelry stores, a hospital, bank, post office, bus system, and six private airplanes. On Black Wallstreet, the dollar circulated 36 to 100 times, sometimes taking a whole year to leave the business district in North Tulsa.

The Black Wallstreet experience was the result of a community collectively fighting being excluded from the mainstream economy. Although Black Wallstreet represents a high-water mark in the history of African American economic empowerment, there is still much work to be done today to complete the task of applying individual wealth-building practices to develop a solid African American economically empowered investor base.

In concert with emphasizing quality education and in support of Presidential Executive Order 13256, the Department of Defense (DoD) theme for 2010 African American History Month Observance and Outreach Program is "Reaching Out to Youth: A Strategy for Excellence." All DoD organizations are encouraged to conduct events and activities in February observing National African American History Month.

To learn more about the origins of Black History Month and this year's theme, please visit the website of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History at http://www.asalh.org.

Relevant African American Facts (from U.S. Census Bureau News, December 02, 2009) as follows::

Serving Our Nation:

  • 2.3 million - Number of single-race black military veterans. More military veterans are Black than any other minority group (2008).

Education:

  • 83% - Percentage of single-race blacks 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma (2008).
  • 20% - Percentage of single-race blacks 25 and older who had a bachelor's degree or higher (2008).
  • 1.4 million - Number of single-race blacks 25 and older who had an advanced degree (e.g., master's, doctorate, medical or law [2008]).
  • 2.5 million - Number of single-race black college students in fall 2008. This is roughly doubled the corresponding number from 15 years earlier.

Businesses:

  • $88.6 billion - Revenues for black-owned businesses (2002).
  • 1.2 million - Number of black-owned businesses (2002).
  • 10,716 - Number of black-owned firms operating with receipts of $1 million or more (2002).
  • 969 - Number of black-owned firms with 100 or more employees in 2002. These firms accounted for 1 percent of the total number of black-owned firms in 2002, or $16 billion.