Black History Month 2025: Honoring African American Labor

In February, celebrate the experiences of the community in the workforce

Sheeka Sanahori,

AARP

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En español

Published January 30, 2025

different images for black history month

During Black History Month, consider events to enrich your understanding of the Black experience. From left, a cooking class in Omaha, Nebraska; a lecture at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.; a heritage tour in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and a mural tour in Philadelphia.

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: Alamy; Courtesy No More Empty Pots; Courtesy DistiNCtly Fayetteville; Getty Images (2); Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia Freedom Fighters © 2021 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Felix St. Fort & Gabe Tiberino, 2201 College Avenue. Photo by Steve Weinik)

In 1976, Americans celebrated the country’s first Black History Month with a message honoring the month from President Gerald Ford. But the monthlong celebration has roots stemming back to 1926, when Carter G. Woodson, a Black historian, author and publisher, created a weeklong celebration in mid-February. Woodson realized that African Americans would need to take great effort to preserve their own history. He also wanted to create opportunities for African Americans to be proud of their shared history. His creation of Negro History Week, which coincided with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and author Frederick Douglass, would eventually pave the way for the monthlong celebrations held today.

Every year, Woodson’s organization, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) chooses a theme for Black History Month. The theme for 2025 is African Americans and labor. The theme is intended to encompass all the ways Black people have historically and currently experienced labor. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, that includes the experiences of 4.12 million Black Americans who are 55 years and older who worked full- or part-time jobs, as of 2023. The theme also encompasses the experiences of generations who came before today’s workforce, both free and enslaved.

Whether following the labor theme or the interests of local communities, there are notable Black History Month events occurring across the country throughout February. Check out the highlighted listings below, both online and in person. AARP’s state affiliates are hosting nearly two dozen events across all U.S. regions, some of which are included in this list.

In person

The Norfolk Botanical Garden in Virginia will host a private screening of “Rhythms of the Land,” a documentary that tells the stories of Black farmers.

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Norfolk, Virginia

On Feb. 24, the Norfolk Botanical Garden will have a private screening of the documentary, Rhythms of the Land, which tells the stories of generations of Black farmers from enslavement to present-day. The garden also will have an art exhibit through the months of January and February, showcasing the work of local Black artists such as Chris Green.

The garden, which has hundreds of azaleas, was created by 200 Black women and 20 Black men as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It’s the only known WPA completed exclusively by African Americans.

“What better way to honor our agricultural and ancestral history by remembering those contributions,” says Dee Hall Goodwin, a flower farmer who’s on the Norfolk Botanical Garden’s President’s Council on Inclusion and Diversity.

A statue in the WPA Memorial Garden pays tribute to the African Americans who built it.

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The Terrace Gallery on the first floor of Orlando (Florida) City Hall will showcase artwork representing the Black History Month theme.

Jillian Cain/Getty Images

Orlando, Florida

Orlando will showcase artwork representing the theme of African Americans and labor. The visual art will be on display in the Terrace Gallery from Jan. 31 to March 30. Thirty-three artists will show their work, including visual artist Victor Wilson, whose oil on canvas painting entitled Laundry Day depicts a colorful scene of a 19th-century African American woman, the artist’s great-grandmother, hanging garments to dry on a clothing line behind her cabin.

The Terrace Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. on the first floor of Orlando City Hall.

Fayetteville State University will be the site of a three-day genealogy conference in North Carolina.

Courtesy DistiNCtly Fayetteville

Fayetteville, North Carolina

North Carolina chapters of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) will host a three-day conference on techniques to help family researchers uncover their family history. The conference, which will be held on the campus of Fayetteville State University from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, will include lectures on using church, government and military records to uncover African American genealogy, and how to use AI for family research.

“We want our families to be the heroes of our own stories,” says Stella Stephenson, president of the Sandhills chapter of AAHGS. “We want to have that information documented and online and searchable and indexed so that descendants coming forward will be able to look back and see some of the things that their relatives and ancestors have done.”

The conference will include tours of the Fayetteville State University campus and an African American Heritage Tour (for a $15 fee), in which attendees will take a bus around Fayetteville to learn about Black Americans who lived and worked in Cumberland County. The conference is open to the public, but participants should register in advance. General admission tickets are about $50.

Dallas

Acquire a deep appreciation for African American communities and history in Dallas by joining AARP for a bus tour through Freedman’s Town, and other historically significant sites. This neighborhood and others in and near Dallas were created by formerly enslaved people once they learned of their emancipation in 1865. The Feb. 8 tour will be led by Remembering Black Dallas. The Freedman’s Cemetery, Booker T. Washington High School and the Moorland Branch of the YMCA are among the stops that will be visited on this five-hour tour. The tour is open to AARP members who register here.

Phoenix

Residents and visitors alike are encouraged to support more than 15 Black-owned restaurants during Restaurant Week from Feb. 10-16. Everything from classic soul food to fusion dishes are on offer from participating restaurants. The second annual Restaurant Week is part of a larger collection of Black History Month events organized by A Taste of Melanin. Another event, “The Color of Art: A Deep Dive into Culture, Collecting, and Philanthropy” will explore the intersections of art, philanthropy, sports and hip-hop. The Feb. 6 panel will discuss the role of modern art collectors.

A lecture on the book “Vigilance: The Life of William Still, the Father of the Underground Railroad” will take place at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Courtesy Penguin Random House

Washington, D.C.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is hosting a discussion with Towson University professor Andrew K. Diemer about his book Vigilance: The Life of William Still, the Father of the Underground Railroad. Still, an abolitionist, helped nearly 1,000 people in their quest for freedom. The Feb. 8 lecture takes place at the museum. It is also streaming. There’s no cost, but registration is required.

No More Empty Pots will host a cooking class featuring the “Flavors of the Diaspora.”

Courtesy No More Empty Pots

Omaha, Nebraska

Get a hands-on experience of the culinary traditions of the southern U.S., the Caribbean and Africa in “Flavors of the Diaspora: A Black History Month Cooking Class.” Participants in No More Empty Pots event on Feb. 8 will learn about the history and cultural significance of the cooking process and the ingredients. Tickets are $50.

A trolley tour in Philadelphia spotlights murals on Black figures, social justice issues and civic heroes.

Steve Weinik

Philadelphia

A trolley tour of murals in the city focuses on Black figures, social justice issues and civic heroes. The 90-minute Black History Month Civic Heroes Trolley Tour will travel through Philadelphia neighborhoods Feb. 8. Participants will hear the stories behind the murals and about the artists who created them. Tickets are $38 for adults.

A tour of Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta features the lives of those who fought to overcome slavery and discrimination.

Courtesy Oakland Cemetery

Atlanta

Learn about the lives and accomplishments of ordinary and extraordinary African Americans who helped shape the history of Atlanta during the “We Shall Overcome” tour at Oakland Cemetery. The 60-minute tour, which looks at the lives of those who fought to overcome slavery and discrimination, is offered for free in February. Registration is recommended.

Online

Virginia

From 1867 to 1969, George Pullman operated hundreds of luxury sleeping train cars, and hired thousands of African Americans to work as porters on the trains. The legacy of these Pullman porters has cemented an important piece of American history. This free webinar on Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. ET, hosted by AARP Virginia, will dive into the daily life and duties of the Pullman porter. It’ll also explain how porter employment helped establish the Black middle class, and how it inspired the Civil Rights movement.

An AARP membership is not required for the event, but participants will need to create an account on AARP’s website and register for the online event.

Michigan

“Researching Family Land to Identify Ancestors” is the second session in a series of webinars hosted by AARP Michigan regarding genealogy research for Black History Month. In this hour-long session, which will take place Feb. 11 at noon ET, genealogist and author Bernice Alexander Bennett will share information about African American homesteaders and their stories. She’ll share tips on how family researchers can identify ancestors by looking at land records.

This is a free online session. Registration is required.

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