STORY ON OUR WEBSITE WTTW.COM/NEWS.

BRANDIS?

>> PARIS, RESISTANCE IS THIS YEAR'S THEME FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH.

MANY FOLKS MAY NOT EVEN KNOW THERE IS AN ANNUAL THEME.

HERE WITH MORE ON THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH IS MICHAEL BENNETT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

>> MY PLEASURE.

>> FIRST, WHAT DOES BLACK HISTORY MONTH MEAN TO YOU?

>> BLACK HISTORY MONTH IS IMPORTANT TO ME AS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, BUT IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO THE WORLD BECAUSE UNFORTUNATELY WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR MASS MEDIA, WE DON'T SEE A LOT OF POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND WE NEED AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS, TO EXPLAIN THE CONTRIBUTIONS THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE MADE.

>> FIRST, TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW BLACK HISTORY MONTH GOT STARTED.

>> WELL, THERE WAS CARTER G. WOODSON AND CARTER G. WOODSON WAS AN EDUCATION.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, HE WAS THE SECOND AFRICAN AMERICAN TO GET A PhD FROM HARVARD.

W. E. B. DUBOIS WAS THE FIRST, BUT CARTER IS CLOSE TO MY HEART BECAUSE HE'S ALSO AN ALUMNI OF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.

HE CREATED A JOURNAL, FOUNDED A NEGRO AMERICAN JOURNAL TO TALK ABOUT THE POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS, ALSO THE STRUGGLES THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE MADE IN THIS COUNTRY.

SO, THAT'S BASICALLY HOW IT WAS STARTED.

>> LET'S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS.

BLACK HISTORY IN CHICAGO IN PARTICULAR.

YOU KNOW, WHAT ABOUT SOME OF THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS GIVE US GREATER INSIGHT INTO THE HISTORY OF BLACK AMERICANS?

>> WELL, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT JOHN BAPTISTE DESALVO WHO CREATED A LITTLE SETTLEMENT ON THE DEARBORN WAS BLACK.

HE WAS A BLACK HAITIAN ALTHOUGH NOW THEY KNOW THAT LAKESHORE DRIVE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO DESALVO DRIVE.

A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT IDA B.

WELLS BARNETT, WHEN WE CHANGED CONGRESS DRIVE TO IDA B. WELLS-BARNETT, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHO SHE IS.

BLACK AND WHITE.

SO, I THINK IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DELVE INTO THESE THINGS.

>> YOU KNOW, AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE WHERE YOU LEARN ABOUT SOME OF THIS HISTORY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE IN SCHOOL OF COURSE, BUT SOME OF THAT HAS COME UNDER CONTROVERSY AS OF LATE WITH FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DeSANTIS OUTWARDLY REJECTING THE PROPOSED ADVANCE POLICE DEPARTMENT AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES COURSE.

HOW DO YOU THINK THIS REFLECTS ON THE CASE OF BLACK HISTORY EDUCATION TODAY?

>> I THINK IT'S A MAJOR CHALLENGE, BUT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN CHALLENGED ONE WHERE EITHER AGGRESSIVELY OR PASSIVELY.

THIS IS AN OUT AND OUT CHALLENGE.

IT'S A WAKEUP CALL TO THOSE WHO ARE EDUCATORS, TO THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS IN THIS COUNTRY.

SO, WE HAVE TO CONFRONT IT HEAD ON.

>> THERE ARE CRITICS WHO SAY THAT BLACK HISTORY MONTH, A MONTH IS NOT ENOUGH.

IT SHOULD BE CELEBRATED AND OBSERVED YEAR-ROUND.

DO YOU THINK THERE IS VALUE IN STILL HAVING JUST ONE MONTH TO FOCUS?

>> I THINK SO.

I THINK THAT THOSE WHO ADVOCATE FOR BLACK HISTORY DISCUSSIONS TO BE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ARE CORRECT, BUT TO HAVE A CONCENTRATED MONTH TO FOCUS ON, AND IT STARTED OUT AT NEGRO HISTORY WEEK AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY WHERE I AM AN ALUM.

IN 1969 WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT AT LEAST ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES WE BEGAN TO LOOK AT IT YEAR-ROUND.

SO, I THINK THAT A MONTH OF CONCENTRATED EFFORT AND FOCUS ON AFRICAN AMERICANS AND OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS AT TIMES IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO OUR OVERALL EDUCATION.

>> OF COURSE, WE HAVE OTHER MONTHS OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR THAT DO RECOGNIZE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THOSE OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS AS WELL.

IN ABOUT 30 SECONDS, PROFESSOR, HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE CAN FOCUS AND OBSERVE BLACK HISTORY MONTH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT HISTORY?

>> I THINK YOU HAVE TO BE CONSCIENCE OF IT.

I THINK THAT NOW WE HAVE A GREATER OPPORTUNITY WITH THE WEB AND ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT'S CONSTANTLY COMING OVER THE WEB AND A LOT OF IT IS FOCUSED ON CONTRIBUTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ADDITION TO SOME OF THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS THAT GO ON.

I THINK WE HAVE TO BE CONSCIENCE.

WE HAVE TO BE STEADY ADVOCATES FOR THE EXPRESSION OF BLACK CONTRIBUTIONS IN THIS COUNTRY PARTICULARLY AND -- >> YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO