Black History Month

Black History Month

February is Black History Month, a time for us to honor and celebrate the rich cultural heritage and achievements of Black people and communities that are an indelible part of our country’s history.

Spotlight: African American Thriving Initiatives

The African American Thriving Initiatives (AATI) are UC Berkeley’s campuswide commitment to supporting Black student, staff, and faculty success. Launched in 2020, AATI strengthens belonging, expands academic and cultural support, and drives institutional change to ensure Black thriving at Berkeley.

Learn more about the African American Thriving Initiatives

Academic Department

Student, Staff, and Faculty Resources

Student Organizations

Faculty

Darlène Dubuisson

Assistant Professor Darlène Dubuisson is the newest faculty hire in African American Studies, where she studies Black feminist theory, Black intellectual history, speculative fiction, apocalyptic anthropology, and migration and transnational studies. Dubuisson's first book, Reclaiming Haiti’s Futures: Returned Intellectuals, Placemaking, and Radical Imagination, published in 2022, received the 2024 Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (SLACA) Annual Book Prize. She is also co-author of Legalized Inequalities: Immigration and Race in the Low-Wage Workplace, which will be featured in an upcoming departmental event on February 5th

Darlene Dubuisson headshot

Leigh Raiford

Leigh Raiford teaches, researches, curates and writes about Black visuality and world-making.  Professor Raiford co-directs with Tianna S. Paschel, the Black Studies Collaboratory, an ongoing initiative supported by funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Spencer Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation. Most recently, Raiford is the co-editor of the new Vision and Justice book series from Aperture and co-author of Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography. Raiford's newest monograph When Home is a Photograph: Blackness and Belonging in the World will be published April 2026. 

• This Unruly Witness: June Jordan's Legacy

Leigh Raiford headshot

Nikki Jones

Professor Nikki Jones focuses her work on the experiences of Black women, men, and youth with the criminal legal system, policing, and violence. Her award-winning books include, Between Good and Ghetto: African American Girls and Inner-City Violence (2010) and The Chosen Ones: Black Men and the Politics of Redemption (2018). Professor Jones is currently at work on her third book, Brutal & Routine, which examines the enduring legacy of racist policing in the U.S. and the promise of abolitionist dreams. Jones is Director of the Justice Interaction Lab and Co-Principal Investigator of the Banned Scholars Project.

Nikki Jones headshot

Tianna Paschel

Tianna Paschel is Associate Professor of African American Studies, where she studies and teaches about the intersection of racial ideology, politics, and globalization in Latin America. Professor Paschel's forthcoming book with Professor Cristina Mora, Normalizing Inequality: How Californians Make Sense of the Growing Divide, will be published by the Russell Sage Foundation in April 2026. In 2024, Professor Paschel was awarded the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Award for her exceptional mentorship. Paschel is Co-Principal Investigator of the Spencer and Mellon Foundation-funded Banned Scholars Project and was also Co-Principal Investigator with Leigh Raiford of the Black Studies Collaboratory, a $2.8M Mellon Foundation Just Futures award from 2021-2023. 

Tianna Paschel headshot

Articles/Videos

Now on View: Black at Berkeley Law: Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future

now on display black at berkeley law honoring the past shaping the future

At a low point in U.S. race relations, Black teachers are essential — and at risk

A range of research demonstrates the positive impact achieved by Black teachers in U.S. schools. But Berkeley education expert Travis J. Bristol, a former public school teacher, says Black teachers face a complex set of challenges that increasingly drive

Berkeley Talks: J Finley on how Black women use sass to claim their humanity

saas black woman humor and humanity

Her sisters — and growing up working class in Sacramento — inspired this student to push for climate justice

Sam Ward, left, and her older sister Alex, right. Both sisters studied public health-related fields at Berkeley.

Meet three Black trailblazers in STEM

Mary Blackburn (right) was one of the first four students enrolled in the initial year of Berkeley’s Combined Dietetic Internship–Master of Public Health program.

UC Berkeley student collective Archive of Urban Futures shines at new OMCA exhibit

The members of the Archive of Urban Futures collective celebrate the exhibition opening: from L to R, Clara Pérez Medina, Maya Sapienza, Mateo Villa, Krista McAtee, Dr. Brandi Summers, juleon robinson, Cat Summers Stoehr, Bobby Ortiz Stahl.

African American Studies launches three-year initiative on Black critical theory

via Berkeley Life

African American Studies Professor Henry Washington, Jr., founder and convener of the Black Critical Theory Initiative.

The roots of the groove of African American pop music, explained

UC Berkeley historian Rickey Vincent

African American quilts explained in 101 seconds

a colorful quilt in a brick like pattern

Defending Public Education in California: A Convening

screenshot of the video of Enikia Ford Morthel, Superintendent, Berkeley Unified School District

African American Studies Lecturer David Kyeu interviewed by Berkeley Language Center in the first Spotlight on Language Programs series

Dr. David Kyeu headshot

African American Studies alumna Shani Shay featured in local news article: Incarceration to College program gives Bay Area youth a chance at higher education

African American Studies alumna Shani Shay holding a book in a classroom

Berkeley Life Blog: Milana Berhe’s Black Experience @ Cal (2025)

Milana Berhe headshot

Meet the 2026 UC Berkeley CREEO-HBCU Fellows!

Headshots of the CREEO-HBCU Fellows

Berkeley professor Leigh Raiford named 2026 Gordon Parks Genevieve Young Fellow

Raiford, an African American studies professor, will curate a 2027 exhibition focused on Parks’ abstract photography, exploring how his lesser-known works reimagine Black life.

African American Studies Professor Leigh Raiford headshot

Cal’s Black History

a student and faculty standing in front of wheeler hall in the sun smiling

Origins of Black History Month

Black History Month, observed annually in February, has its roots in the pioneering efforts of historian Carter G. Woodson, who, along with the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, launched Negro History Week in 1926. It was later expanded to a month-long celebration in 1976, coinciding with the bicentennial of the United States. The month honors the achievements, contributions, and history of Black individuals and communities. Learn more about the origins of Black History Month. 

Black History Month 2026

A message from leadership to the campus community.

Events

Durand Bernarr concert flyer
30 PM, with breaks and food provided. In-person at the Disability Cultural Center, Hearst Field Annex, D25,

Department of African American Studies Events:

A note from Margaret Solomon, 2025-26 ASUC Black Community Endorsed Senator

headshot of Margaret Solomon in front of doe library

Being Black in America means being resilient, being strong, and working twice as hard just to be seen. As we reflect during Black History Month, I want to honor the person who represents Black excellence most in my life: my mom. She immigrated from Nigeria with three children and built a life for herself while raising us at the same time. She is the reason I am here at Berkeley, and I am able to pour into my community because she poured into hers first. She taught me the importance of opening your door for others, even when it’s the last thing you want to do, because none of us make it without a village.

The Black community at Berkeley has become my chosen village, one that has embraced me since freshman year on the Afro Floor. The love and support from Black administrators and upperclassmen is truly unmatched. I am deeply grateful to serve as an ASUC Senator and to continue building spaces where we can support, uplift, and show up for one another. For Black students that may be reading this, I want to let you know that you deserve to be here just as much as everyone else and don't ever doubt that.

- Margaret Solomon, 2025-26 ASUC Black Community Endorsed Senator

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