African-American

February marks the start of Black History Month in America and in Alabama. The month-long holiday created by Carter G. Woodson in 1926 originally began as Negro History Week. It was not recognized as Black History Month until 1976. To commemorate this Black History Month, Birmingham Public Library is hosting 70 different programs.

The thirteenth amendment did away with slavery in the United States one hundred and fifty seven years ago. Alabama voters may take similar action next month. The state’s Constitution still allows involuntary servitude. An estimated four hundred thousand slaves were held in Alabama before they were finally freed in 1865. APR spoke with the descendants of some of these people. They talked about trying to find the burial sites of their ancestors, and facing roadblocks not shared by their white neighbors.

Black high school students are engaging in risky sexual behavior far less often than they were 20 years ago, a study found. But their condom use is also dropping, leading some to worry that HIV rates within the black community may not go down.