Black History Month | February 2026
Black History Month at St. John's Cathedral 2026
Written by Canon Earl Mounger
The time has once again come for ourannual celebration of Black History Month. It seems like only a week ago that Ipenned an article about our plans for February last year.
This year’s theme is “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” as set forthby the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Theobservance was originally founded by Carter G. Woodson, the “father of BlackHistory.” Woodson’s mission was to share and preserve the particularcontributions of Black culture. In 1926 he launched the first Negro HistoryWeek, and fifty years later President Gerald Ford officially expanded it to amonth in 1976.
I have been commemorating Black History all my life. My earliest memory is ofcelebrating in my segregated elementary school, where I attended first throughfourth grade. In February 1966, when I was in first grade, my teacher, Mrs.Nelson, gave me a small part in a school assembly play. I was assigned CassiusClay’s famous line, “I am the greatest—the heavyweight champion of the world.”Clay would later change his name to Muhammad Ali after joining the Nation ofIslam.
Ten years later, in 1976, I was a junior in a desegregated high school whenPresident Ford expanded Negro History Week to a month. I worked in the officefor extracurricular credit and remember fixing a small bulletin board behindthe counter with a couple of friends. We managed to find a picture of the operasinger Leontyne Price, a native Mississippian from Laurel, and another notableBlack figure whose name I can’t recall. That small board was meaningful: in1969, when I was one of three Black students in my elementary school, there hadbeen no celebration of Black history or culture. Our bulletin board broughtBlack icons to the forefront and honored Carter G. Woodson’s mission—sharingour culture and exhibiting racial pride.
Fast forward to my time here at St. John’s. I’m pleased to say we havecommemorated Black History Month here since 1991. I co-chaired the committeealongside Saundra Hill-Hall; Velma Ford, Joan Mitchell, and Marci Clare werealso part of that original group. Our celebrations originally took place on thelast Sunday in February in the afternoon, outside our regular service, andfeatured poetry, dance, and music of Black culture. I was largely responsiblefor the production until a spinal injury forced me to step back. We then begancommemorating Absalom Jones—the first Black priest in the Episcopal Church—onthe second or third Sunday of February, since his birthday falls on February 14.
This year we will commemorate the centennial of Negro History Week beginningFebruary 1. Our choir will add more spirituals and gospel music to theirvirtuosic repertoire and will lead the service music for the Gospel Mass ofSaint Augustine by Leon C. Roberts throughout the month. We’ve invited Rev. GuyLemus, rector at St. Luke’s in La Cañada and president of the local H. BellHannibal chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, to preach for AbsalomJones Sunday.
We will use the last weekend in February as a Friends and Family Reunion foranyone with ties to St. John’s—from descendants of the original members topresent-day parishioners. On Saturday, February 21 at 5:00 p.m. there will be aperformance by a string quartet from the Inner-City Youth Orchestra and theLula Washington Dance Theater to benefit a local charity. A suggested freewilldonation of $15 will be collected, a portion of which will go to a charity. For this weekend we challenge youto invite at least five friends or family to join you for a “pew rally” toexperience this magnificent space we cherish.
We will again invite anyone who would like to add their name to our “CentennialPatchwork Quilt.” It’s an inexpensive way to literally become part of thefabric of the cathedral.
This year it feels even more important to celebrate the contributions of BlackAmericans. We’ve watched recent actions at the national level attempt torewrite parts of American history—dismantling DEI programs and changing howholidays and national parks are recognized. We look on with concern as ICEraids target immigrant families; our history reminds us how dangerous it hasbeen when groups of people are hunted and disappeared because of who they are.
To sum up: we are commemorating the centennial of Negro History Week, createdby Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History. His mission—preserving andsharing Black history and culture—is our mission too. We will honor our past.We will not be written out of American history.
Happy Black History Month,
Canon Earl L. Mounger
