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Why Is It Important to Acknowledge and Celebrate Black History Month?

February 03, 2026

Black History Month is more than a time to look back—it’s a time to recognize, connect, and grow. For Black and African American youth especially, this month offers space to learn about your roots, celebrate your culture, and build confidence in who you are. For everyone, it’s an opportunity to better understand the full story of our shared history and strengthen the communities we live in today.

Knowing Your Roots Builds Confidence and Identity

Understanding where you come from matters. When you learn about Black history—about leaders, creators, activists, innovators, and everyday people who shaped the world and particularly our country as we know it—you begin to see yourself differently. You realize that your story didn’t start with struggle alone, but also with strength, brilliance, creativity, and resilience.

Knowing your roots helps you answer important questions like: Who am I? Where do I belong? What am I capable of? When you see people who look like you overcoming obstacles, leading change, and creating joy, it builds confidence. It reminds you that your dreams are valid and that you are part of something bigger than yourself. This sense of identity can be grounding, especially during the teenage years, when figuring out who you are can feel overwhelming.

Community Matters: You’re Not Alone

Black History Month also highlights the importance of community. Connecting with others who share your heritage can be incredibly powerful. It creates space to talk openly about experiences, challenges, and successes with people who understand where you’re coming from. Having friends, family members, mentors, and peers who can relate to what you’re going through offers support and validation. It reminds you that your feelings are real and that you don’t have to navigate life alone. This kind of connection is healthy for your mental and emotional well-being. Being seen, heard, and supported helps reduce stress, builds resilience, and encourages you to ask for help when you need it.

Community isn’t just about shared struggles—it’s also about celebrating culture, traditions, music, food, language, and joy together. These shared moments strengthen bonds and create a sense of belonging.

Why Black History Month Matters for Everyone

Black History Month isn’t only important for Black and African American communities—it matters for everyone. When people of all backgrounds take time to acknowledge and celebrate Black history, we move closer to a more complete and honest understanding of our world.

Learning about Black history helps develop:

A fuller understanding of our shared history, not just parts of it

General cultural knowledge that prepares us to live and work in diverse communities

Empathy and collaboration, by understanding experiences different from our own

When we learn about one another, it becomes easier to respect differences, work together, and stand up for fairness. Celebrating Black history helps break down stereotypes and build bridges between communities.

Building a Supportive Community Through Girl Scouts

Organizations like Girl Scouts can help create spaces where this growth can happen. Girl Scouts encourages girls to explore who they are, learn about others, and build strong, supportive communities. Through badges, activities, discussions, and service projects, Girl Scouts creates opportunities to celebrate culture, develop leadership skills, and form meaningful connections.

In Girl Scouts, you can find a nurturing environment where your identity is valued, your voice matters, and your experiences are respected. It’s a place to learn together, support one another, and grow into confident leaders who care about themselves and their communities.

Moving Forward Together

Celebrating Black History Month is about honoring the past, supporting one another in the present, and shaping a more inclusive future. Whether you’re learning about your own heritage or expanding your understanding of others, this month reminds us that our stories matter—and that we’re stronger when we learn, grow, and lead together.

Watch this Video to Learn More About the Month Long Celebration of Black History Month

How do I earn the fun patch?

The Girl Scout Black History Month Celebration Fun Patch is designed for Girl Scouts of all levels and their leaders to learn about the diverse cultures and contributions of Black and African American communities across the US. Girls and leaders have a variety of activities to choose from to earn this fun patch, and we encourage girls of all identities to participate. Download the Black History Month Activity Sheet in English and Spanish to learn more.

Resources for Celebrating Black History Month

Here are some great ways to celebrate Black History Month with your Girl Scout or troop.

Museums, Cultural Centers, and Exhibits toggle arrow

Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery
This north Minneapolis museum is dedicated to celebrating the history of African Americans by giving visitors a look at the achievements, contributions and experiences of Black people throughout the history of Minnesota. Free admission.

Support Local Black-Owned Businesses toggle arrow

Black Garnet Books was created in 2020 to address racial inequality within the publishing and literary industries, curating its shelves to focus on literature by authors and illustrators of color.

Flava Coffee & Café is a social enterprise community café invested in offering quality coffee, food, service and programming that eliminates disparities for young women of color and gender expansive youth one latte at a time.

Juxtaposition Arts - Shop socially-conscious streetwear and accessories designed and produced by young artists based in north Minneapolis.

Lip Esteem Cosmetics - Lip Esteem is a plant based, cruelty-free, paraben-free and gluten-free cosmetic line based in Minnesota.

Soul Bowl - With a newly opened location inside of north Minneapolis’ V3 athletic center, Soul Bowl serves up soul food reimagined for the urban millennial.

Strive Publishing & Bookstore aims to inspire community collaboration through publishing stories to heal, teach, learn, and earn, while building an ecosystem that embodies a rich Black culture and heritage.

Read Books that Celebrate Blackness toggle arrow

Ada Twist, Scientist
Inspired by real-life makers Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, this beloved #1 bestseller champions STEM, girl power and women scientists in a rollicking celebration of curiosity, the power perseverance, and the importance of asking "Why?"

Black Women in Science: A Black History Book for Kids
Throughout history, Black women have blazed trails across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Black Women in Science brings something special to black history books for kids, celebrating incredible black women in STEM who have used their brains, bravery, and ambition to beat the odds.

Don’t Touch My Hair
An entertaining picture book by Sharee Miller that teaches the importance of asking for permission first as a young girl attempts to escape the curious hands that want to touch her hair.

Hidden Figures Young Readers’ Edition
This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
Whether they were putting pen to paper, soaring through the air or speaking up for the rights of others, the women profiled in these pages were all taking a stand against a world that didn't always accept them.

M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child
An empowering alphabet book that teaches kids their ABCs and celebrates Black children! Each letter of the alphabet contains affirming, Black-positive messages, from A is for Afro, to F is for Fresh, to W is for Worthy. This book teaches children their ABCs while encouraging them to love the skin that they're in.

Not Quite Snow White
Not Quite Snow White is a delightful and inspiring picture book that highlights the importance of self-confidence while taking an earnest look at what happens when that confidence is shaken or lost. Tameika encourages us all to let our magic shine.

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
The 1619 Project's lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson.

Woke: A Young Poet’s Guide to Justice
Historically poets have been on the forefront of social movements. Woke is a collection of poems by women that reflects the joy and passion in the fight for social justice, tackling topics from discrimination to empathy, and acceptance to speaking out.

Watch Films that Teach About Black History and Culture toggle arrow

4 Little Girls - A documentary of the notorious racial terrorist bombing by the Ku Klux Klan of the African American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement, which killed four girls—14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and 11-year-old Cynthia Wesley.

Hidden Figures - Three female African American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn's launch into orbit. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with racial and gender discrimination at work.

Jim Crow of the North is a must-watch PBS documentary that explores the origins of housing segregation in the Minneapolis area. The story also illustrates how Black families and leaders resisted this destructive practice.

John Lewis: Good Trouble - An intimate account of legendary U.S. Representative John Lewis' life, legacy and more than 60 years of extraordinary activism — from the bold teenager on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement to the legislative powerhouse he was throughout his career.

Ruby Bridges - When six-year-old Ruby is chosen to be the first African American to integrate her local elementary school, she is subjected to the true ugliness of racism for the first time.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution - This documentary film is the first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for Black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.

Other Helpful Resources toggle arrow

Can Kids Change the World?
This educational video from Scholastic shines a spotlight on some of the children who have played a pivotal role in the fight for civil rights. Learn about little heroes who fearlessly stood up for justice, braving harsh consequences to make their communities more inclusive.

Celebrating Black Leaders | PBS Kids for Parents
Find Black History Month coloring sheets, game ideas, discussion questions, and more courtesy of PBS Kids for Parents!

Early Risers: A Podcast from Little Moments Count
Early Risers is a podcast from Little Moments Count and MPR with frank facts, engaging stories and real how-to’s for anyone who cares about raising children with a clear-eyed understanding of cultural differences, race, and implicit bias.

Making History: African American Pioneers of Science
For hungry minds! Explore this resource from National Geographic Kids to learn about some of the innovations made by Black scientists and inventors that make our lives better.

Learn More About Black History Month in the Girl Scouts Movement toggle arrow

GSUSA Blog – Black History Month: A Time to Celebrate Black Girl Magic Published January 2020

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio – Meet the Black Women Who Desegregated Girl Scouts Published February 2021

Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital – Celebrating Black History Month Video Published February 2022 Watch the video