FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb 1, 2024
Contact: Danielle Matthews, President – president@naacpmiddletown.org
Middletown NAACP Celebrates Black History Month
Feb 1, 2024 – The Middletown Branch of the NAACP joined residents across Orange County in celebrating Black History Month 2025. The United States has celebrated Black History Month every year since 1976, and schools, museums, and communities across the country will join the celebration this year.
Some say Black History Month is unnecessary or even call it divisive, but the purpose is to fix the way Black and African-American history has often been misrepresented in our history books, or omitted altogether. Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded Black History Month because he was barred from attending American Historical Association conferences, despite being a dues-paying member and holding a Ph.D. in history from Harvard.
As an example, many New Yorkers are not aware that slavery was common in New York until the state passed abolition in 1827. The earliest Black residents of Orange County were enslaved Africans, brought by the first Dutch settlers in the 1600s.
“We have been here since the beginning,” said Middletown Branch President Danielle Matthews, “but too often we are left out of the story. That’s why it’s so important we take a month to focus on celebrating Black history.”
The Middletown NAACP will join several events throughout the month commemorating Black History Month. Our monthly meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, February 18 at 7:00 PM. NAACP membership is not required to attend, and we invite everyone in our community to join.
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About the NAACP Middletown Branch
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most preeminent civil rights organization in the nation. Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP has more than 2,200 units and branches across the nation, and well over 2 million activists. The Middletown Branch is Unit #2156-B, and represents people who live and/or work in western Orange County, New York, including Middletown, Montgomery, Port Jervis, Warwick, and other nearby towns and villages. The NAACP Middletown Branch was reactivated in January of 2024. Our mission is to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.
