Aretha Franklin honoured in wax for Black History Month

Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is to be immortalised as a waxwork to mark the start of Black History Month in the US.

The Respect hit-maker’s wax double will be unveiled at Madame Tussaud museum in New York today (Thursday).

The big reveal will also launch a three-month exhibit at the museum in recognition of Black History Month, which is aimed at promoting awareness about black culture.

The interactive display will allow visitors to pose with the likes of the Queen of Soul, James Brown and Billie Holiday, play the harmonica alongside a young Stevie Wonder, and join Ella Fitzgerald for a duet.

In the UK October is our month for celebrating black history.

Acknowledgment of black history was first conceived and documented by Dr. Carter Woodson (1875-1950), son of former slaves whose childhood was spent working in the Kentucky coal mines. At the age of 20 he enrolled in high school and graduated within two years. He later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912, only the second black person in his era to do so.

Woodson was appalled to learn that accomplishments by black people were generally ignored in American history, and when it was mentioned it was almost always in a demeaning manner that reflected their inferior social status. Blacks have been in America as far back as colonial times, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in history books, thanks to Woodson’s initiative.

Determined to educate the masses on the black culture, their historic struggle, accomplishments and contributions, he took on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation’s history. He founded the Association of Study of Negro Life (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later The Journal of Negro History.

In 1926, Woodson launched Negro History Week which has evolved into Black History Month. He chose the second week of February to mark the event because it was the birthdays of two men who influenced the black population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

The purpose of Black History Month is, of course, to promote black history to the general public. And, even though there has been controversy over the usefulness of designating one month a year to a specific race, it has encouraged and obligated schools — at every level — to recognise and emphasize the importance of black peoples’ contributions to the world.