Key Takeaways
- Celebrities like Jennifer Hudson and Barack Obama emphasize honoring the past while building a better future.
- Others, like Morgan Freeman and Mo’Nique, challenge the idea of limiting Black history to one month.
- These reflections reveal how personal experiences shape each celebrity’s view of Black History Month.
February can mean different things to different people. It’s Valentine’s season, one of the busiest times of the year for award shows, and perhaps most importantly, Black History Month.
While we — and many of the celebrities featured below, including Jennifer Hudson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Nas — celebrate our Blackness every single day, the significance of BHM obviously goes without saying. It’s a time to collectively recognize and honor the accomplishments, sacrifices and hard-fought battles of those who came before us, whether that’s civil rights icons like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks or the influential contemporaries of our own time.
Below, scroll through what Black History Month means to 12 different celebrities across music, sports, entertainment, and beyond.
1. Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson opened Black History Month 2023 on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” by highlighting the importance of honoring the past while continuing to build the future. She noted that many of our favorite celebrities owe their success to those who came before them. “A part of building the future is reflecting on the past. That is why this month is so very important,” she explained.
“This is when we take time to remember those who came before us because if it was not for their sacrifices, we wouldn’t be here today,” Hudson continued. “If there was no Venus and Serena [Williams], there would be no Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles, and there are so many others I could name and mention.” Hearing that, we definitely gave the right person a platform!
2. Sheryl Lee Ralph
“Black history may be the shortest month of the year, but it is long in [the] contributions and achievements of Black people in America,” Sheryl Lee Ralph shared with TODAY. She emphasized that those who are often “ignored, invisible and unacknowledged for far too long” are finally given the recognition they deserve during the month.
As others on our list similarly shared, Ralph also stressed that she lives Black history every day of the year by striving to be the best version of herself, or “by setting an example of excellence for myself and those around me,” as she put it.
3. Javicia Leslie
In that same TODAY feature, “Batwoman” actress Javicia Leslie pointed out that Black History Month means “so much more” than how it’s often viewed at face value. “On the surface, it’s one month in a year where our country recognizes the greatness of our ancestors and current leaders,” she told the outlet. “It's the journey our people took from being slaves and cattle to becoming the president of the United States.”
4. Morgan Freeman
Not every celebrity shares a favorable view of Black History Month, and in Morgan Freeman’s case, he’s called it an “insult” that Black history is only collectively observed for one month. “You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” he asked in an interview with The Sunday Times. Similarly, while speaking with The Guardian, Freeman said, “I've said it before: Black history is American history. They're completely intertwined.”
5. Barack Obama
Who better to speak about Black History Month than the United States’ first Black president, Barack Obama? During his White House reception celebrating the month in 2016, he explained, "Black History Month shouldn’t be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history, or somehow just boiled down to a compilation of greatest hits from the March on Washington, or from some of our sports heroes.”
Barack went on to say, “It’s about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America.”
6. Mo’Nique
Like many others, Mo’Nique strongly believes Blackness should be celebrated “365 days of the year.” Speaking with Detroit’s Local 4, she said, “I refuse to let you give me 28 days to tell me how great my people were. For me, Black History Month is today. It’s gon’ be tomorrow, it’s gon’ be June 5, it’s gon’ be Oct. 7, it’s gon’ be Nov. 23 ‘cause I give you my word, if you pull up any of those days, you’ll see greatness of who we are.”
During that same conversation, Mo’Nique also pointed out that people often highlight “strangers because they’re celebrities” when it comes to Black History Month inspiration, instead of recognizing the everyday figures in their own lives.
7. Kerry Washington
Black History Month is about way more than “just slavery and Jim Crow,” according to Kerry Washington. In 2022, she honored the late, great Beverly Johnson while sharing what the month means to her, especially as it relates to acknowledging how foundational Black history is to this country. “Our history is a tapestry of beauty, culture, power, community, resilience, and strength,” Washington penned in an Instagram post. “And through it all — the pain and the joy — Black women have held it down!”
8. Ts Madison
Speaking with BuzzFeed, Ts Madison shared that, like many of us, she was taught about the usual civil rights icons — Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and others — but believes that one day, her name will be included in history books as well. “It means so much more to me because I'm a part of Black history. It's personal to me now,” the queer pioneer said.
She added, “That's why Black history is important to me because I'm able to create and manifest it. I am a part of pushing Black and queer culture forward."
9. Aliyah Boston
WNBA star Aliyah Boston didn’t mince words when sharing what Black History Month means to her. “I think it’s great to put Black people on a pedestal,” she said. In an Instagram post shared by the Indiana Fever celebrating the month, Boston shared, “As a Black woman in sport, there’s so many difficult things that happen. The way that you’re looked at, the way that you’re talked about, the way that you’re represented.”
10. Tracee Ellis Ross
While Tracee Ellis Ross was technically speaking about the “black-ish” episode she directed titled “Black History Month,” her words very easily extend to the broader meaning of BHM itself. “We are a vast group of people that historically, in the present, and in the future that’s coming down the pike, there is more to share that could never fit into a month,” she told Variety.
Ross also emphasized that BHM isn’t about “celebrating for just one moment,” but instead about “liberating and empowering the different stories and different voices so we can all be lifted up by them as a culture.”
11. Nas
Nas was raised with the belief that “every month was Black History Month,” which doesn’t sound like a bad way to live. In an open letter for Google Arts & Culture’s Black History Month celebration, the Queensbridge MC reflected on the lasting impact Black musical greats had on his life. He emphasized that his ancestors, contemporaries, and “everyday dreamers” like himself “can, shall, and continue to make history.”
12. Michelle Obama
We couldn’t leave without including some words of wisdom from Michelle Obama, who shared her thoughts on Black History Month in 2026. “For 100 years, each February we’ve celebrated the Black folks who've shaped our nation and fought for our freedoms. As we reflect on how far we've come, we can't lose sight of the work that remains,” she wrote on X.
Michelle later stressed that our ancestors “depend on all of us” to continue pushing their legacy forward, even in the face of resistance. “That's what Black history is all about: the enduring hope, joy, resilience, and resistance,” she added.