OUSD Honors Black History Month 2026

Keeping It 100: Rising in Our Truth, Elevating Our Youth

February 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, which began as Negro History Week in 1926, founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. What was originally a visionary act of truth-telling has grown into the oldest national heritage celebration in the United States. And this year, it’s a centennial celebration rooted in resistance, scholarship, pride, and possibility.

Black History Month honors the rich and powerful impact of African American history, heritage, and culture in Oakland, across the United States, and around the world. It reminds us that Black history is living, evolving, and foundational to our collective future.

In Oakland, Black history has always been local, lived, and led.

This centennial also marks the beginning of what is dubbed Black Futures Year — a year-round commitment to truth, possibility, and generational investment that extends beyond just one month and into everything we build together.

This year, Oakland Unified School District celebrates this historic moment with the theme:

"Keeping It 100: Rising in Our Truth, Elevating Our Youth."

To "Keep It 100" is to be honest, grounded, and accountable. At 100 years, this theme is both a reflection and a responsibility.

Rising In Our Truth

In Yoruba culture and language, truth is expressed through several interconnected concepts that emphasize honesty, integrity, and moral uprightness:

• Òótọ́ / Òtítọ́ (Truth, Honesty): Integrity and alignment between one's words and actions
• Òdodo (Correctness, Justice): Truth as fairness, righteousness, and moral correctness
• Sọ òótọ́ / sọ òdodo: To speak the truth

In Yoruba and Ifá traditions, truth is described as "the word that cannot spoil", a fundamental, immutable principle believed to guide humanity and sustain balance. Those who live and speak truth are supported by the Ìmọ̀lẹ̀, the guiding forces of nature.

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, rising in our truth means acknowledging the full scope of Black history, the brilliance and the burden, the joy and the struggle, the resistance and the resilience, and committing ourselves to clarity, courage, and collective responsibility as we shape the future.

Elevating Our Youth

Elevating our youth means recognizing that Black children are not just inheritors of history they are authors of the future.

Across OUSD, our students carry generations of wisdom, creativity, leadership, and vision. Elevating our youth means committing, every day, to schools where Black students are affirmed, challenged, protected, and empowered to imagine futures larger than any limitation placed before them.

This work is grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which teaches us "I am because we are." Ubuntu reminds us that individual success is inseparable from collective well-being. When we elevate our youth, we elevate our community. Together, we are Keeping It 100. Ase!

Black History Month at 100 Across OUSD

The Office of Equity's African American Female Excellence (AAFE) and African American Male Achievement (AAMA) programs—alongside schools, families, and community partners throughout OUSD—are honoring Black History Month with a wide range of celebrations, learning experiences, calls to action, and opportunities to amplify Black voices across the African diaspora.

This work reflects a districtwide commitment to truth, excellence, and community-building, and to ensuring that Black history is taught, honored, and lived every day in our schools.

Oakland 2026 Black History Month Community Events

Oakland Community Events:

Queen Iminah and students from the African American Female Excellence initiative performed at the Golden State Warriors Black History Month Celebration at Chase Center on February 1. The celebration featured vibrant live entertainment, featuring song and dance, an arts and crafts station, and free culinary delights from Black-owned businesses.

On February 3, the school population at Piedmont Avenue Elementary gathered in the multipurpose room for a special celebration of Black History Month. They enjoyed a play that showed key historical events and figures. The play was written by Teacher on Special Assignment, Shamika Pratt, and Early Literacy Tutor, Loretta Thomas, and featured history from Africa, to more recent moments such as when Ruby Bridges went to her all-white school for the first time.

The Annual MLK Oratorical Fest is taking place across the District currently, and students of all ages are sharing their power and their voice while lifting up the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other orators throughout history, along with their own original works.

The Oakland Public Education Fund’s Annual African American Read-In Week happens February 23-27, and volunteers are needed. You can register at the link above to volunteer to read books by and about African Americans to students in our elementary schools.

The Black Culture Fest (BCF) is coordinated by Black staff from the Oakland Public Library who represent the diversity of African/Black communities and proudly share the brilliance + strength of our heritages. There is programming for Black History Month throughout February (and beyond). You can find more information here.

Join Oakland Performing Arts Intensive (OPAI) at Castlemont High School on Friday, February 13, as we journey through the African American Experience Through Dance, beginning in West Africa and ending in the present day USA. This story will be told utilizing West African and African American art forms. Please use this form to register your class(es), to come and see 1 of our 3 performances. Registration is required. Sign up to bring a group or a class today!

And on Saturday, February 14, at the Henry J. Kaiser Center, there is the Black Comedy Competition and Festival. It will include a youth artist forum for aspiring entertainment artists.

We invite the community to join us at additional events that celebrate Black joy, culture, artistry, scholarship, and resistance, including:

• Black Joy Parade (February 22)
• Black Power Exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California (Ongoing)
• Black Panther Party Legacy City Tour (Ongoing)

These opportunities highlight the depth, diversity, and dynamism of Black history in Oakland.

For a full list of events and resources, please visit our Black History Month Resource Guide.

Reading, Reflecting, and Rising Together

We invite students and staff to explore the Celebrating Black Joy, Black History, and Black Excellence digital book collection curated by our OUSD library team on Sora. The collection features fiction and nonfiction titles, biographies, and audiobooks that uplift Black voices and stories across generations. Sign in with your OUSD username and password to access hundreds of titles celebrating Black excellence.

Share Your Black History Month Story

We encourage all students, staff, and schools to share how you are celebrating Black History Month. Send us photos and short narratives to share with our OUSD community, or post on social media using:

#KeepingIt100OUSD #BlackJoyBlackExcellenceOUSD #BlackHistoryOUSD #OaklandBHM

Every story matters. Every celebration inspires.

In Memory and Eternal Love: Oscar C. Wright

As we honor Black history at 100, we pause to honor the life and legacy of Oscar C. Wright, an Oakland-based African American education activist whose work exemplified what it means to Keep it 100.

Born into a family of activists on a plantation in rural Mississippi, where his father organized with civil rights activist and community organizer Fannie Lou Hamer, Mr. Wright served in World War II and the Korean War before moving to Oakland in the 1950s. He worked as a contractor and engineer, becoming one of the first Black foremen for Caltrans, and was a leader in Oakland's NAACP chapter.

Mr. Wright advocated tirelessly for equality in OUSD. In 1994, he and the African-American Education Task Force sued OUSD for violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2000, he launched the African American Honor Roll, recognizing Black students who earned a 3.0 GPA or higher—a celebration that continues to this day.

His leadership and unwavering belief in young people continue to shape our district. As he reminded us:

"It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about the children."

A Closing Word

May we keep it 100 in how we teach, how we lead, how we love, and how we show up for our children—this month, this year, and for generations to come.

In community,

Dr. Denise Saddler
Superintendent

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For more information:

• African American Female Excellence (AAFE)
• African American Male Achievement (AAMA)
• Office of Equity
• OUSD Reparations for Black Students