BEAUMONT, Texas — Black History Month began in 1970 as an effort to bring attention to the contributions that African Americans have given to the United States.
It is meant to honor, and respect all Black people in remembrance of every period of American history and through all of America's dark histories.
One Southeast Texas artist has found a way to honor those that came before him and those who grew up with him, with each stroke of his paintbrush.
At age 60, Wayne Goodman decided to be a historian through art, weaving them both together like the material that frames his art.
"I certainly deal with history quite a bit and I deal with even personal history," Goodman said. "Mud cloth comes in this particular color, which is black and beige, certainly it's an African print."
Goodman now has many paintings that drape the halls of galleries from the Art Studio in Beaumont, to the Redbud Arts Center in Houston.
"It's still amazing, shocking, you know? And it's gotten me just to think bigger I guess," he said.
It all started 12 years ago.
"We are sitting on the floor doing images and I actually finished one image and the child, she said uncle Wayne, 'I want you to draw an image with nothing but little girls,'" Goodman said.
Some of Goodman's paintings now, reflect his memories of growing up.
"I'm from the south end of town. The image is produced in a form of a newspaper headline. So this is the South End Free Press. It was certainly isolated, segregated," Goodman said.
The people who remind him of the struggle, like Harriet Tubman and Langston Hughes, continue to be honored and remembered with each stroke of his paintbrush.
"One of one of my favorite poems by Langston Hughes is winter sweetness and it goes like this.. 'the little house is sugar, which snow its roof is piled and from its tiny window, peeps a maple sugar child,'" Goodman said.
Just as he has been inspired, he hopes to inspire people to dig deeper.
"One thing about people, we don't read like we used to and reading is critical. Right? So, I intend to really inspire people to okay, who is this person, let me dig a little bit deeper and find out a little bit more, because you know, history is certainly is best qualified to teach," Goodman said.