World

The month of February is Black History Month in the United States, where the country celebrates its Black population and honors the contributions of African-Americans to society. The month-long commemoration begun as Negro History Week in February 1926. Historian and author Dr. Carter G. Woodson was said to have selected the week in February that "included the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass — two key figures in the history of Black Americans," according to the Library of Congress in Washington. VOA’s Ignatius Annor revisits his experience at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. Memorial in Washington asking African Americans about what they are most proud of as Blacks in America.

Before Syria’s civil war, the ancient ruins of Palmyra were one of the country’s premier tourist attractions. But as VOA’s Heather Murdock reports, the modern city is itself now in ruins and littered with mines that have killed several people trying to return to their homes. Videographer: Yan Boechat