Black History Month wasn’t always a monthlong celebration. In February 1926, historian and author Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week. It was a weeklong celebration in an effort to teach people about African-American history and the contributions of Black people.

The instructions were published Tuesday in a Defense Intelligence Agency memo and affect 11 annual events, including Black History Month, which begins Saturday, and National Hispanic Heritage

The Pentagon’s intelligence agency has put on hold observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Holocaust Days of Remembrance and other annual historical or cultural events due to