Industry observers say it is important for publishers and retailers to help make the annual focus relevant to everyone—not just to the African-American community.

This month Abingdon Press publishes African American History Month 2011: Daily Devotions by Mackie L. Harper Norris.

In February, Abingdon Press will release Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land by the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, an influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement. The publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House will also release in the same month Date With Destiny by the Rev. Joseph W. Walker III and The Triumph of Grace, a "Grace in Africa" novel by Kay Marshall Strom.

February will also see publication of While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement by Carolyn Maull McKinstry, from Tyndale House Publishers. At 14, Maull was just a few feet away when a Ku Klux Klan-planted bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 15, 1963.

Additionally in February, Tyndale House is releasing the Bound for Glory People's Parallel Bible KJV/NLT—featuring art by renowned calligrapher Timothy R. Botts.

"I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that Black History Month is not just for African-Americans," said Judson Press Marketing Director Kim Shimer. "Publishers and retailers need to consider how they can make it relevant to everyone. Giving consideration to the places where black history intersects throughout American culture is key."

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