Black History Month!

In the States, February is Black History Month, a month dedicated to, well, black history. The actor Morgan Freeman once asked why his people's history was being relegated to one month; I'm afraid that the answer is that without this month, his people's history would be relegated completely. It's depressing how history still tends to mean the history of white European men, with all other history hidden away in specialist subjects.

I'm not really qualified to comment on the politics of Black History Month, however. As long as it's around, though, it's about time I did my share. Here it is.

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The first African-American playmate ever was Miss March 1965 Jennifer Jackson.

The second African-American playmate and first black woman on the cover of Playboy: Miss October 1969 Jean Bell.

Here's the cover, with the naughty bits blacked out:

The first black woman to have a cover all to herself was the late Darine Stern, in October 1971, and it's one of the best covers ever.

The first black Playmate of the Year was the utterly gorgeous Reneé Tenison, who was Playmate of the Year in 1990, seen here with her identical twin sister. No, really.

The first African-born Playmate was Miss March 2008 Ida Ljungqvist, who went on to become Playmate of the Year 2009.

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There have been plenty of other smoking hot black Playmates over the years. Here's a few.

Miss June 1975 Azizi Johari:

Miss January 2002 Nicole Narain:

And Miss September 2007 Patrice Hollis:

Finally, it's only appropriate that Miss February 2012 is the beautiful Leola Bell:

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And that's my contribution. They're all beautiful. Thank you, Playboy!