“Ridiculous,” said Morgan Freeman when asked about his thoughts on Black History Month during a CBS 60 Minutes interview. “You’re going to relegate my history to a month?”

Interviewer Mike Wallace was stunned.

Freeman is known for his deep, rich voice and astounding film performances, so he fits perfectly into 2024’s Black History Month theme of “African Americans and the arts.”

However, to Freeman, Black History Month is nothing but detrimental to the advancement of African Americans. 

“I don’t want a Black History Month,” said Freeman. “Black history is American history.”

Freeman’s views make it difficult to highlight him in honor of Black History Month, but his journey through life and emergence into Hollywood stardom deserves attention.

As a child, Freeman’s talents were obvious.

He starred in his school’s play at the age of nine, and at 12, he received an unusual punishment for pulling a prank by being forced to enter a statewide drama competition, according to the History Channel.

He won that competition and thus began the career of one of the most influential actors of our time.

But when Freeman graduated high school, he turned down a drama scholarship from Jackson State University to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot in the Air Force, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Nonetheless, Freeman eventually left the Air Force in 1959 and began taking acting classes in Los Angeles. 

Freeman moved to New York in 1960 and took up several roles in plays and small films.

He continued to climb up the ladder of the film industry and made what he considered to be his breakthrough in the 1994 film, “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Over the next several decades, Freeman would go on to win numerous awards and cement himself as one of the most iconic voices in film.