Ten Years. One Mission. The Signal Was Always There.

Recognition is not the same as visibility. And visibility is not the same as power.

Most institutions understand this difference in theory. Dr. Sha Battle understood it in practice — and in 2016, she did something about it. She filed the paperwork.

This April marks the 10th Anniversary of International Black Women’s History Month — a movement born not in a boardroom, not in a government chamber, but in the mind of an Atlanta-based tech consultant who looked at a search engine and saw the same ten names every time.

Section I · The Origin

She Filed the Paperwork.

Dr. Sha Battle is a native Georgian. Her career runs through Coca-Cola, Exxon, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She understands systems — how they are built, how they are maintained, and more importantly, how they fail to include.

In 2016, Battle established April as International Black Women’s History Month in the city of Atlanta. Not as a social campaign. Not as a hashtag. As a formally registered month of observance — paperwork filed, proclamation secured, foundation laid.

She also founded Black Women in Jazz & The Arts Month (March) and is now developing International Black Love Month (June). This is not content creation. This is calendar infrastructure.

The first observance was April 2016. The first Black Women’s History Month Honors award show followed the same month. Small in scale. Enormous in intention.

Section II · The Distribution Gap

The Signal Was There. The Platform Was Not.

Here is what KMOB1003 documents: Black women have always been the signal. The gap has never been talent. The gap has always been distribution.

February has Black History Month. March has Women’s History Month. Both exist. Both matter. And yet, as the Institute for Women’s Policy Research notes, women’s experiences are not a monolith — and the specific intersection of race, gender, class, and systemic exclusion that shapes Black women’s lives requires its own frame, its own documentation, its own month.

Battle saw this gap not as a wound to mourn — but as a frequency to activate. KMOB1003 recognizes that move. It is the same logic that built this platform: when the existing infrastructure does not carry your signal, you build new infrastructure.

Section III · The Proof

Ten Years Later. The Movement Is Global.

In 2024, Virginia Democratic Delegate Josh Cole introduced HJ8 — formally designating April as Black Women’s History Month in the state of Virginia. It passed both the House and the Senate.

In Canada, the NAACP Vancouver Branch released a statement affirming that the contributions of Black women to American society are “so significant and multifaceted that they cannot be contained within a single month.”

Atlanta proclaimed it. Virginia legislated it. Canada amplified it. The world is catching up to what one woman filed paperwork to create in 2016.

This year’s theme: “Continuing The Fight For Equity, Knowing Our Worth, Trusting Our God.” The 10th Anniversary Celebration takes place April 24–26, 2026 in Atlanta.

Hear It Directly · Dr. Sha Battle

Dr. Sha Battle on the Invisible Women Podcast · Season 3 Ep. 6 · HNTT Productions · The story behind International Black Women’s History Month

Section IV · The KMOB1003 Position

Documenting the Culture in Real Time.

KMOB1003 does not document Black women’s history once a year. We track it in real time — through radio, editorial media, spoken word, and a global audience of 830K+ across 50+ countries.

The Spoken Word Archive on this platform exists for exactly this reason: to give permanent digital infrastructure to voices that do not wait for permission. The artists in that archive — DaJona Butler, Ayanna Albertson, Blacqwildflowr, Sherrika Mitchell — are doing what Battle did. They are building the record.

Battle said it clearly in her advice to anyone building a cause: “Just keep putting information out there. People will listen and support. Don’t be discouraged. Things take time.” Ten years is proof that she was right.

Section V · The Institutional Close

Own the Platform the History Is Written On.

Battle is now developing a book documenting the contributions of Black and minority women — with photos and bios — intended eventually as required reading in schools. That is not a content project. That is a publishing infrastructure play.

If you are a Black woman with a story, a manuscript, or a body of work that deserves permanent documentation — the infrastructure exists to publish it, distribute it, and protect it. KMOB1003’s partnership with Spines exists for exactly this purpose: to take voice and turn it into a lasting, owned asset.

Recognition is what others give you. Infrastructure is what you build. Dr. Sha Battle built the month. Now build what lasts beyond it.