Every year during Black History Month, students learn about Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman.

All of the above are American heroes. But they aren’t the only black Americans who deserve to be honored.

Kevin Hart wants to give lesser-known black heroes their day in the sun with a new special set to air on the History Channel. Called Kevin Hart Presents: The Black Man’s Guide to History, the two hour special will focus on the achievements of Matthew Henson, the first black man to reach the North Pole; Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom; Mae Jemison, the first black woman in outer space and others.

Hart was inspired to create the program by his daughter. After watching 12 Years A Slave, she grew upset, feeling that black Americans had no history outside of bondage and the struggle against injustice. Wanting to show her that that wasn’t true, Hart began writing and performing skits for her that focused on figures that achieved great things.

Her reaction to the narratives, which were peppered with Hart’s signature comedic style, were a big hit in the Hart household. Hart promises that as he moves his vignettes out of his living room and into ours, “people [will] laugh and learn a bit too.”

Henry Box Brown

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