Google Earth offers interactive journey in honor of Black History Month

Google wants you to learn more about how black culture has shaped American history.

Google Earth has made an interactive map in honor of Black History Month in collaboration with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University. The journey shines light on how black history has shaped the American experience in areas like advocacy, business, film, TV, education and technology.

"The stories include generations of people who pushed boundaries and resisted limiting ideologies as they paved the way for the next generation," Marian Croak, senior vice president of engineering at Google, wrote in a blog post. "While we hope to make their journey a little better than ours, it mostly certainly won't be easy. People will doubt us, and at times we will doubt ourselves, but through it all we will push forward."

The interactive map, dubbed The Journey of Us, consists of colorful pins on the globe that highlight an event or a person that's significant for the black community or the civil rights movement, such as Michael Jackson and NAACP's advocacy for educational desegregation.  

When you click on the pin, it takes you to the landmark and shows how it looks today. If you're interested in knowing more about a historical figure or point of time, a short bio in the side can lead you to more information.