It’s Black History Month, but I don’t need to remind you, right?
Greetings all,
Happy Black History Month to all who celebrate!
Something that always comes up for me during this time dedicated to African-American History is how big my own gaps are. By now I know enough names and stages to appear somewhat knowledgeable but this is only superficial awareness. What has been of particular interest for me as an adult is learning to read history in order to better understand my parents and grandparents. My paternal grandmother’s life was shaped by the Great Migration of Black folks from the South to cities in the North and West. Between the 1890s and the early 1900s she worked her way from Alabama, through Florida all the way to Cleveland, Ohio where she settled and had children. My parents grew up during the Depression and my father served in WWII in the Pacific. These experiences dramatically informed who they became as parents and community members.
As a kid, this did not concern me in the least! It has only been much later as I have charted my own path through adulthood that I’ve come to appreciate to what ends their resilience, foresight and determination served to make my and my siblings’ lives possible. One example: Growing up I had heard tell of an incident around the time my parents moved into our house which was then in a still primarily white neighbourhood. A couple of years ago, I located a news article which documented it. Black paint and tar had been thrown against the front of the house as a warning. The newspaper date is Tuesday, July 26th, 1960.
It’s one thing to read about housing segregation and redlining (a practice of banks drawing lines around Black neighborhoods on maps of American cities, shading them red, and designating these as essentially no-loan zones), but another thing entirely to recognize your own home as part of the very concrete history of housing discrimination. The incident happened before I was born and by the time I could ride my bike up and down our street, almost all the houses belonged to Black folks. Over decades signs of disinvestment and community break down became apparent. For my parents this was not history, it was their life in progress.
All this to say, that history is hardly abstract for many. It survives in the form of trauma, distrust, and fear for those who have been borne the brunt of policies and conflicts aimed at maintaining or reasserting a long-standing dominance. Think settler-colonialism, ethnic nationalism, unchecked patriarchy, or phases of religious nationalism. Unfortunately, there are too many examples to count. As you highlight aspects of Black History with your students or others this month, please take time to consider what it means to learn history from Black perspectives and how Black History is part and parcel of, rather than separate from what is sometimes termed mainstream American History.
Here are some resources to assist you:
Crash Course Videos (Middle/High school audiences)
Clint Hill’s voice throughout the Crash Course Black American History on YouTube is a balm for listeners. These sub-15 minute videos provide useful overviews which invite deeper exploration in their wake. There are 52 episodes in the linked playlist with a broad selection of topics that include notable events but also profiles of influential artists, cultural developments and political leaders. The episode on hip-hop surprised me with its attention to cultural and political context in which the genre arose. Some of the vocabulary is rather advanced but the animation may help bridge the gap for middle school viewers.
See a librarian!
Rather than toss out a new link, I have a suggestion: consult your favorite librarian! We’ve become so accustomed to seeking all our information online that we can sometimes forget the literal wealth of resources that reside in the people around us. Librarians are information professionals - they are uniquely positioned to help you access the resources you need for your classroom. If your school is currently without a librarian or library (I’m so sorry!), then public libraries and librarians are also fantastic!
Don’t sleep on the arts!
The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC has a digital toolkit dedicated to exploring the arts during Black History Month. It features elements from various displays throughout the museum. As a remarkable collection of impressions, the opening to the Cultural Expressions Exhibit (see below) might provide an interesting starting point for many discussions and questions. Above all, it serves up multiple reminders of the many ways in which the arts support and sustain marginalized communities.
Black and Palestinian Activist Solidarity
And while we’re on the topic of Black History, please also consider this reporting from Mother Jones on the long-running connections between Black and Palestinian activists.
Also …
Let us not be silent on the topic of Palestine. The situation in Gaza and the West Bank continues to worsen. Palestinian survivors of military strikes from the air and on the ground are facing famine, disease and zero safety. The South African case against Israel brought before the International Court of Justice charging genocide has been allowed to proceed. Our calls for a ceasefire go on.
There is so much more I would like to draw your attention to but for now let’s pump the brakes.
I have 3 more things that are fairly unrelated to share and then I’ll let you go.
Thanks to the community pages of Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter, I learned about an excellent learning opportunity, particularly for N. American educators: Native American Studies for Teachers is being offered online in June 2024. The lineup of facilitators is excellent!
In January, I had the privilege of attending the first in-person conference of AIELOC at UNIS Hanoi, Vietnam and it was everything! Next year’s conference will be Feb. 7-9 in Accra, Ghana. International educators, start planning now! Keep up with their event calendar here. (*Assoc. of Int’l Educators and Leaders of Color)
On a personal note, I was recently a guest on Audrey Watters’ podcast, Second Breakfast, where we talked about distance running and teaching PE. Audrey, formerly known as ‘Ed-tech’s Cassandra’, is a dear friend and mentor. She is someone I feel ridiculously lucky to know.
Alright, y’all. I’ve said more than I planned to say. I know you don’t have time to chase up all these links and jump down these rabbit holes. But at least we know where to look should our calendars suddenly open up.
May your February be replete with Black brilliance of every shape and dimension!
Holding you in my thoughts,
Sherri