3 Things We're NOT Doing this Black History Month or Ever Again (Part Three)

So you’ve probably heard this last point before, but I’m going to say it anyway because it’s necessary. Black History did not begin at American enslavement, go idle for awhile, and then end at the Civil Rights Movement. We have more heroes than Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. Black history is AMERICAN history, so for every era you teach about in U.S. History, BLACK PEOPLE WERE THERE. Our ancestors were doing amazing things in West Africa before they were kidnapped and brought here, and we’ve continued to do amazing things up to today. Broaden the curriculum this month and beyond.

We’re not going to keep pretending that slavery and the civil rights movement are the totality of Black history. Check out the following links to help you expand the narratives you’re sharing.

• Teaching Black History Beyond Slavery and Black History Month

• Black History Lesson Ideas Beyond MLK & Civil Rights

• NEA Resources for Black History Month

• Ending Curriculum Violence

• Black History Month Teaching: Miseducation or Empowerment?

• KNOW YOUR HISTORY: 10 UNDERRATED BOOKS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH

• 20 Black Children’s Books by Black Authors

Keep the conversation going in the comments or in your own circles. Questions for Reflection: How are you going to include more inclusive teaching of Black history in February and all year long?