February 11, 2020

Black History Month: Celebrating the Diversity of Black Identity

Racial oppression plays a significant part in American history, and it’s critical our students learn about it. But this February, we’re encouraging educators to reflect on their own practice and ensure that the Black history they’re teaching—this month and year-round—isn’t limited to narratives of trauma. To support that learning, this week we’ll be sharing some of our favorite resources for celebrating the diversity of Black history, identity and experience.

Teaching America’s Interwoven Histories // Monita Bell with Tiya Miles

Teaching Stonewall // Cory Collins 

Black LGBTQ History: Teachers Must Do Better // Henry Cody Miller
Celebrate Audre Lorde With This One World Poster
Audre Lorde insisted upon the dignity of intersectional identities, including her own: She famously described herself as a “black, lesbian, feminist, mother, poet warrior.” Lorde fought for equity and justice for people of color, women, members of the LGBTQ community and many others. Celebrate Lorde by displaying this inspiring poster.

Student Text: Excerpt of Bone Black by bell hooks

Author bell hooks’ memoir Bone Black details her childhood growing up in the South during segregation. This text for grades 6–12 offers students a look at hooks’ experience at a newly integrated school and an introduction to the author and philosopher whose work on race and gender is central to contemporary understandings of feminism. Use our Learning Plan Builder to create a learning plan using this text.

Bayard Rustin and the Central Struggle of Our Time

Just last week, the governor of California finally pardoned gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin for violating laws targeting LGBTQ people over 50 years ago. This article highlights Rustin’s legacy as an advocate for civil rights for LGBTQ and Black people, his lifelong fight against racism and homophobia, and his identity as an intersectional activist.

Do Educators Empower or Oppress?

In addressing intersecting identities, educators can contribute to students’ empowerment—or oppression. In this article, college student Maryam Asenuga reflects on her education as a Black, female, Muslim student. She explains how the choices her educators made shaped her understanding of herself and her role in the classroom, and why there is no such thing as neutrality when it comes to students and their lives.

Check Out What We’re Reading

“When dress codes reinforce white norms, being black becomes a violation.” — The Hechinger Report

“I cannot claim to be culturally responsive if I proclaim to my students that their cultural ways of communicating are somehow inferior to ‘standard English.’” — Christina Torres

“Critics of the technology … point to the growing evidence of racial bias in facial recognition systems. In December, the federal government released a study, one of the largest of its kind, that found that most commercial facial recognition systems exhibited bias, falsely identifying African American and Asian faces 10 to 100 times more than Caucasian faces. Another federal study found a higher rate of mistaken matches among children.” — The New York Times
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