Hi, John:

This past week has been hard for Black students. For the first time in their K-12 educational experience, they would have had access to an Advanced Placement African American Studies course —the only college-level course available that would have touched on the Black Lives Matter Movement, the concept of intersectionality and lessons related to the Black experience.¹ But under the direct supervision of the Florida State Board of Education, Gov. Ron DeSantis quickly quashed  AP African American Studies as if  Black people’s lived experiences don’t matter. 

Voicing the concerns of Black students and Floridians, Color Of Change member Brianna Beadle launched a petition demanding an immediate reversal of this decision. With 25,000 signatures and counting from members like you, it’s clear that Brianna is working hard to make the Florida Department of Education feel the pressure. 

Please, make a special gift to our first end-of-month fundraising goal of the year. John, we need your support if we want AP African American Studies to remain.

POWER OUR EFFORTS TO #DEFENDBLACKHISTORY!

This blatant attempt to censor Black history has been endorsed by major corporations such as Walmart and AT&T, both of which have people on their payrolls and executive boards who are members of the Florida State Board of Education and its leadership who back DeSantis’ decision.  These leaders are simply saying the quiet part out loud, and ultimately represent the values and priorities of these corporations: Cultural exclusion and upholding the status quo. 

John, AP African American Studies is the first and only Advanced Placement course to be denied certification in the program’s more than 70-year history.² Other courses that uplift other groups’ histories and center whiteness, like AP European History, have remained unscathed and largely exempt from scrutiny. Unless Walmart, AT&T and other corporations hold to account their executives who have a key role in this education decision, the worst is yet to come for Black history erasure in K-12 curricula. 

This is where we need you to come in. Can you donate $20 or more to our end-of-month fundraising goal so that we have the resources needed to run a robust campaign against these corporations?

YES, I WILL CHIP IN!

Until justice is real,

The Color Of Change Team

1.  Steve Contorno, “DeSantis administration rejects proposed AP African American Studies class in Florida high schools,” CNN Politics, January 19, 2023, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/387747?t=9&akid=55533%2E4731121%2EWE5TDR; [@normative], January 21, 2023, “This is from Florida’s education commissioner, depressingly. Reflect for a moment on the incredible degree of intellectual insecurity it reveals,” [Tweet], Twitter, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/387748?t=11&akid=55533%2E4731121%2EWE5TDR. 
2.  Jeremy C. Young [@jeremycyoung], January 23, 2023, “A basic fact about Florida’s ban on AP African American Studies: since the creation of the Advanced Placement program in 1952, no state has ever refused to certify an AP course until now. No state has put politics ahead of students’ access to early college credit until now,” [Tweet], Twitter, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/387749?t=13&akid=55533%2E4731121%2EWE5TDR.

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change.

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