Education Week - February 2, 2022 - 18

A Note From the
Guest Editor
A
nother February means another
Black History Month, a celebration
that educator Carter G. Woodson
started 96 years ago as Negro History
Week. Most histories indicate that Woodson
selected the month of February because
Black communities already had a tradition of
celebrating the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln
and Frederick Douglass-both of whom were
born this month.
We've come a long way since 1926, as
Negro History Week evolved into Black
History Month. But we still have a lot of work
to do to improve how Black history is taught
and learned in schools, especially given the
widespread backlash against critical race
theory and other forms of racially conscious
instruction.
The average K-12 history curriculum
presents Black history in abbreviated jumps
from slavery and European colonization to
the Civil War and Reconstruction to the civil
rights movement. This approach ignores
thousands of years of African history, presents
significant gaps in Black history, and paints
Black Americans as the passive recipients
of freedom and U.S. democracy. Only a few
charismatic and respectable Black messiahs-
usually Christian, middle-class, able-bodied,
and heterosexual men-are named, and
instruction focuses on the " historical firsts " of
Black people who have broken down barriers
into white society, giving the impression that
this is the standard for historical significance.
When translating Black history content
knowledge into teaching practices that love
and honor the humanity of Black people, we
need also to rethink how we celebrate Black
History Month. The original intent was less
about creating space for Black history learning
than enhancing already established Black
history spaces.
Black History Month was never intended
to be the only time to teach Black history,
but rather a time to reflect and demonstrate
the Black history that students learned all
year. Think of Black History Month as an
assessment or, even better, a showcase, where
we take our Black history knowledge and
transform it into actionable and practical ways
to enhance our democracy.
This year, the Center for K-12 Black
History and Racial Literacy Education at the
University at Buffalo in partnership with
Education Week presents five essays written
by educators, students, and scholars. They
provide diverse perspectives on the teaching,
learning, and purpose of Black history
education. We hope your Black History Month
is full of reflection and learning.
-LaGarrett J. King
KING is the director and founder of the Center for
K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education at
the University at Buffalo.
Black History Starts in Africa
By Jania Hoover
W
Coverage of race and opportunity is supported
in part by a grant from Spencer Foundation, at
www.spencer.org. Education Week retains sole
editorial control over the content of this coverage.
hether you're
teaching a Black
history or U.S.
history course,
any teaching
about Black
people must begin
in Africa. That is where the history of mankind,
and the history of Black people in America, began.
Teaching about Black people in America must start
with Africa in order to understand what it means
for Black people to be in America. Since The New
York Times published " The 1619 Project, " helmed
by journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, many teachers
might be tempted to start with that date. While
1619, and the era of enslavement that followed, is
important, it's even more important to remember
Black history did not begin with enslavement.
Black people have a culture and history that
reaches back before the chains.
Beginning with the year 1619 defines Black
history based on connections to-and oppression
by-racist systems and people. Oppression is a part
of African American history. However, starting
there ignores a full and complete story that existed
before Africans came to what would become the
United States.
Starting with African history helps students
come away with a fuller understanding of slavery
and its complexities. Many texts used in schools do
not meaningfully incorporate Africa, so if teachers
want to bring in additional information, they will
have to find it on their own.
As you are planning your lessons and thinking
of ways to emphasize Africa, here are a few
recommendations:
1. Start small. You don't have to change
everything in one year. Choose one topic,
resource, or book to incorporate in your class.
2. Address misconceptions. For one
thing, students should know that Africa is a
continent, not a country. Several of the math
and scientific ideas we attribute to Greek
and Roman theorists actually have origins in
Africa. Students should know that the 19th
century European characterization of Africa
as a " Dark Continent, " a separate entity
disconnected from the rest of the world, began
with colonization.
18 | EDUCATION WEEK | February 2, 2022 | www.edweek.org/opinion
4. Be creative. Look for music, poetry,
literature, and other forms of artwork
to bring African history into your
classroom. Not everything needs to be a
long reading or lecture. For example, in
my African American history class this
trimester, I only have 26 class sessions
with my 11th and 12th graders. I used two
of them to discuss the African origins
of Black Americans. Kids watched a
video about African civilizations before
colonization and completed a scavenger
hunt jigsaw. They wrote reflective entries
for their learning journal connecting
information they learned about Africa to
prior knowledge and completed a chart
to document what they knew, wanted to
know, and learned. While I wish I had
more class time to go into greater depth, I
didn't use the lack of time as an excuse to
leave Africa out of my plans.
In recent months, debates and legislation
targeting so-called critical race theory in the
classroom have sparked increased attention
to how we teach about Black people and their
role in U.S. history, but these conversations
are not new. Many students and teachers
already understand the need to teach a
much fuller and more complex history than
currently exists. There is no way to tell a
complete history of the United States, or of
Black people throughout that history, without
starting in the place where humanity began.
HOOVER is a high school social studies
teacher in Texas and the department chair
with 16 years of teaching experience in
both public and private schools. She has
designed curriculum for and currently
teaches courses on U.S. history, African
American history, Native American history,
and racial issues in American society.
3. Audit your curriculum. Where does
Black history start in your curriculum?
How can you begin with Africa? Look
at the places Africa shows up in the
curriculum. Which viewpoints are
included? Which viewpoints are left out?
Additional Resources
* Center for K-12 Black History and
Racial Literacy at the University
at Buffalo (of which the guest
editor of this package, LaGarrett J.
King, is the founder) will sponsor
the fifth annual Teaching Black
History Conference in July. This
event provides resources and
networking opportunities for
educators. The theme for this year
is " Mother Africa. "
* Pardee School of Global Studies
at Boston University offers online
resources for teaching about
Africa in K-16 settings. Its webpage
includes a variety of resources
aimed at assisting K-16 teachers
with teaching about Africa in their
classrooms. There's a newsletter
that includes professionaldevelopment
opportunities, as
well as a variety of lesson plans. I
have a poster from the program
in my classroom that shows
the scale of Africa, and learning
the continent's true size always
surprises students.
* Social Justice Books, a Teaching
for Change project, has a booklist
of sources for teaching about
Africa.
* African Studies Program at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
offers lesson plans, links, TED talks,
and other resources related to the
teaching of Africa.
* Exploring Africa, a resource list
from the African Studies Center at
Michigan State University, includes
a curriculum full of learning
modules and activities for teachers
and students.
* Africa's Great Civilizations is a
PBS series in which Henry Louis
Gates tells the history of Africa.
The six-hour series includes a
number of instructive segments
for students.
Erin Robinson for Education Week
http://www.spencer.org http://www.edweek.org/opinion
Education Week - February 2, 2022

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