OPINION: Educators and Advocates Can Fight for Black Curriculum in the Classroom With The Right Resources
Much of the conversation around equitable teaching and the attacks on Black curriculum have lacked a central perspective — educators. As legislators and politicians are on their soapboxes about Black history, few are actually turning to Black educators to hear their experience and solutions. But educators have been the strongest force in leading the fight against restricting Black curriculum.
Dr. Constance Daw, a Principal in the Tacoma Public School District, shares her story as an educator on how we can fight to preserve Black history in education, and how our shared history is a uniting power for us all:
As Black people, our ancestral family members have experienced the ugliest parts of American history firsthand. But beside our ugly stories we have the most beautiful legacies. If education is meant to empower, as we educators claim, then it must teach us who we are and can be. We must allow our ancestors to speak to us directly.
Our children need access to primary sources as they learn history. These sources should center the stories of people who have been marginalized from the prevailing narratives of manifest destiny and conquest. First person sources reveal our presence, agency, resistance, and humanity. First person narratives like the words of an enslaved mother embroidered on a flour sack for her daughter prior to their separation, or the courtroom testimony of Angela Davis, or the oral histories of our elders.
Educators and advocates can continue to fight for Black history curriculum by connecting students with historians to access these sources. Local historians like Carolyn Michael-Banks who runs the A Tour of Possibilities driving tour in Memphis or Delbert Richardson based in Seattle, who founded the Unspoken Truths traveling museum, are excellent resources to bring forward the stories of our people. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American People and Culture makes historical resources available virtually. Educators can access resources through organizations like Learning for Justice, and professional communities for ethnic studies like the Association for Ethnic Studies.
It should be known that one teacher, school district or organization cannot transform the education of Black youth alone. We must organize our efforts to positively impact our community. In my region, we are using a collective impact model to share data, best practices and support relevant curricula for all students. In the Seattle area there are organized efforts to support the comprehensive education of Black students. Programs like the Roadmap Project support collective action for school improvement through family engagement and policy work. Other programs like Rainier Scholars support Black students to and through college through culturally relevant extracurricular education opportunities. It takes families, students, educators and policy leaders
to shift our systems to support the development of culturally relevant curriculum to encourage Black brilliance. Find other members of your community and political leaders to partner with in support of culturally sustaining curricula in your schools.
It is our shared history that binds us together as Black people. The history that we teach our children must carry forward the truth of who we are. We have experienced hardships and victories, great pain and great joys. We must not shy away from our stories but hear the truth from the folks who lived it. Let us use our histories to illuminate our paths forward toward wellbeing as a people and as a nation.
Recentering educators is just one step in the fight for Black history curriculum — Color Of Change is committed to uplifting the work of these educators and advocates through the inaugural Black History Now Awards streaming Thursday, Feb. 24 at 8PM ET. Learn more about the event here.
Color Of Change member Dr. Constance Daw, a Principal in the Tacoma Public School District.
___________________________________________________
Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. Visit www.colorofchange.org and follow on social @ColorOfChange.
