Black History Month in Schools
Celebrating African American Achievements in the School Community
Nov 9, 2008
Celebrating Black History Month should be a priority in every American school during February. Black History Month 2009 will be even more significant due to the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency. The 2009 theme for February should be “From Slavery and Struggle to Freedom and Leadership.” There are many ways individual classes and schools as a community can vitalize this theme.
From Classroom to Community
In History classrooms, teachers can assign a “poster project” in conjunction with Black History Month. To avoid duplication, each participating class can be given separate areas of American history to draw from
- Colonial Period
- Pre-Civil War South
- Reconstruction
- “Separate But Equal”
- Brown v. Board of Education
- Civil Rights Movement
- Post Civil Rights Movement
Students should create posters specific to the assigned period of history. For continuity, require a specific size poster. As a caveat, limit the number of computer generated pictures students may use. Establish as criteria a very specific focus or message to be contained in each poster and encourage creativity.
Allow students to present their posters in an oral presentation in which they share with the class why they chose the topic and how it relates to Black History Month. After all students have presented, allow them to display the posters as a narrative, chronological collage in the common areas of the school (assuming the teacher has administrative authority to do this). This activity should take place the last week of January or the first week of February to ensure maximum impact.
Contact community leaders and arrange for them to judge the collages. Reward the winning class with a special privilege or a pizza party. These kinds of rewards, if part of the initial instruction, go far in providing the kind of incentive students often need to surpass expectations. Through parent-school communications (newsletters, web pages) invite parents to visit the school and “tour the gallery.”
This poster assignment can be tailored to any discipline, although the history classroom is the obvious point of departure.
Using the Public Address System
Each morning in February, have a student read one significant achievement of African Americans in American History over the school’s PA system. Preparing these factoids can be turned into a January assignment or function as extra credit. Allow students to submit facts from their own research and then select those that conform to a pre-assignment criterion.
Other Black History Month Suggestions
There are many creative ways to emphasize the contributions of African Americans in our history. These include:
- Facilitating a school-wide assembly program
- Inviting guest speakers from the local community
- Hanging banners throughout the school
- Preparing classroom bulletin boards with a Black History theme
Overall Student Emphasis
Celebrating African American achievements should never end once February turns to March. Black History Month, like Native American History Month (November) and Woman’s History Month (March), is a unique opportunity to highlight the roles played by African Americans in our national history. As part of a people “out of many,” African American achievements were too often glossed over or forgotten in history books and classroom lesson plans. From Crispus Attucks to Rosa Parks, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Barack Obama, African Americans have contributed their talents and even given their lives in the march of freedom for all people. This truth must be a part of the history that schools teach well beyond Black History Month.
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