Honoring Black History Month
“To accept one’s past—one’s history—is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.”
James Baldwin, novelist, essayist, poet, debater and activist
From Taylor Hickman, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) at the Waldorf School of Philadelphia
Folded into our curriculum at the Waldorf School of Philadelphia are many consistent and intentional themes centering different peoples, cultures, practices, and communities. Last spring, students used class time across campus to celebrate the achievements, narratives, histories, and lives of African American and Black people across the diaspora. Throughout the year, and especially as we head into Black History Month 2023, we keep Black History at the forefront of our minds. It remains a significant part of teachings and content with which our students engage.
Below is a bit of background on the formation of Black History Month, and how it came to be in the United States. We share this with you to remind all of us of the beautiful work done during the 2022-2023 school year at our school, and as inspiration for what is to come next month. We’re excited to give you this opportunity to learn more about some of the wonderful work in which our Grades students engaged!
A Brief History
In 1915, in response to the lack of information on the accomplishments of Black people available to the public, historian Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In 1926, the group declared the second week of February “Negro History Week” to recognize the contributions of African Americans to US history. Few people studied Black history and it wasn't included in textbooks prior to the creation of Negro History Week. Continue reading about this history from National Geographic and from ASALH.
Explorations by Grade
First Grade
Last year, First Graders were very moved by the wonderful stories that Ms. Personotti and Ms. Becca shared with them. As they learned about the lives of prolific Black people, past and present, it was clear that the significance of the Civil Rights era and bus segregation really stood out to them!
Second Grade
Grade Two read several of Faith Ringgold's books, including Cassie's Word Quilt and Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. Students read about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy. These books inspired beautiful main lesson book drawings and biographies of the incredible people shared in the books! Second Graders also read from Children of Wax - African Folk Tales, to engage stories across the Black Diaspora. Reflections and drawings on about guinea fowls and other creatures can be found in the main lesson books as well! Check out this cool list of A-Z folktales from Africa here.
Third Grade
Ms. Way’s Third Graders were busy last year exploring Black narratives: reading biographies of historical Black heroes and vibrant poems from Bronzeville Boys and Girls by Gwendolyn Brooks. The original Bronzeville (1956) is a collection of poems that celebrates "the joy, beauty, imagination, and freedom of childhood"; Faith Ringgold's painterly illustrations further capture this joy in a contemporary light, depicting the vibrancy of Black youth! If you aren't familiar with these two artists, you can learn a bit more about the magnetic Pulitzer Prize winning, former Illinois Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks in this 1986 interview, and about Faith Ringgold and her body of work here!
In Arlisha Norwood's collection of biographies, entitled 51 Inspiring People from Ancient Africa and Modern-Day USA, Mary Seacole was a notable spotlight for the Third Grade! Having such in-depth information about a woman, and specifically a Caribbean Black woman from the 19th century, is unfortunately (and deliberately) not so common. We are fortunate to be able to learn about Seacole, who identified as Creole, and spent her life in service to herself and others!
Fourth Grade
In Fourth Grade, students learned so much in their African Folklore block! This block opened up space for tales, fables, history, and customs of several West African cultures, with much attention on Yoruba culture. Learning about the water-spirit Yemaya (Yemanjá or Yemoja) and other Yoruba orishas, including Oshun, connected to dialogues about the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Stories indicate that Yemaya, mother of all orishas, is considered deeply maternal and strongly protective. She cares for all her people and particularly children ("comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow").
Students using what they learned about Yemaya (Yemanjá or Yemoja) to engage grammar (fragments & run-ons).
Yemaya, who is thought to have protected enslaved Africans aboard slave ships, through their uncertain and traumatic journey to the Americas.
Fifth Grade
The Fifth Grade read and learned last year about the story of Ruby Bridges through the biography Through My Eyes. Students learned in-depth about public school segregation, integration, and the Civil Rights era in the United States. With much curiosity, many Fifth Graders inquired about the building tensions that led to school integration. This caused us to pause and consider more deeply the timeline that created the landscape of the story of Ruby Bridges and the American Civil Rights Era, resulting in a broader conversation about this momentous period in time. We discussed Black history and human rights in the United States, as well as other important aspects of the Black experience in the US, including enslavement. This year, this class (now Sixth Graders) will continue with biographies and autobiographies of prolific young people of color.
Sixth Grade
Sixth graders each selected a Black person, historical or contemporary, whom they admire. After researching that person’s life and writing a biography, the students turned their research into an illustrative portrait and poem about this person. Students spotlighted Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Kobe Bryant. Below are just a few of the students’ beautiful drawings and poems. Make sure to ask the current Seventh Graders about the personal significance that person has to them!
Seventh Grade
In Seventh Grade, the curriculum supports a lot of creative writing, including poetry and writing about their "Wishes for the World" during the Creative Writing block and beyond. Students wrote many personal, reflective, and honest essays, addressing and sharing their calls to action for a better, safer, more equitable world! Additionally, the class did some biographical research and writing on famous explorers! Below, you can see one of those explorers: the first Black / African American woman to travel to space, Mae C. Jemison, as written about by current Eighth Grader, Purple Ray Kolker-Brown. Jemison was an engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut, and one of the notable Americans highlighted in the class.
Eighth Grade
The Eighth Graders took a trip last year to The Germantown Community Fridge. Fueled by their own donations, they traveled down the block, stocking the fridge with canned and non-perishable goods! While food insecurity and nutrition by no means only affect the lives of Black people, it is a systemic (and inequitable) reality that many people impacted by these issues are Black. Students discussed this, as well as what food insecurity really means and looks like. Each Eighth Grade class will take on topics and projects in this vein, to address community needs.
Read up on Black activists, past and present, who prioritize the food justice movement, here.
To find a list of food pantries and places to donate time to the fight against food scarcity / inequity, visit here.
Read about the link between racism and hunger in Philadelphia.
Read about Food Justice initiatives in Philly here, as well as the racialized link between food insecurity and the COVID-19 epidemic.
The entire Eighth Grade class also read and illustrated quotes by notable women, in celebration of Women's History month. Here are some of the wonderful insights that capture the knowledge and wisdom of those Black women.
Music Curriculum
Mrs. Rogers-Petro taught students about the amazing life and music of Nina Simone. Students heard a story about Simone's childhood and her proficiency at an early age as a pianist. At her first recital, Nina’s mother, as a Black woman, was not permitted to sit in the front row of the concert. Twelve-year-old Nina refused to play until they allowed her mother to sit front and center to watch her! Moments like this speak to the myriad instances in which Nina Simone stood up for her kin as well as other Black people, and did what was right, during her impactful life! Last year’s Fourth Grade class drew stunning portraits of Nina Simone.
“If we desire a society in which men are brothers, then we must act towards one another with brotherhood. If we can build such a society, then we would have achieved the ultimate goal of human freedom.”
Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist who fought for Black rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights, in the US
Resources
We are so lucky to live in a city with such a rich and longstanding history in support of Black lives. Germantown alone has many awesome historical sites, and people who have been doing work in the preservation of Black lives for years. Germantown is an area where we can learn a lot about and from African American narratives, as a section of the city with deep roots in anti-racism, anti-slavery, abolition, and social justice work. Additionally, there is a lot to be learned about the systemic problems and inequities that still exist today, and what it means to combat them. Three places in our neighborhood that are worth visiting:
ACES Museum: A museum functioning as a USO for Black Veterans, committed to promoting the history of Blacks and minorities of WWII and their families.
The Colored Girl Museum: A “memoir museum which honors the stories, experiences, and history of ordinary Colored Girls,” past and present.
Johnson House: Philly's only intact and preserved location from the Underground Railroad, right around the corner from school on Germantown Ave!
From Learning For Justice
Articles
It’s Black History Month. Look In the Mirror. (NYT, may require a subscription)
Black history is bigger than slavery. We should teach kids accordingly (The Guardian)
For Black parents and caregivers, and parents and caregivers of Black children
We will continue to add Black History resources on our blog! If anything comes to mind that you want to share with our community, please reach out so we can spotlight it!