If we are truly motivated to create a future that defeats the past, a future where we have risen above the durable walls of separation racism erected, we must accept discomfort, valorize truth, and labor for reconciliation. We must teach our children how the world became the way it is and trust them with the information.
Tag: Black History Month
Let’s Help Our Young People Unlearn What White Supremacy Taught Them
We must become scholars of our own history, tell our own stories, and set our own standards for excellence.
Racial Equity in School Curriculum Takes Work Beyond February
This piece was originally published on Education Post as “It’s Going to Take More Than a Black History Month Report to See Racial Equity in Our Schools.” Co-author Kathleen Hayes has been around the k-12 education block, first as a Chicago high school English teacher and later in Chicago Public Schools central office and several education nonprofits and research organizations,…
Is Your Child Being Taught Black History?
I asked them who was the first Black president. They eagerly and confidently responded, “Dr. King!”. I was extremely shocked and caught off guard by their answer, for multiple reasons. At the moment I was leading a discussion at a primarily African American, after-school program, on the South side of Chicago. But it wasn’t just the South side of Chicago.…
This Far By Faith
“We’ve come this far by faith…” These are the first words of one of the great Negro spirituals that has been passed down through the African-American tradition. It is one of the songs that guided my predecessors through the tumultuous Civil Rights era. It harkens back to the deep darkness of American slavery and reminds us of the motivating force by which we overcame…