Black History Month Year-Round

Martin Luther King. Malcolm X. Rosa Parks. Chances are you know quite a bit about these figures in Black history. But what about Garrett Morgan? That's right, Garrett Morgan. In 1923, this African American invented the traffic light.

Why does Garrett Morgan matter? Because teachers are looking at Black history in a whole new light.

Every February, Black History Month pops up and people across America do their best to pay homage. Video stores devote an entire shelf to Afro-American movies. Bookstores put Afro-American novels in the front window. And teachers all across America try to think of a more creative way to teach Black history than tacking a few poems by Langston Hughes on the bulletin board.

Beyond February

Sharon Pineault-Burke, coordinator of a recent series of professional development institutes called Teaching African American Literature: From Phillis Wheatley to Toni Morrison, says that one month of Black history is hardly enough. "When you teach it for only one month out of the year, you just can't give full treatment."

By integrating Black history into "traditional" U.S. history, students get the bigger picture. For instance, they are more likely to learn about how African Americans contributed to American efforts in World War II, and how they were organized in segregated battalions, and how African languages influenced white southern speech, and not just the other way around. This means that as students learn "traditional" history, they get a more complete story--a better sense of what a historical period was really like.

Much more than oppression

Jennifer Novak, a coordinator for the Lemelson Project on the History of Black Writing says that "some teachers are taking the focus away from slavery, and are emphasizing the rich cultural tradition of African Americans." In English classes, this sometimes means a change in the reading list. Novak says that rather than teaching Uncle Tom's Cabin, for instance, "teachers have started using Margaret Walker's Jubilee, which not only portrays plantation life but also the products of African American culture--quilt-making, music, herbal medicine, and cooking."

In history or music class this approach might mean a greater emphasis on the history of jazz, and linking jazz music to traditional work songs. Such trends in Black studies, says Novak, go a long way to teaching "not just a culture of oppression, but a rich cultural history as well."

Just the beginning

Now for the bad news. When I asked Sharon Pineault-Burke how widespread innovations in teaching Black studies have become, she lamented, "they are still sporadic and done by only a few teachers." Apparently, the problem is not a lack of interest: "Lots of teachers want to include Black studies in their classes, but few have the training and exposure to do it in a holistic way."

It's unfortunate, because lots of kids relate to Black history. Teaching the tenets of democracy can seem pretty tedious in a late afternoon History 101 class. But when a teacher gets to the Civil Rights Movement, even the kids in the back of the classroom raise their hands. How could they fail to be moved by this struggle for basic human rights? It would be hard to find a more vivid example of why it's important, as citizens, to make our voices heard.

According to Burke, empowerment for all students is one of the main teaching objectives of the institute: "It is very important for young people today who have a hard time seeing themselves as actors in history."

More on: Black History Month: Activities and Resources for Children