Recently, the brouhaha happening in Florida by their Governor regarding this important issue of Black history has caught a lot of attention on both political sides. I’ve been wanting to address this in an article and I recently found this current writing by Rachel Brougham–the former assistant editor of the Petoskey News-Review that hit the nail on the head (so to speak): :
“I find myself cringing a lot each February.
“It’s not because of Valentine’s Day or that I’m sick of the cold and snow. But rather cringing at some of the comments I hear regarding it being Black History Month. Comments like, “Why don’t we have a white history month?” Or “Well, I don’t see race, I just see people.”
“Are we really still doing this?
“Black Americans have a rich history that far surpasses a month of material, so why is it that when I was in school, my education on Black America was limited to slavery, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, a bit about Frederick Douglass and reading To Kill a Mockingbird? We spend so much time learning about the contributions of white Americans the rest of the year, we have to limit years of history–Black history is American history by the way–into just 28 days. No wonder so many Americans have a hard time understanding why Black history gets a month and say ridiculous things like “I don’t see race.”
“We need to go beyond lessons on slavery and how America was built on the backs of slaves, which I know isn’t pleasant to hear, but it’s true. We need to talk about how Black Americans like Daniel Hale Williams and Henrietta Lacks contributed to advancements in medicine. How Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan were integral parts of the space race in the 1960s. How Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the grandmother of rock and roll before Elvis entered the building. We need to talk about violence and poverty in black communities and the real reasons behind these issues.
“Recently, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his state would bar public schools from taking part in the AP African American Studies course, as he and critics worry it would push an agenda on students. DeSantis argues Black history should be covered in the standard U.S. history curriculum, which I suppose sounds right, except…it’s not.
“Advanced Placement courses, such as AP African American Studies, set out to help students foster critical skill sets. According to the College Board, these skills include:
- Mastery of historical, sociological, economic, artistic and political frameworks;
- Ability to conduct readings and comparisons of texts, including context, bias and point of view;
- Ability to identify and describe data trends;
- Understand perspective, purpose and context in art, along with how to use a map;
- And how to support arguments using relevant evidence.
“We’re well into the 21st century. Teaching our students reading, writing and arithmetic is a must, but to thrive in our modern world and be a responsible citizen, we need to teach students far more than the basics. And that goes beyond just the minimum of what’s too often taught during the month of February.
“When it comes to the Americans out there who don’t want us to learn about Black history or limit what Black history is taught, we should be asking: What don’t they want us to know and why?”
SO many truths to reflect upon regarding our Black history. With SO much darkness seemingly happening in this world…from critical race theory, natural disasters to the war in Ukraine, democracy being challenged and crazy politics…our world can use as much light and love as possible. I found this “Prayer for the World” on my Insight Timer:
A Prayer for the World
May all beings live in harmony and truth
May all beings have mental clarity and peaceful hearts
May all beings have enough for today
May all beings be free from the tyranny of ego,
May all beings love and accept their shadows and nurture their inner children
May all beings be filled with divine love and divine light and may we all move ever closer…out of separation and into oneness.
Amen, Hallelujah,, Shanti, Ohm
Covid Humor: I stood on my talking scales today and they said “please practice social distancing, only one person at a time.”