Celebrating Black History Month with Current and Historical Black Leaders
Blaine School AmeriCorps members William Glover-Flood and Tykira Mitchell teach students about important Black figures as part of Black History Month.
BlackHistory Monthis a celebrationǴBlack people around the world. Black history is everyone’s history.This year,City Year Philadelphia celebrated byhighlighting programs from our partner schoolsand AmeriCorps membersthat are celebratingBlack joyand raising up Black voices.
Allacrossthe school district,City Yearteams andpartner schoolsinitiated their own social media series in celebration of Black History Month:bothJohn Welshand Roosevelt elementary schoolspostedfactsontheir City Year Instagrampages,and,aboutimportant Black figures such asMalcolm X and Nina Simone;Lewis C. Cassidy Schoolhostedaconteston their page,,for studentsto submit poems relating to Black history.In addition, two of ourteams andpartner schools have taken this a step furtherbyincorporating lessons about Black History Monthinto their daily classes and meetings.
James G. Blaine School
In celebration of Black History Month, James G. Blaine Schoolincorporatedlessonsinto students’ aboutnot onlyimportant historicBlackindividuals,but contemporary figuresas well.One meetinghighlightedDr. Rebecca Cole, the second Black female doctor in the America and a Philly native, andLonnie Johnson,an aerospace engineerwho worked on NASA’s Galileo mission to Jupiter andinventor ofthe Super Soaker—just one of his over 100 patents!highlightedAmySheraldandKehinde Wiley—the talented artists who were commissioned topaint the officialportraits of Michelle and Barack Obama—as well asthe late Kobe Bryant, perhaps themost famous playerinNBAhistory.Blaine has also been using Kahoot to quiz students about the lessons, helping them learn more about Black history.
DeranNeducsin, the Impact Manager at Blaine, explained how his team wanted to make these videos stand out this year.“We were talking about, what we can do virtually to make Black history come alive for people,” he explained. “And just in talking about it, we were like, ‘we want it to come alive for people, let’s focus on people who are actually still alive.’”
By playing these videos at every morning meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,Deranandhis team wanted tonot only foster discussion, but also show students at Blaine—the vast majority of whom are Black—that Black history happens every day.“Black history happens every single day at Blaine. The choices you make today are going to be Black history tomorrow,”he said.This is also why, he explained, Blaine held democratic student elections for a class president and vice president for third through eighth grade.“Wehavekids making speeches about why they wantto run for president, what they would do on the first day we were president…It’s all about leadership—the decisions that these students make today create Black history tomorrow.”
“Black history happens every single day at Blaine. The choices you make today are going to be Black history tomorrow.”
– DeranNeducsin, Impact Manager at Blaine School
Alexander McClure Elementary School
Asitswayofcelebratingand rememberingBlack history, Alexander McClure Elementary Schoolpostedvideos toitseach day of Black History Month.The “Who Am I?” series featuresAmeriCorps membersdescribing various facts about prominent Black historical figures, before prompting students to guess who they are.Each videofeaturespioneers such asShirley Chisholm, the first Black congresswoman,orBessie Coleman, the first Black and Native American woman to hold a pilot’s license.The series also highlights importantCivilRights activistssuch asSojourner Truth, athletes likeJesse Owens,and authors likeJames Baldwin.Ciera Martin, theCity YearAmeriCorps Team Leader at McClure,came up withthe list of featured individuals for each videoin an effort tohighlight lesser-known figureswhomstudents might not have known about. You can watch one example below.
Every day, McClure hostsa community meeting before beginning the school day, and these videos have been central to that space this month.ValyndaSimmons, the Impact Manager at McClure,said that students and teachers alike have had an overwhelmingly positive response to the videos.In addition, McClure’s afterschool space had a Black History Month showcase every Tuesday and Thursday of February, where studentscould learn even more about historical figures andengage infun activities.
“My team has been working extremely hard to get these initiatives off the ground,”Valyndaexplained. “I am super proud and grateful for their dedication and flexibility. We were able to take feedback and apply it to next month’s‘Who AmI?’initiative for Women’s Herstory Month.”
Black history is a vital part of American history,and City YearPhiladelphiawould like to thankallourstudents,partner schools,andAmeriCorpsmembersfor their hard work,dedication, andcelebrationduringthis Black History Month.
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