Learning With the Black History, Continued Series – The New York Times

To help you find compelling and overlooked stories, past and present, you might begin by searching The Timess Race/Related Topics page or by exploring these outside resources:

What are the big takeaways from the series for you? How has it changed how you see Black history and American history as a whole? How successful is the series in reaching its goals? Choose one or more of the prompts below in writing or in discussion with a partner:

What are your reactions to the articles you read and the series as a whole? What does it make you think and feel? How does the series affect how you think about Black history?

Shelton Johnson, a park ranger featured in one of the articles in the series, said: A storyteller is a healer and a good story has always been good medicine. The right story at the right time can heal the world. Do you agree? What is the power of storytelling and the stories explored in the series? How have the words, images and stories in this series affected, touched, enlightened or moved you? Which moments and details stand out and why?

How do the subjects, themes and stories explored in Black History, Continued relate to your own life and experiences, and those of your family and community? What wisdom, inspiration and life lessons can you draw?

How Black history is taught in schools is still a battleground today. For example, a new Texas law forbids teaching that slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States. A recent Florida rule bans the teaching of the 1619 Project in public schools. Published in 2019 by The New York Times Magazine, the 1619 Project aims to reframe the countrys history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States national narrative. And to date, more than 20 states including New Hampshire, Michigan and Arkansas have introduced regulations that restrict teaching about race and racism. What do you think of these efforts to restrict how schools teach about Black history, race and racism?

In How Negro History Week Became Black History Month and Why It Matters Now, Veronica Chambers concludes:

Why does Black History Month in particular, and the study of Black history overall, still matter so much? Theres no question that history is and continues to be a battleground. The origin stories that we tell matter a great deal for where we set the bar and how we set the bar going forward, noted Professor Jones, of Johns Hopkins. So when you talk about people like Carter G. Woodson, these are men who knew that if you dont rewrite the history of Africans and people of African descent, if you dont rewrite the history of the United States through the lens of Black history, if you dont make that record and if you dont make that case, there are [false] stories that will expand and go toward rationalizing and perpetuating racism, exclusion, marginalization and more.

Whats your reaction to the quote? After having engaged with the series, why do you think that the ways in which Black history is written, learned and taught matter so much? Do you agree that if you dont rewrite the history of the United States through the lens of Black history, false stories will continue and contribute to rationalizing and perpetuating racism, exclusion, marginalization?

Now its your turn to engage and enlighten others: Share one thing you found moving or meaningful from the Black History, Continued series with your class, school or community.

Depending on which Lesson of the Day you chose, you might have already created something as a Going Further activity, such as a gallery exhibit about Black Americans who are rangers for the National Park Service or a visual artwork to represent your community, identity or place.

In addition, here are a few other creative ideas and resources to help you come up with a suitable and effective format:

Write and illustrate a childrens book or comic book: You can hand-draw or paint your original story or use a free book-making app like MyStorybook, BookBildr or Storybird. There are many free, easy-to-use comic book apps, such as MakeBeliefsComix and Pixton.

Design a one-pager: Using illustrations, quotes from the articles, key words and names of people, design a visually compelling summary of one aspect of Black history you learned.

Make an Instagram Swipe-Through Guide: You can create an Instagram post using a website like Canva. You can look at some of the examples from this article, Swipe-Through Activist Guides Are the New Zines, to see how young activists are using Instagram to educate and create change.

Create a public service announcement: Using still photographs from the series, or from your own research, along with text, narration and music, record and edit a P.S.A. to inform others. Scholastic provides some useful tips and a sample P.S.A. storyboard.

You might consider some of the following questions as you create your work to inform others: Who is your audience? Teenagers, young children, adults or families? Whats the most effective way to tell the story? What information would you include? What storytelling techniques would you want to incorporate? How would you balance imparting factual knowledge with good storytelling? What messages would you want readers or listeners to come away with?

When you are finished, share your project with your class, school or community.

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Learning With the Black History, Continued Series - The New York Times