In 1992, Dr. Shirley Allen, was the first Black person to receive her doctoral degree from the University of Rochester. A Black teacher, a trauma survivor, an advocate and more, Dr. Shirley Allen was one of the many incredible stories I got the opportunity to learn and teach for the 1619 Project Education Impact Grant.
Lately, it seems, in my 13th year of teaching Black history, I am much more interested in how Black histories are taught, experienced, and learned, in the margins, the dungeons, storefronts, or any space of fugitivity. To teach Black history fully, for all diverse Black humanities, we need to pay more attention to the stories of everyday Black folk. When we center their stories we challenge the traditional Black history narratives of the victors of legislative change and false progress. This was on my mind as I leveled up my professional work to incorporate these stories into my second Pulitzer Center grant.
I created a 4-week lab series for nine teachers, from different grade levels, across the Philadelphia area. I discovered to no surprise that teachers want better resources and examples of not just how to teach Black history, but to talk about the Black community’s role in shaping American democracy. Many of the teachers reported something I always hear, “Thank you. I don’t get PD on how to teach Black history. More of this is needed.”
This teaching lab was also beautiful in the sense that it created a safe place for teachers to discuss the challenges in teaching Black history. Many felt motivated just through talking to and hearing from other teachers doing similar work. The virtual space I created truly felt like what Jarvis Givens describes as teaching in “fugitivity.” Teachers in the lab are countering racial curricula violence that occurs in classrooms by centering Black narratives that seek to explore the diversity of Black histories.
One surprising and rewarding challenge was supporting a hard of hearing Black teacher that teaches similar and deaf students in a secluded classroom. This teacher helped me grow professionally in so many ways. I learned how to make lessons more accessible (including while teaching on zoom) and researched deaf Black history. One of the take-aways I learned from creating the final lab is that many pre-service Black deaf teachers, like Dr. Shirley Allen, face(d) double marginalization; some want to attend an HBCU, but fear disability discrimination, others desire to go to the prominent Gallaudet University but fear racial discrimination. This made me think so much more deeply about Black deaf students, how they were/are treated and what we as educators can do more to support. I also appreciated learning about Black ASL, and learning from the experiences of the Black deaf teacher, and her interpreters. This experience for me was beyond valuable.
Lastly, and not directly related to above is the life of Isaac Woodard. I was particularly moved after learning about his life in Nikole Hannah Jones’ opening “Democracy” essay. Issac Woodard, was a World War 2 veteran that was beaten blind by a police officer 5 hours after returning home from service. I spent several hours searching for primary sources and lesson plans from the Black perspective, and all the suggestions (example) I found highlighted the leadership of President Harry Truman, journalist Orson Welles, and NAACP member Walter White. Each of the suggested sources highlighted their moral concern of the injustice done to Isaac Woodard and the political and social action they took to move his cause forward. I could not find one easily accessible or classroom friendly source from a Black perspective highlighting the Black rage of the racial violence enacted on Woodard or the Black people around him who supported him as he was forced to live life as a blind Black man. Current suggestions on how Isaac Woodard should be taught unfortunately only perpetuate a white savior narrative. This was a telling reminder to me, that so much more work needs to be done to uncover primary sources that could be incorporated into any curriculum that effectively teaches Black history, and thanks to the Pulitzer Center’s Education Impact Grant is the type of work I hope to do in the future.
I am beyond impressed with the student work that was submitted from all the teachers who participated in the lab. Each teacher is beyond DOPE in so many ways. They took the model lessons they participated in and put their own unique spin on it, to turn it around to deliver to their own students. I teared up looking at all the masks, quilts, poetry, exit tickets, and more they submitted. The work created in this lab was a positive reminder that despite current political divisiveness that exists in education today, there are so many teachers willing and ready to do the work in teaching Black history and centering other stories left out of classrooms and textbooks. Their work reminds me of what Sean Brown stated earlier this year “Black educators, be encouraged—please know that the work you do has value. It’s worth more than you will ever be paid; it outweighs any recognition that you may or may not receive. You are a light shining in the darkness of a world opposed to the very existence of our children.”
