Celebrating Black History Month
February
The month of February provides an open invitation to engage in and learn about the contributions of African Americans in American History. This is a time to help all students understand and revere the rich heritages that are theirs individually and collectively. John Hope Franklin, professor, author and chairman of the advisory board for One America: The President’s Initiative on Race, said, “We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”
That is what Carter G. Woodson believed. The son of former slaves, he spent his formative years in the coal mines of West Virginia—working to make a living for his family and himself. Woodson taught himself English and mathematics and later studied in colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. He became known as “the father of Black History.” Woodson dug deeply into the black experience, like the coal miners of this time, to extrapolate the richness of his people, culture and history. “Truth comes to us from the past like gold washed down from the mountain,” he said. He believed that one had to look back in order to move forward. It was these ideas and experiences that, in 1926, led him to initiate what was to become Black History Month.
Many school districts that have diverse student populations only incorporate a ‘heroes and holidays’ type curriculum that does not incorporate the achievements of non-European Americans. Research indicates that cultural diversity in schools and in the curriculum helps prepare students for living in a multicultural society and an interdependent world. Through an integrated curriculum that represents cultural competency including art, music, dance, economics, literature, mathematics, science, athletics, and world history, teaching and learning can be made a richer and a more complete experience for all students.
Below is a list of Web sites that you can use in your classrooms with your students, parents and friends. Although the list is not all inclusive, the information contained herein has been developed to provide reliable resources, both printed and electronic, to help you to learn and teach students about the lives and accomplishments
Websites:
www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html
A collection of features, biographies, reference links, civil rights timeline, quizzes and puzzles, and much more.
www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html
A web site with links, interactive quiz, videoconferencing.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/fyi/interactive/specials/bhm
Chasing the Dream: Exploring Black History Month—this is a site that contains interactive games, activities on legends, and innovators as well as a glossary and more.
The Image of Black—Discovering the Hidden History
www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm
A free resource site on biographies, quizzes, timelines, activities and literature
A community site dedicated to past influential and living black leaders and the history surrounding them.
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/bh_hotlist.html
A large site with many links about Black History Month, slavery and history, leaders, news, and poetry.
http://www.britannica.com/Blackhistory/
Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History.
http://blackquest.com/link.htm
African-American History, Culture, and Black Studies Resources.
http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/
Profiles of prominent African-American personalities, ranging from Civil Rights Activist Malcolm X to Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History & Culture.
http://startsomething.target.com
A free program designed to help youth ages 8-17 find and follow their dreams that is sponsored by Target and Tiger Woods Foundation.
www.loc.gov/wiseguide/index-flash.html
A one-stop guide to U.S. History by the Library of Congress
www.historychannel.com/blackhistory
The History Channel celebrates Black History with various facts and information.
www.historychannel.com/blackhistory/?page=schedule
The History Channel’s schedule of Black History features throughout the month of February
An internet site for facts on black history
http://afroamhistory.about.com/
A variety of black history facts and notable persons in history
www.time.com/time/reports/blackhistory
Time celebrates Black History
www.creativefolk.com/toolkit/home.html
Provides various African American Studies toolkits for grades K-12