It seems Morgan Freeman isn’t the only one with an opinion about Black History month. In light of February’s black history commemoration, N’Zinga Shani organized an episode of her “One World Civic Engagment” public-access TV show for students to discuss the annual observance. Students discussed the stigma surrounding cultural celebrations, and the need— or lack thereof, in their opinion, for such events.
(The program airs on New Haven’s CTV in March, on Frontier 99 and other Comcast channels the last week of February.)
Khadija Hussain Photo
Brim (left) and N’Zinga Shani.
Antoinette Brim, a professor in the English Department at Capital Community College in Hartford, and a member of OneWorld’s Education Committee, moderated the discussion, asking students to examine the issues at hand with a critical eye. She encouraged them to think about the pros and cons of Black History Month.
Alice Obas, a senior at West Haven High School, expressed concern over the fact that the celebration of black history is seemingly contained to a short month.
“Black history is American history,” Obas said. “We should be learning about it all year long.”
Other students argued that Black History Month is sometimes a way to avoid learning more about black history. Willow Giannotti-Garlinghouse, a sophomore at Wilbur Cross, said she sometimes feels as though her teachers are using the month as an excuse to forget about black culture for the rest of the year: “It’s like they’re thinking, ‘OK, we’ll have this month, so that we can get it over with, and we don’t have to focus on it again.’ But that isn’t enough.”
Brim asked the students about their experiences with Black History Month, especially in middle and elementary school, where the February celebrations seem most active.
Students responded that when they were young, their lessons about black history seemed to blur together over the years.
“My issue with Black History Month is that it becomes very repetitive,” said Odia Kane, a senior at ESUMS. “Every year, when we would learn about black history, we’d start from slavery and end at the Civil Rights Era. We learned about the figureheads, like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Of course these people and these events were important— but there’s more to black history.”
Students Alice Obas, Susannah Beyl, Odia Kane, and Willow Giannotti- Garlinghouse.
Despite the problems with Black History Month, students did address some of the positive outcomes of it, namely, educating children.
Paris McEachern, a student at Career High School, recounted learning as a child about what she felt was her history. She said she believes it is important to reach out to these young students, and teach those who may not know about black history. McEachern also said she sees Kane’s point. She suggested that teachers bring in local black community leaders, to modernize black history month, instead of leaving it to the past.
Towards the end of the segment, the students and Brim responded to a question posed by Shani: Do the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice make you feel less safe?
The answer, unanimously, was yes.
Beyl, a junior at West Haven High offered a slightly different perspective than most. “I am a small, white woman,” said Beyl. “Yet I still feel unsafe. I feel unsafe for my black male friends — I feel unsafe to know we live in country where these horrible and unjust murders can happen.”
Brim, who had mostly remained a discussion moderator throughout the broadcast, now voiced her opinion. She said that mirrors the feelings of mothers across the U.S. “I feel unsafe all the time,” Brim said. “I feel unsafe for my brothers, I feel unsafe for my six-foot-tall sons. I feel unsafe for my students. And the thing is, I don’t think I should have to feel this way.”
Khadija Hussain is a student at Wilbur Cross High School and Educational Center for the Arts. She participated in the panel discussion discussed in this story.
Odia Kane is exactly right. The sad thing is that there is an abundance of materials about black history, but that those charged with imparting the stories simply rely on the easiest thing.
Students! Dig for yourself as a hero of history isn't necessarily so hidden. Just waiting to be discovered.