Markeshia Ricks Photo
Troup’s Black History troupe
A troupe of Augusta Lewis Troup School middle schoolers took their cues from a 1967 speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., in which he declared, “I come here tonight and plead with you, believe in yourself and believe that you’re somebody. Be proud of our heritage.”
And so they were.
From a libation ceremony and the lighting of Kwanzaa candles to sharing what they learned about the kings and queens who ruled ancient African civilizations, students affirmed and got “the language so right” — as King attempted to do in his speech — that everybody assembled at the school Wednesday night for a Black History Month event could cry out, “Yes! I’m Black. I’m proud of it! I’m black and beautiful!”
Troup 8th grader Troyadriea
“Being black is not a bad thing. It isn’t a curse, a plague or a sin,” 13-year-old Troyadriea declared. “Being black is a blessing a gift and a right. We should be proud of what we are, and what we are is black and beautiful.”
Nathan Joyner and Troup Principal Michelle Bonora
Nathan Joyner, a noncertified instructor at Troup, said that the students who participated in the program “were thirsty about learning about their culture, mainly the kings and queens of Khemit, which we know is Egypt, so they had to do their research. They knew that it was Black History Month so they performed based on Martin Luther King’s words about being black and proud and we developed a program around that with the support of the principal.”
Takeira and Shakeira, 12-year-old twins, said they learned important lessons about history at the event.
“I learned a lot of things about African and about the African kings and queens,” Takeira said.
Twins Takeira (left) and Shakeira.
“I leaned that men weren’t just the creators,” Shakeira added. “That it was women too.”
Their mother, Cheryl Bell, said she appreciated that Joyner had taken the time to not only to teach her children about their heritage, but to put on a program that parents learned from too.
“As proud as I am as a black woman, we know we as parents don’t always have the time or don’t always take out the time to actually teach our children about our culture,” she said.
Troup Principal Michelle Bonora said after the program, “I am just so proud to be at Troup school and just so proud of our students. They did a wonderful job.”
Re: Black History Month and beyond, below are examples of curriculum units that public school teachers have recently prepared as Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute Fellows.
A 2014 seminar, led by James Forman Jr. (Clinical Professor of Law), considered "Race and American Law, 1850-Present":
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2014/3/
Themes of the units NHPS teachers developed range from educational injustice to mass incarceration, from the history of the civil rights movement and the NAACP to literature and citizenship.
One 2015 seminar, led by Matthew F. Jacobson (Professor of American Studies & History, and of African American Studies), on "American Culture in the Long 20th Century," included units on ethnicity, race, and civil rights: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2015/2/
For example, Nataliya Braginsky of Metro Business Academy, on "History of a Social Construction: How Racism Created Race in America": http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2015/2/15.02.01.x.html
A 2015 National Fellow, Valerie Schwarz, created a unit on "Jim Crow, Civil Rights, and the Integration of Schools": http://www.teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_15.01.07_g
A 2015 National Fellow, Krista Waldron, developed "Revisiting Race and Riot: Exploring Tulsa's Conflicts in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Image" http://www.teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_15.01.09_g
A 2013 seminar, led by Mary Lui (Professor of History & American Studies), addressed "Immigration and Migration and the Making of a Modern American City": http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2013/2/
Fellows' units include:
Pamela Monk Kelley of Riverside, "Exploring Bloodlines through Immigration and Migration" http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2013/2/13.02.06.x.html
Robert Schwartz of Co-op, "Poetry from the Cultural Perspective of American Movement" featuring Langston Hughes and G. Brooks http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2013/2/13.02.09.x.html