“A chance to be exposed to different types of literature, different authors, different experiences that is not maybe something in another class they've gotten,” Jenell Marshall, Berkeley High English teacher, said about what she hopes students get out of her AP Literature and Composition: Patterns in Black Literature and African American Literature classes. The two classes are both in the African American Studies Department at BHS, and are courses available to both juniors and seniors. According to Marshall, there is a plan to try and make the Black and African Lit classes open to sophomores so that if students want they are able to take the classes for three years.
Previously, Marshall had for many years worked in the oncology department at UCSF Hospital. However, an event took place that changed the future of her career.
“When George Floyd got killed, I had a very bad reaction…I couldn't believe that something like that was being televised on TV, and to see him screaming for his mom, it really broke me,” Marshall said. After the murder of George Floyd, Marshall described how, at the hospital, the staff was more divided on their perception of the event and Marshall began to see the systemic racism she could see at the hospital where she worked. Marshall then wondered who was going to be there for the Black students who were going through the same feeling of brokenness as her. She decided to go back to school to pursue a career in education, which led her to BHS.
Many larger, national issues can be seen reflected in the BHS community. Marshall said one problem she’s observed in the community is the use of the N-word at BHS by non-Black students. “I feel there's a culture and acceptance of an N word pass or, ‘it's okay I can say it because I listen to hip hop music,’ or ‘it's okay because I have Black friends,’ and there's not an education on why that word is damaging when it's used by non-Black people,” Marshall said.
Black History Month provides a specific time to talk about the Black community when it is oftentimes ignored. “It's cool to highlight (Black students) for one month, but they're here 365 days a year. There's Black students on campus every day, and they have a lot to offer, don't count them out,” Marshall said.
One of Marshall's favorite units to teach is her unit on the Gullah Geechee people. The Gullah Geechee were an enslaved group of people that were isolated on coastal plantations and islands off the coast of the American south — thus, they were more easily able to retain their own culture, language and traditions while other enslaved Africans were assimilated into American culture.
Marshall shared the main project that comes out of the unit. “I have the kids come with their own recipes from their culture and their ancestors. That is one of my favorite (units) because then we create a recipe book based on everybody's favorite recipe, and they have to talk to their parents, grandparents, ancestors to come up with the recipe and the story behind it,” Marshall said. The main reason Marshall loves this unit is because it's community based learning; the students are able to learn about their own history while also learning about their peers.