“Black history is American history, and American history is Black history …You can't separate them. And so if you want to be an educated young person in the United States of America, you have to know about Black history,” Hasmig Minassian, an ethnic studies teacher for ninth graders at Berkeley High School, remarked.
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, a historian known as the “Father of Black History," launched a Black History Week. President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month in the United States in 1976. To honor Woodson’s goals – that Black history be taught as part of American History and that Black Americans be celebrated – many teachers at BHS highlight Black history and current events throughout their February curriculum.
Minassian teaches Black history throughout the year as it interweaves into the ethnic studies curriculum with the race unit, the culture unit, and more. “(Ethnic studies) is the story of Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian Americans, and so (Black history) is part of everything I do,” she said. Minassian likes to educate her students about the ways in which Black people are indelible in the story of the United States.
During Black History Month, Minassian likes to incorporate lessons on important Black Americans a couple times a week in warm-ups. This may include watching a video about a famous Black person. Minassian wants to continue amplifying the narrative and stories of Black people’s contributions in our country.
Yahaira Alfaro is an Afro-Latina Spanish teacher in her first semester at BHS who educates her students about important Afro-Latino figures during Black History Month. Afro-Latino refers to people of African descent who are from Mexico and parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Alfaro noted that many students are unaware of Afro-Latino figures and the contributions they have made. “They have been working hard to support their communities, and they have been successful, too, but we don't see them in books. We don't see them in the news. We don't see them in the newspaper, and many students don't know them,” she said.
Alfaro will have her students do research on famous Afro-Latino figures to learn about their achievements. In order to help students recognize the faces of the figures highlighted, Alfaro plans to decorate her classroom with posters. Her goal for Afro-Latino education in her classroom is to spark student curiosity about the Afro-Latino culture and figures, and to encourage continued exploration in this area.
“Black and African American peoples' experiences have been underrepresented in our media, history, and culture due to: white supremacy, culture, racism, anti-Blackness, capitalism, patriarchy, and imperialism,” Candiss Youngblood, a creative arts, studio art, and Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA) art teacher at BHS, shared.
Highlighting their artwork in units throughout the year, Youngblood likes to introduce Black artists to her students. In honor of Black History Month, Youngblood will present a lesson focused on Black, African American, and African artists. Following this, her students will create an art analysis statement and creative work inspired by the art presented to them.
Kelly Boylan teaches AP United States History (APUSH) and world history.
During the month of February, Boylan will educate her APUSH classes about the Harlem Renaissance as part of a unit on the 1920s. Students will explore Renaissance art and culture, learning about poetry, literature, music, and more. In addition, Boylan will teach a lesson about Black resistance to Jim Crow, laws that enforced legal racial segregation in the United States. She plans to educate her students on leaders such as Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, and more. The lesson will focus on the differences in the philosophies of each activist. In world history, Boylan will teach a unit on African history and will focus on Black history in a global context.
“It's really important to take every opportunity to tell the story, whether it's American history or world history, from somebody else's perspective,” Boylan noted.