Black history centennial channels angst over anti-DEI climate into education, free resources

For academics, historians and activists, the past year has been tumultuous in advocating the teaching of Black history in the United States.

Despite previously proclaiming February as National Black History Month, President Donald Trump’s administration has taken steps that many see as undermining Black history education. The administration recently removed an exhibit on slavery from a Philadelphia national park site, adding to growing concerns among advocates about a coordinated effort to diminish African American historical narratives.

“States and cities are nervous about retribution from the White House,” said DeRay Mckesson, executive director of Campaign Zero, an organization focused on police reform. “So even the good people are just quieter now.”

The timing is particularly notable as 2024 marks the centennial of the nation’s earliest observances of Black History Month, which began when scholar Carter G. Woodson established the first Negro History Week in 1926. Despite the challenging political environment, this milestone anniversary has galvanized civil rights organizations, artists, and academics to engage young people in comprehensive American history education through hundreds of lectures, teach-ins, and new publications.

Campaign Zero, in partnership with Afro Charities and prominent Black scholars, has launched an initiative providing Black History Month curriculum to more than 150 teachers nationwide. “We want to ensure that young people continue to learn about Black history in a way that is intentional and thoughtful,” Mckesson explained.

The commemoration has also inspired innovative approaches to historical storytelling. Journalist Angélique Roché’s graphic novel “First Freedom: The Story of Opal Lee and Juneteenth” releases this week, chronicling the life of 99-year-old Opal Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth.” Lee’s activism was instrumental in securing federal recognition for the June 19 holiday commemorating when enslaved people in Texas learned of their emancipation.

“There is nothing ‘indoctrinating’ about facts that are based on primary sources that are highly researched,” said Roché, who hopes the book will be widely available in libraries and classrooms. Her work not only highlights Lee’s contributions but also spotlights lesser-known historical figures like William “Gooseneck Bill” McDonald, Texas’ first Black millionaire.

Harvard professor Jarvis Givens has also contributed to the centennial with his new book “I’ll Make Me a World: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month.” The title references a line from James Weldon Johnson’s 1920s poem “The Creation,” and the work examines key themes in Black history while addressing common misconceptions.

“I wanted to devote my time while on leave to writing a book that would honor the legacy that gave us Black History Month,” Givens said, noting that the Trump administration’s actions against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs cemented his resolve to complete the project.

Givens’ research will support what Mckesson calls a “living history campaign,” designed to teach younger generations to become historians capable of discerning fact from fiction—a principle Woodson himself championed.

Carter G. Woodson, born in 1875 to formerly enslaved parents, was among the first generation of Black Americans born free. As the second Black man to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, Woodson became disillusioned with academia’s dismissal of Black history.

“When Woodson established Negro History Week in 1926, he was in an era where popular stereotypes like blackface and minstrelsy were filling in for actual knowledge of the Black experience,” explained Robert Trent Vinson, director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia.

Woodson’s initiative sparked the creation of Black history clubs nationwide, and he began incorporating historical lessons “on the sly” in publications like the “Journal of Negro History.” His approach created educational spaces outside formal institutions, often through churches, study groups, and family education.

The week-long observance expanded to a month in 1976, when President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month. That period also saw pushback against Civil Rights Movement gains, similar to today’s resistance to Black and African American studies.

Vinson believes Woodson would not be surprised by the current climate but would see opposition as confirmation of the work’s importance. “There’s a level of what he called ‘fugitivity,’ of sharing this knowledge and being strategic about it,” Vinson said.

Despite current challenges, Mckesson remains optimistic. “We will go back to normalcy. We’ve seen these backlashes before,” he said. “And when I think about the informal networks of Black people who have always resisted, I think that is happening today.”