Dr. K. Sumner's BLACK HISTORY MONTH (AND BEYOND) GUIDE

Content developed by Dr.Kandice Sumner, Former Transformation Coach, Charlestown High School, Boston Public Schools

In 1926, historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson proposed and launched the annual February observance of “Negro History Week,” to honor the birthdays of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln which both occur in February. This officially became “Black History Month” in 1976. Dr. Carter G. Woodson was born the son of former slaves in 1875. In 1907, he obtained his BA degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, he received his PhD from Harvard University. The first recorded celebration of Black History month took place at Kent State University in 1970. A collaborative effort between Black United Students, the Department of Pan-African Studies and the Office of Minority Affairs, the celebration spanned the entire month of February. Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated all across the country in educational institutions, centers of Black culture and community centers, both great and small, when President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month, during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. He urged Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history".

1. Present Black individuals as victors, not victims through triumphs not trauma. 

2. If February is the only or first time your students have seen Black individuals represented in your curriculum, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.

3. If the only representation of Blackness in your curriculum is slavery or depictions of Black people as victims, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. 

4. DO NOT single out, isolate or request special engagement from your Black students that is not expected of the entire class. 

5. UNDERSTAND that Blackness is not a monolith and this month (and every month) is dedicated to giving awareness to the humanity of the Black American experience and the African Diaspora  (*African American and Black are not the same thing)

(This should not be a ONE-OFF box to check. These are resources to be incorporated into long-term explorations)