As February rolls around, we start pulling up Pinterest to search for Black History Month Displays. We print our favorite Black History Month quotes and trivia to staple to our bulletin boards, and pull all the MLK, Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman books we have. However, Black history is so much more. Black History is who we are and full of people who changed our nation .
I think back to when I was in the classroom teaching history. So much of our history curriculum focuses on old, dead, white guys. I myself was guilty of glossing over Black history and how it formed our nation. Now is the time to change that. Now is the time to add Black history makers and racial injustice into our curriculums.
As librarians, we need to start meeting with our teachers and showing them how Black history can be incorporated into the curriculum. We can show our teachers how to make their lessons more multicultural with resources such as the 1619 project. Let’s start curating Black History resources throughout the year instead of just February. How about STEM displays that focus on Black scientists and how they changed history? We need to show our students that history was changed by so many Black Americans. We can reach out to colleagues to help them teach equality throughout the year. We can no longer stand by and let Black history be just a month. It is time to step up for what is right. Let’s make Black History more than just a month.
