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February Is Black History Month

Association of Texas Professional Educators
Association of Texas Professional Educators

Date Posted: 2/03/2020

Thanks to Carter G. Woodson, February (chosen as an homage to the birth month of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass) is Black History Month. Although 28 days isn’t enough time to honor the extensive contributions and accomplishments of African Americans, there are plenty of resources you can use to engage your students in the ever-relevant facet of American history that is the black experience.
 
To start, the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum jointly created a web portal that provides student and teacher resources, as well as links to other resource-rich websites for African American history.
 
Watch this video by Vanderbilt University professor David Ikard on the dangers of whitewashing black history. PBS has resources you can use in the classroom. Take time to delve into the 1619 Project curricula, brought to you by the New York Times and the Pulitzer Center. Aisha Harris, now a writer and editor with the New York Times Opinion section, penned an article providing five straightforward tips for improving Black History Month so everyone furthers their learning and understanding. Check out the various museums across Texas that focus on black history, including: Black history and American history are one in the same. We encourage educators and their students to spend time learning more about African American history during February and beyond.

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