Black History Month offers educators an opportunity to go beyond antebellum slavery and the civil rights movement. While Black history has always been American history, Black students notice the lack of people who look like themselves in conventional history lessons. Black History Month invites us all to celebrate the contributions of African Americans to history, culture, science and other aspects of society. Here are seven curators on Flipboard, who have created collections of stories that can support educators this month.
Black His | Her Story
In this Magazine, Jaz Hamilton-Allen collects stories about historical and current events, connecting the dots between the past and the present. Harriet Tubman, Amanda Gorman and numerous lesser-known Black Americans are the central figures in this constantly updated collection.
Black Inventors And Scientists
Tawanna Browne Smith and Janette Speyer are businesswomen with a passion for education. They co-curate a Magazine in celebration of “the forgotten ones and unsung heroes who helped to build America.”
Slavery & The Jim Crow Legacy
Recent PhD graduate Angel D. Newton is a prolific curator. Besides regularly adding stories to her Magazine The African & African American (His)tory she curates articles related to slavery in America and elsewhere in the world and the transatlantic slave trade. This provides a “historical perspective with insights to present day impact.”
African American Studies
Kyle Clark, social studies teacher at Scott High School in Toledo, Ohio, curates about Black history and culture all year round. His African American Studies Magazine has over 1,000 stories, covering many aspects such as historical figures and current events
Anti-Black Racism, Black Canadian Education and History
Black people have been part of Canadian history from its earliest days. Black Canadians have contributed to many areas of Canadian culture, while experiencing discrimination and marginalization. Under the name Big Ideas in Education, author and educator
Deborah McCallum curates online resources for teaching and learning about Black history in Canada.
Black History Month Media
The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a national education nonprofit offering nonpartisan, independent programs that teach students how to know what to believe in the digital age. During February the team at NLP highlights influential Black journalists and news media throughout U.S. history.
Flipboard EDU Podcast
When educators participate in Black History Month it’s important for them to understand the culture and experience of Black people in America, according to William Jeffery, educator and creator of the Flipboard EDU Podcast. In episode 35 he dives deeper into this topic of mentoring Black students; previous topics include racism in education, and hip-hop culture. All episodes, along with reading materials, are available in one Magazine.
Until we integrate the contributions Black people have made to the overarching American narrative—and lesson plans for history classes— many students will learn about Josiah Henson, Ida B. Wells and Gladys West only in the month of February.
— Christel van der Boom is curating stories about the science of Happiness