People power: Hundreds across the nation participate in COC/NEA #DefendBlackHistory training
By Color Of Change staff
There is power when more than 2,000 people sign up to fight for justice.
And that power was evident in the #DefendBlackHistory School Board Training and Storytelling Workshop held Dec. 5 and Dec. 13, respectively, by Color Of Change in conjunction with the National Education Association.
Hundreds of passionate educators, parents, grandparents and advocates from big cities to small towns across the nation joined the virtual sessions where discussions centered on the impact of showing up at local school board meetings, advocating for our children and fighting back against book bans and attempts to whitewash or eliminate Black history from classrooms and libraries.
During the workshop and training led by COC staff, participants were provided with information, worksheets, strategies and electronic toolkits filled with resources to help them show up and speak confidently and effectively at local school board and other public meetings to defend Black history and literature and demand that educators have the freedom to teach and that our students have the freedom to learn.
Since January 2021, 18 states have imposed legislative or policy bans or restrictions on teaching critical race theory or to limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism in the classroom. Similar legislation or policy restrictions have been introduced in 26 other states, according to an Education Week analysis.
PEN America also recorded more than 3,300 instances of book bans in public school classrooms and libraries during the past year. These bans removed student access to more than 1,500 various titles, including largely the works of Black and LGBTQ authors and people of color. Books such as “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, whose work has been recognized with the prestigious Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, and “The Color Purple” by acclaimed novelist and Pulitzer winner Alice Walker, are among the banned titles.
COC President Rashad Robinson and Rebecca S. “Becky” Pringle, president of the NEA, detailed during both sessions why parents and communities must get involved in the fight; hold elected officials, textbook and curriculum companies accountable; and what’s at stake.
“Day in and day out, in rooms of power like school board meetings, decisions are being made,” Robinson said during the #DefendBlackHistory Storytelling Workshop. “Decisions are being made about the budget. Decisions are being made about what to prioritize. And people will speak for us and for our children and for our communities if we are not there to speak up for ourselves. People will make decisions on our behalf, and other people will make decisions that are in their interests and not in our interest.
“We have to fight for the type of funding, we have to fight for the type of resources and we have to fight for the type of curriculum, resources and engagement that are actually going to serve all of our young people,” Robinson said.
People must “get out and participate if we want to even be in the game,” he said.
Across the nation, people are beginning to realize their power to make a difference by showing up, sharing their stories and demanding change, Pringle said.
When they share their stories at school board meetings, people make connections that tap into the core values that others share despite outward differences and divisions, Pringle told participants at the #DefendBlackHistory Storytelling Workshop. As a result, it helps others “tap into their own courage and act to make a difference,” she said.
People are beginning to understand that “they actually have the power to change people’s minds,” Pringle said. “They have the power to change policy. And if they aren’t able to change policy, they have the power to change the policymaker.”
Want to learn more? A video recording of COC’s #DefendBlackHistory School Board Training and toolkit resources are available here. COC’s #DefendBlackHistory Storytelling Workshop video and toolkit are available here.