Experts Offer Insight in Black History Now Live Series
By Aldore Collier
The relentless attempts to annihilate Black history from classrooms, ban books by celebrated Black authors such as Toni Morrison and control how Black people can wear their hair will be at the center of Color Of Change’s Black History Now Live discussion series.
The series, which is presented in four episodes through March 13, features conversations by COC leadership with renowned thought leaders and education experts and highlights critical issues facing our communities. The episodes also offer insights for solutions and local action.
The episodes are being live streamed without charge on the Color Of Change YouTube channel and Facebook page beginning at 7 p.m. ET on the date each premieres and also are available to watch later.
“There are a lot of things currently under attack, but Black history is American history and we should be protecting it,” said Kelle Rozell, Color Of Change’s chief marketing and storytelling officer. “We want our nation’s entire history to be solidified in the classroom. Teachers have been at the forefront of the battle for equitable education. So, it’s really important that we protect it. It’s imperative that we ensure that Black history remains in the classroom in order to truly learn from our nation’s past.”
COC President Rashad Robinson kicked off the Black History Now Live series on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 16, with Kimberlé Crenshaw, a leading law school professor, scholar and co-founder of the African American Policy Forum. The two discussed the importance of preserving accurate Black history in the U.S. education system.
“People and institutions who benefit from white supremacy see us building collective Black power,” Crenshaw said during the conversation. “They see us in the streets, in schools and in halls of government telling the truth about how structural racism is embedded in American life. They know that teaching accurate, honest history to the next generation is critical to achieve racial equality and justice.”
Since January 2021, 42 states have introduced legislation or taken actions to restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to Education Week. Eighteen states have imposed these bans and restrictions. Most recently, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blocked an Advanced Placement (AP) African-American Studies course from being offered in Florida schools on the grounds that the course violated the state’s anti-critical race theory law.
Crenshaw reiterated how the push by conservatives to ban Black history continues by falsely rebranding it as critical race theory, a graduate school-level framework to understand how the law perpetuates inequality.
“The majority of people who are foaming at the mouth in these school board meetings couldn’t define critical race theory if their lives depended on it,” Crenshaw said, adding that fewer than 10% of high school seniors can correctly identify slavery as the cause of the Civil War.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Howard University Professor Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the landmark “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story,” sits down with Robinson for the second episode, which streams on Monday, Jan. 30. They discuss how her landmark project has become a catalyst for the wave of challenges to Black history by the right wing and how people can get involved to keep a full telling of American history in public schools and thwart the bans and legislative push-backs that threaten our democracy.
Color Of Change has mounted several campaigns to defend Black history, including ones supporting teachers who resist the efforts to erase Black history from their classrooms, and demanding that textbook publishers fight back against attempts to whitewash Black history in books and curricula. Color Of Change also celebrates the importance of Black history through its Children’s Carnivals, events that teach and inspire families about historical Black figures in a variety of fields while building power through collective action.
Hannah-Jones’ “The 1619 Project” also is scheduled to premiere Jan. 26 as a six-part docuseries on Hulu.
COC’s Black History Now Live series continues on Monday, Feb. 13, with Dr. Brandi Waters, director of AP African American Studies at the College Board and who helped develop the curriculum blocked by Gov. DeSantis. Waters and Steve Bumbaugh, senior vice president for college and career access at the College Board, will talk with Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, COC’s vice president of corporate power, about the importance of inclusivity and historically accurate curriculum in textbooks.
The age-old debate about Black hair — and how Black people should and can wear it — will be the focus of the final episode. Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka, a therapist, hair historian and stylist who founded the practice and research of PsychoHairapy, will talk about the connections between hair and mental health and wellness with Amity Paye, COC’s chief communications officer. That program will be live streamed on Monday, March 13.
The CROWN Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on a person’s hair style and texture, passed the U.S. House of Representatives during the last two sessions of Congress, but was blocked from passage in the U.S. Senate by Republicans. The legislation seeks to protect individuals, largely African-Americans, from unjust treatment in the workplace, in the hiring process and in schools because of their natural hairstyles like braids, locs and afros.
“Black people should be free to wear their natural hair, especially when Color Of Change is also campaigning against the sale of hair products” used largely by Black consumers and that are linked to life-threatening health conditions, Rozell said. “It’s going to be an extremely interesting conversation.”
On Monday, Feb. 27, Color Of Change will host the 2nd Annual Black History Now Awards to honor heroes in our communities — students, educators and community advocates — who have stood against the forces seeking to drive Black history and discussions of race from classrooms. COC members across the country nominated people for the awards. The awards show will stream live at 8 p.m. ET.
“Black history deserves to live outside February,” Rozell said. “We need to push for it year-round. It should not be reduced to 28 days. We want people to join Color Of Change and our campaigns to protect Black History. We need people to stand up and speak out.”