Black History Month 2023

Eatonville School District

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Maya Angelou once wrote, "It cannot be denied. It will not be contained. And only I will define it. For when I look in the mirror, my very soul cries out, My Black is Beautiful."


As we move into February, let us honor the voices of our past by recognizing and celebrating the importance of Black History Month.


Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African-Americans and a time to recognize their central role in U.S. history. Black History Month is also known as African-American History month which was birthed out of "Negro History Week." Carter Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), sent out a press release from Chicago announcing the First Negro History Week in 1926. This marked the indoctrination of this national recognition. President Gerald Ford was the first U.S. president which recognized Black History Month in 1976. Since then every president has issued a proclamation honoring the spirit of Black History Month.


We are providing resources to support learning for staff, students and families.


Origins of Black History Month: provides history surrounding the creation of Black History

Month.

Why We Need Black History Month: A host of resources/lessons on different topics such as

Black students mental health, Black Lives Matter, intersectionality, Black LGTBQ

community, and much more.

Black History Month: Teaching Beyond Slavery: engage in lessons that center black people

who's narratives aren't always steeped in oppression and struggle.

Black History Month Theme for Preschool: host of resources for our younger learners.

Black History Month Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources k-12: host of resources and

plans to support Black History Month

1619: a New York Times podcast that examines the long shadow of American Slavery.

Top 15 Children's Books for Black History Month

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Brene Brown Podcasts

Click here to explore a variety of thought provoking podcasts.

Why We Need Black History Month

Click this button to see why it is more important now than ever.

February 4th is Rosa Parks's Birthday

We all know the Rosa Parks story: a Black woman living in Alabama in the Jim Crow era, tired from her day of work as a seamstress, got onto the bus to go home. She sank into an open at the front of the bus, in the 'whites only' section. A stickler for the Jim Crow rules, the bus driver demanded that she move to the back of the bus. Her refusal and subsequent arrest led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually led to the passing of the landmark Civil Rights Act.


Truth or myth, or something in between? It's fitting that Rosa Parks's birthday kicks off Black History Month. This template takes a her story as a launching off point, exploring in more depth her actions and those around her whose work pushed forward the cause of civil rights in America.

Let's start here, with a PBS video that debunks the myth:

Let's go back for a minute and make sure we understand the historical context.

Learning More About Claudette Colvin

Here's a great article about the 15-year old who refused to give up her seat several months before Rosa Parks, feeling as if she had "Harriet Tubman on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth on the other." Powerful!

Change Comes Through Legislation

Browder vs. Gayle was the name of the 1956 lawsuit filed by four women, including Claudette Colvin, because they were forced to give up their bus seats in Montgomery. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Here is the story.

Rosa Parks, In Her Own Words

What is the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement?

Here, four citizens of Indiana, across a range of ages, talk about the Civil Rights movement and how it's connected to protests for racial justice today.

Educating the Rosa Parks of Tomorrow

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