How to teach about Black History Month? At my son's school, the answer is this: Choose three or four Black people, from history, and sing a few tunes that are tangentially linked with the biographies in question.
It's a logical answer, I guess, but I keep imagining an analogy. Let's say there were a "Gay History Month," and the teacher spoke at length about Alan Turing. And then the kids performed a song about codes and code-breaking, e.g. Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?" ....I wonder, would this leave something to be desired?
My child sings about peanuts, and about traffic lights, and then all the kids dance to a Michael Jackson song. It's moments like these that make me feel like a space alien. I try to draft the lesson plan, in my head: "Mr. Jackson raped kids, and sometimes he would stage a secret wedding ceremony. He would force the children to wear a ring, and he'd say, this is just between us....No one has to know...."
I plaster a smile on my face; I write my "thank you" note. I go to bed thinking about Whitney Houston; of course, it would be difficult to teach about her life, as well.
O, brave new world....that has such people in it....
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