Recognizing Black History Month In Predominately White Schools

By John Chirico

​I work in a district with a majority of white students. So, I believe it is especially important to celebrate Black History Month in my school to recognize the identities and experiences of the few students of color in the building and to educate all my students on the contributions, history, and vitality of African Americans. 
    Every day, between every class period, I play a different music video for each day of the week. I have a playlist of almost four hundred school appropriate music videos. I love all types, genres, expressions of music, and I have gathered music videos from rock, rap, pop, electronica, international, avant garde and everything in between. The students walk into class, listen, watch and usually get into the music video I’m playing.
    Every February, these music videos showcase Black artists, from Cab Calloway to Bone Thugs to TV on the Radio. This is a fun, easy way to make Black culture visible in my school and show students the influence and importance of Black heritage in our country.
    During February, at the start of every week, I also highlight a Black American who has accomplished something notable or contributed to or changed our culture in a significant way. I strive to search for Black Americans who are often overlooked or unknown to me or my students and we may have not learned about them in history classes. Some examples are Shirley Chisholm, Benjamin Crump, Sally Hemings, and Joseph Rainey. I display their pictures and talk a little about their legacy, contributions, and life to the class. Students are often receptive and curious. 
    In the past few years, I have put greater emphasis on representing people of color in my classroom to prepare my students for the complexities, diversity, and experiences of the world they will enter when they leave this local community. And we all just need a little peace, love and empathy.

John Chirico is an English teacher at Olentangy Local Schools.