# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is Black History Month?

February

Q.
What week in February was Black History month first celebrated

answer choices

the first week

the second week

the third week

the fourth week

Q. What month is Black History Month?

answer choices

March

January

February

October

Q.
Who is the "Father of Black History?"

answer choices

Frederick Douglass

Martin Luther King Jr.

Cater G. Woodson

Abraham Lincoln

Q.
Who is the "Father of Black History?"

answer choices

Frederick Douglass

Martin Luther King Jr.

Carter G. Woodson

Abraham Lincoln

Q.
In 1975, which president officially recognized Black History month?

answer choices

George Washington

Gerald Ford

Ronald Reagan

George Bush

Q.
Which two abolitionists, (or people who fought to end slavery), have their birthday in February and therefore made February an appropriate month for Black History Month?

answer choices

Carter Wilson and Dr. Martin Luther King

Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln

Frederick Douglas and George Washington

I do not know

Quizzes you may like

10 Qs

American Heroes - Equality for All

5 plays

3rd -

5th

14 Qs

Black History Month

12 plays

1st -

5th

15 Qs

Black History Trivia

28 plays

3rd -

6th

19 Qs

So You Want to be President?

654 plays

4th

10 Qs

Air Force One

618 plays

7th

10 Qs

Giraffes Can't Dance

582 plays

2nd

10 Qs

Presidents Day Flocabulary

220 plays

5th

20 Qs

Foreign and Domestic Policy

134 plays

7th

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Quizizz - The world's most engaging learning platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find and create gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations, and flashcards for students, employees, and everyone else. Get started for free!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
explore

library

create

reports

classes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Quizizz — The world’s most engaging learning platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find and create gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations, and flashcards for students, employees, and everyone else. Get started for free!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Celebrate Black History

Understanding History Makes a Better Today

The more we know about the past, the better we can understand our present. This Black History Month, we're featuring resources you can use to help foster an understanding of Black history and celebrate Black achievement all year long on Flipgrid and in your communities.

Flipgrid Live Events that Celebrate and Inspire

Packed with powerhouse influencers and insightful perspectives from experts in their field, these interactive events will bring lessons in perseverance and positivity and the true meaning of soul food to your classroom. Registration is free and open to the public.

Stacey Abrams

February 15, 10:00 AM PST

What can you accomplish with confidence, kindness, and determination? Find out with author and political leader Stacey Abrams.

Watch On-Demand >

World Read Aloud Day

Wednesday, February 2

10:00 AM PST

Bestselling author Tami Charles will share her book All Because You Matter reminding students that they matter now and always.

Watch On-Demand >

We Ate: Food & The Good Fight

Wednesday, February 9

10:00 AM PST

Our partners at Langston League discuss how soul food is more than just for eating; it’s an integral part of community, justice, and the soul.

Watch On-Demand >

Conversations for Understanding and Action

Learn about Black stories and history this and every month with these topics from our ever-growing collection of educational topics in our Discovery Library.

Explore Space with Black Astronauts

Students research Black astronauts and become tour guides for our solar system.

(Grades K-5)

Go to the Topic >

Reclaiming Black History with Langston League

Learn about representations and misrepresentations of historical Black figures.

(Grades 6-8)

Go to the Topic >

Digital Citizenship and Black Lives Matter

Empower student changemakers and promote digital safety when talking about race.

(Grades 9-12)

Go to the Topic >

Articles for Educators and Families

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Experts discuss why culturally responsive teaching benefits every student, and share their teaching strategies and classroom activities.

Read More >

Celebrate Black History All Year

In February, we lift up Black voices, stories, and history. But understanding and celebrating Black excellence is important year-round.

Read More >

How Does Understanding Lead to Change?

Representation and equity are critical for the empowerment and success of everyone in our communities. Watch Flipgrid’s Educations Innovation Leads Jornea Armond and Fely García López speak to experts in computer science education about why educators should understand their role in responding to and supporting diverse individuals in their classrooms throughout the year.

More Resources

For more activities and information about Black history, check out these immersive experiences hosted by the Microsoft Stores team, including virtual museums, children’s books, and fireside chats.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Black History Month Events and Activities | Flipgrid

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From conversations that inspire impactful actions to events honoring Black achievement, our resources help you celebrate Black History all year. Learn more.

# data[].attributes.headline
Ways to celebrate Black History all beyond February

# data[].attributes.subject
Ways to celebrate Black History all beyond February

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For many students-and educators-the end of February signals the end of learning about Black history. However, with ample resources that honor and celebrate African Americans' contributions, both students and educators can continue to learn about Black excellence all year.

Flipgrid strongly believes in fostering learning environments both in and out of classroom settings where respect and acknowledgment of Black achievement are demonstrated every day, year-round.

Our Educator Innovation Leads have curated resources across a wide variety of subjects, ages, and education grade levels. We hope they'll help educators and students deepen their understanding of Black history and the significant role African Americans have had in America's history.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Black History Resources for Educators and Families

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For many students-and educators-the end of February signals the end of learning about Black history. However, with ample resources that honor and celebrate African Americans' contributions, both students and educators can continue to learn about Black excellence all year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We know that Black history is American history and needs to be embedded into your classroom experiences year-round. At the same time, Black History Month provides the necessary opportunity to dig deeper with students. Every February, we can support students as they learn more, discover cultural impacts, and follow social movements from the past to the present day. These Black History Month lessons and activities cannot be isolated or one-off classroom experiences. Think of how you can connect these topics to what you're already doing and make it authentic. And most important, do not just focus on oppression: Focus on the joy too!

Since 1928, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History has provided a theme for Black History Month. In 2023, the theme is Black Resistance. As you review some of our favorite Black History Month activities for the classroom, keep that very important theme in mind.

(Just a heads up ! WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

1. Re-create civil rights freedom movement posters

The Civil Rights Movement Veterans site offers powerful examples of freedom movement posters, as does the Civil Rights Digital Library. Review them with your students, and then have them get into groups and create their own to share.

2. Explore Black history through primary sources from the National Archives

Choose from thousands of resources, including this 1970s photo series of Chicago.

3. Learn about famous Black artists

Future Jacob Lawrences and Elizabeth Catletts will appreciate learning more about artists and expanding their talents! Plus, check out these other Black artists.

4. Watch a Black History Month video

Watching videos can be some of the most meaningful Black History Month classroom activities. Check out this list of Black history videos for students in every grade level.

5. Learn about the Black Lives Matter movement

The Black Lives Matter site explains the group's history while books like Dear Martin and The Hate U Give explore the movement from a fictional perspective.

6. Create a newsletter or magazine with content from Black authors

Have your students generate their own newsletter or literacy magazine to distribute to parents. Include poems and short stories by Black authors, as well as student-generated writings and images that center on Black History Month.

7. Read a Black History Month poem

To enhance our conversations this month, we've put together this list of powerful Black History Month poems for kids of all ages.

8. Turn your classroom (or school!) into a living museum

Have your students choose a notable Black pioneer they'd like to know more about, such as voting rights and women's rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, dancer Alvin Ailey, or Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest full-time national parks ranger. Then, host a living museum right in your classroom.

9. Learn about Madam C.J. Walker and other Black entrepreneurs

Do you know about Madam C.J. Walker, the first self-made female millionaire in America? Click here to learn more about her!

10. Decorate your classroom door for Black History Month

These teachers decorated their classroom doors in amazing ways to showcase Black History Month.

11. Honor some of the military's most courageous veterans

From the 54th Massachusetts to the Buffalo Soldiers to the Tuskegee Airmen, Black men and women have long served in the United States military, even when their own rights weren't secure.

12. Read books with Black characters in honor of the young hero Marley Dias

Dias is a young activist who started the #1000blackgirlbooks campaign as a sixth grader. She has compiled an excellent guide to books with Black girl characters. Check out WeAreTeacher's list of books with Black protagonists as well.

13. Read Black History Month books

If you're looking for more reading activities, these picture books help celebrate Black History Month and educate your students on how these people helped shape history.

14. Learn about the art of stepping

Stepping is a form of dancing in which the body itself is used to create unique rhythms and sounds. The website Step Afrika! has videos and information about the history of stepping.

15. Take a virtual trip to the illustrious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The digital collections of the Schomburg Center, located in Harlem in New York City, feature some amazing online exhibits, interviews, and podcasts.

16. Virtually visit the incredible Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture

You can browse the collection online by topic, date, or place.

17. Host a poetry reading featuring works by Black poets

Have students choose a poem by a Black poet to learn and recite for the class. Choose a student to serve as the emcee, write up a program, and set the tone with dimmed lights and jazz music played between performances. The Poetry Foundation has excellent resources that can help get you started.

18. Discuss the Supreme Court trial that gave rights to Black Americans

Your future legal eagles will enjoy learning about the key Supreme Court cases that helped Blacks secure rights, the events and efforts that sparked the cases, and the aftermath of those court decisions. Be sure to recognize Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice and the lead lawyer in the Brown case, along the way. Also, follow up with students on how they feel these decisions impact our world today.

19. Listen to a podcast that celebrates Black history

RadioPublic has an excellent roundup of podcasts about Black history to listen to and discuss with your students.

20. Check out online exhibits on Black history

Educating yourself and your students with these shows is one more way to understand Black history and the current moment.

21. Dive into Georgia Stories: Black History Collection on PBS

As a state, Georgia played a huge role in the 2020 presidential election, and its Black history dates back to the earliest days of slavery in the colony.

22. Discuss implicit bias, systemic racism, and social injustice

Start a much-needed discussion around implicit bias and systemic racism with these resources that can empower students to fight for justice in our society.

23. Read the Freedom in Congo Square picture book to celebrate the dominance of spirit over suffering

The award-winning picture boo, Freedom in Congo Square, is a nonfiction children's book that describes the tyranny of slavery to help young readers understand how jubilant Sundays would be for slaves.

24. Watch Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History

Kevin Hart highlights the fascinating contributions of Black history's unsung heroes in this entertaining-and educational-comedy special.

25. Recognize Black visionaries

This great poster featuring activists, artists, authors, and revolutionaries will highlight Black change-makers in your classroom. Use companion activities to deepen understanding by researching several of the visionaries and asking students to write a story or create their own poster about what they've learned.

26. Create a Black History Month playlist

Many genres of music we listen to today were shaped by Black artists and their groundbreaking influences. Celebrate Black History Month with a playlist of pivotal artists, from Louis Armstrong and Jimi Hendrix to Beyoncé and Lauryn Hill. Spotify has ready-made lists to inspire you!

27. Review the time line of Black History Month

Why is Black History Month in February? How long ago was it founded, and who started it? Find the answers to these questions and learn more with this time line.

28. Explore the music of Black history

This lesson traces the long histor y of how Black artists have used music as a vehicle for communicating beliefs, aspirations, observations, joy, despair, resistance, and more across U.S. history.

29. Sample Black-founded snack brands

Honor Black History Month with delicious snacks from Black-founded brands delivered to your classroom-5% of proceeds are donated to the Equal Justice Initiative and one meal is donated to Feeding America for every box delivered.

30. Understand the role of Black women in NASA's history

How much do your students know about Black contributions to space exploration? Rent the film Hidden Figures and watch with your students to remember, honor, and share the incredible accomplishments of three Black women working on NASA's space flight program. Before watching the movie, research the liberties the film took in telling the story and discuss with your students the function of the choices. Did the filmmakers make the right choice?

31. Support local Black-owned businesses

Research your city's Black-owned businesses and see if you can purchase a sample of their products, invite some of the entrepreneurs to speak to your class, or book a field trip!

32. Stream Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices on Netflix

" Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices is a live-action collection of twelve five-minute episodes featuring prominent Black celebrities and artists reading children's books from Black authors that highlight the Black experience."

33. Check out this planner from Rethinking Schools

If you are looking to find more ways to include Black history year-round, check out this planner.

34. Celebrate the "Black Lives Matter at School" movement

"Black Lives Matter at School" is a national coalition organized for racial justice in education. It encourages all educators, students, parents, unions, and community organizations to join an annual week of action during the first week of February each year.​ For a variety of Black History Month activities, visit their website to learn more about their campaign.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
34 Black History Month Activities for February and Beyond

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Celebrate art, poetry, music, inventions, and contributions of African Americans with these Black History Month activities.

# data[].attributes.headline
Celebrate Black History Collection of lesson plans

# data[].attributes.subject
Celebrate Black History Collection of lesson plans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sorry, something went wrong

Error 18. Please try again in a few minutes or contact support for further help. Thanks for your patience!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sorry, something went wrong

Error 18. Please try again in a few minutes or contact support for further help. Thanks for your patience!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edpuzzle video lesson. Make any video your lesson. Take a video and crop it, add your voice or embed questions at any point.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
February is Black History Month, and we've collected some ready-to-teach lessons to help your class students get to know some inspirational Black leaders, artists, scientists, and more! Follow the links below to preview the Decks and make your own copies!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources for Black History Month - Pear Deck

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
February is Black History Month, and we've collected some ready-to-teach lessons to help your class students get to know some inspirational Black leaders, artists, scientists, and more! Follow the links below to preview the Decks and make your own copies!

# data[].attributes.headline
Slide deck for the poem The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

# data[].attributes.subject
Slide deck for the poem The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PBS NewsHour Extra - Lesson Plan: Discuss 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” — Pear Deck

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this lesson, students examine the poetry of Amanda Gorman, who was chosen to read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. Gorman’s poem complemented Biden’s inaugural address and was written to reflect on “the history that we stand on, and the future t

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Maia Chaka makes history as first Black woman to officiate an NFL game | CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Maia Chaka made history on Sunday, as she became the first Black woman to officiate an NFL game.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Back to blog

In honor of Black History Month, celebrate Black heroes and trailblazers, learn about Black history, educate about inclusion and more. Find ready-to-use kahoots for you, your family or your class to help commemorate Black culture and achievements!

Add a kahoot to your celebration of Black History Month with a special collection from Kahoot! Academy Verified creators and partners. Explore the entire Black History Month collection or choose one from the recommendations below.

Honor phenomenal Black women who’ve made history

Did you know Simone Biles has the most medals of any American gymnast and Mae Jemison was the first Black woman to travel into space? Learn about the remarkable achievements of extraordinary Black women in this kahoot from Kahoot! Academy partner Rebel Girls.

Learn about Black History Month

Interesting fact: Black History Month became a month-long celebration in 1976. Find out more facts about this significant month in this kahoot from Verified creator Miss Jazmyn.

Explore what makes up your identity

How would you or others describe you? Explore the different parts of your identity that make you who you are with this kahoot from Kahoot! Academy partner Empatico.

Black History Month Facts

Find out 10 facts about Black history in this kahoot from Kahoot! Academy Verified creator Miss Jazmyn.

What is Identity?

This kahoot from Kahoot! Academy partner Empatico explores the different parts of our identity that make us who we are.

Educate about implicit bias and inclusion

Educate yourself and others on what implicit bias is, why it matters, what it means to be inclusive and how to embrace diversity in this kahoot from Kahoot! Academy partner Ad Council.

Learn about racism and racial discrimination

How can education help to combat and prevent racism? Learn about the many forms racism can take and learn what you can do to fight racism in this kahoot from Kahoot! Academy partner United Nations.

Strengthen your knowledge of Black history

Test your knowledge of Black history, like important events, facts, influential figures and more, with Kahoot!’s new all-access pass to premium content, Kahoot!+ AccessPass.

Join the UN to Fight Racism!

Test your knowledge with Kahoot! Academy partner United Nations to learn about the many forms racism can take and what you can do to fight racism so we can all enjoy our human rights.

The Civil Rights Movement

A premium U.S. History kahoot, included in the subscription Kahoot!+ AccessPass, designed to test your knowledge on the Civil Rights Movement.

We hope these kahoots and collections will support you in honoring and recognizing the significant role of Black communities in shaping our history and present day.

Share your feedback with us, share this post with others and stay up-to-date with more content recommendations from Kahoot! Academy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok!

Related articles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Celebrate Black History Month with Kahoot! Academy | Kahoot!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Celebrate Black heroes and trailblazers, learn about Black history, educate about inclusion and more with ready-to-use kahoots.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why do I have to complete a CAPTCHA?

Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property.

What can I do to prevent this in the future?

If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware.

If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices.

Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Black History Month Flashcards | Quizlet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards terms like February, Harriet Tubman, Slave and more.

# data[].attributes.headline
Stone Valley Black History Month Lesson Plans

# data[].attributes.subject
Stone Valley Black History Month Lesson Plans

# data[].attributes.headline
Fresh ideas for Art, Geography, History, English, Music, Dance, Poetry, Theater, Speech and Debate, and more 

# data[].attributes.subject
Fresh ideas for Art, Geography, History, English, Music, Dance, Poetry, Theater, Speech and Debate, and more 

# data[].attributes.headline
Seven Classroom ready activities to start the conversation on anti-racism

# data[].attributes.subject
Seven Classroom ready activities to start the conversation on anti-racism

# data[].attributes.body
Download these posters for your classroom

# data[].attributes.headline
PBS Learning - A conversation with My Black Son Lesson Plan

# data[].attributes.subject
PBS Learning - A conversation with My Black Son Lesson Plan

# data[].attributes.headline
PBS Learning Lesson Plan: Still Seeking Justice: The Known and Unknown Stories of Civil Rights Figures | Un(re)solved

# data[].attributes.subject
PBS Learning Lesson Plan: Still Seeking Justice: The Known and Unknown Stories of Civil Rights Figures | Un(re)solved

# data[].attributes.headline
PBS Learning Lesson Plan - Muhammad Ali's Activism and Moral Courage

# data[].attributes.subject
PBS Learning Lesson Plan - Muhammad Ali's Activism and Moral Courage

# data[].attributes.headline
How Go-Go Music Inspires the Beat Ya Feet Dance Movement

# data[].attributes.subject
How Go-Go Music Inspires the Beat Ya Feet Dance Movement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Black Joy is revolutionary, and it shows up in all these small, simple but emphatic ways-like dance. Whether it's a shoulder bop or a fully choreographed routine, the joy in dance is about freely owning your movements, and it's an integral part of the Black experience. Black dances are always evolving. Across the country, each region has its own signature style, but each style stays true to the instinctual need to be expressive and jubilant. This Black History Month, If Cities Could Dance celebrates a few dance traditions and styles of the Black diaspora in this mixtape video (embedded above). From the bateys in Puerto Rico to train cars in the Bay Area, if the spirit moves, Black dance happens anywhere and everywhere.

We also created this If Cities Could Dance Black History playlist with videos from four seasons of the award-winning series. Below are a few of our fans' favorite episodes.

A tight-knit, intergenerational community revives Philly's soulful and inclusive house scene.

The international dance icon brought dances from the African diaspora to stages around the world, then made a home in East St. Louis.

Today's jam skaters draw from a community built over generations at Venice Beach and rinks across the city.

The Dance Champz of Atlanta are evolving this dance beyond its roots in HBCUs and LGBTQ+ club battles.

Waves of migration brought southwest Louisiana's Creole culture to Houston's Frenchtown, where zydeco now draws crowds of dancers young and old.

Originators of the 1970s art form are passing its funk-driven, freestyle moves to a new generation.

A new generation of dancers are bringing Beat Ya Feet back to the streets of D.C. in celebration of the city's rich black history. Now streaming on PBS Voices.

Once marginalized and near-forgotten, bomba is experiencing a resurgence in popularity and relevance with younger dancers.

Watch jookin legends and emerging stars in the scene slide, ankle break and spin through their city. Now streaming on PBS Voices.

Meet some of Chicago's footworkers who challenge the city's legacy of segregation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Dance Through Black History Across the African Diaspora | KQED

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Black Joy is revolutionary, and it shows up in all these small, simple but emphatic ways-like dance. Whether it's a shoulder bop or a fully choreographed routine, the joy in dance is about freely owning your movements, and it's an integral part of the Black experience. Black dances are always evolving.

# data[].attributes.headline
Mae Jemison - the first African American woman to go into space

# data[].attributes.subject
Mae Jemison - the first African American woman to go into space

# data[].attributes.headline
Dr. Bridgette Shannon - STEM Black scientist

# data[].attributes.subject
Dr. Bridgette Shannon - STEM Black scientist

# data[].attributes.headline
Stand on portraiture: Discussion with Artist Toyin Odutola 

# data[].attributes.subject
Stand on portraiture: Discussion with Artist Toyin Odutola 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Educators are facing the intimidating reality of remote classrooms this fall; many are also looking for new ways to promote antiracism because familiar methods may have seemed more authentic, manageable, or accessible in an in-person classroom. We would like to offer some ideas for how humanities teachers in particular can use texts that use sound-podcasts, speeches, interviews, music, and the like-to integrate antiracist content into online classrooms.

Texts written with sound offer a number of high-value benefits to a remote classroom, including being organically accessible to English language learners and students with learning challenges like dyslexia, as well as being simple and affordable. Working with sound also allows educators to teach necessary skills in new and exciting ways that invite both intellectual play and literacy with digital tools. However, while all of these features are important, one of the most essential things about sound texts is their capacity to promote antiracism in the classroom.

Communicating Respect for Many Varieties of English

This is particularly evident when we note that many sound genres, most notably interviews, podcasts, and music, are most effective when they integrate the use of diverse varieties of English, code-switching, other languages, or accents: Many sound texts feature these culturally inclusive language usages in ways that respect, celebrate, and learn from all voices. When we ask our students to study speakers and texts using diverse varieties of English, we communicate respect for a wide array of cultures and backgrounds, affirming their scholarly and human value.

Humanizing Diverse Voices

Additionally, reading and writing printed digital words can result in a dehumanizing experience for our students, as this can make it easy to forget the person behind the words. We see this in caustic comments on social media, online videos, or anonymous discussion boards. When working remotely, using sound texts helps students remember the people they are engaging with online, particularly when wrestling with the challenging and sensitive topics of antiracism. Sound is also a powerful tool for promoting antiracism because students are acutely aware of the individual author's connection to the sound text.

Erin Anderson identifies the human voice as a unique and powerful sound because it is "produced by and emitted from the human body. Inevitably, when we hear a voice, we hear a body." Sound as a mode has the unique ability to humanize the author and remind our students that they are part of a larger community.

Engaging Emotionally

The nature of sound, with its use of music, sound effects, and human voices, also encourages students to engage emotionally with the content of the text, promoting empathy and open-mindedness. The personal connection we want students to have with antiracism work in our classrooms becomes that much easier when they can emotionally connect with the texts. When we are not physically in the same room there to nurture that, sound texts do a lot of the heavy lifting for us.

Getting Started With Sound Texts

If you're interested in using the mode of sound to foster antiracism in your own remote classroom, we've assembled a list of powerful sound texts in a variety of genres, all of which honor and empower Black voices and/or Black experiences. All of these texts meet some or all of the following qualifications, which we propose as guidance to help when choosing antiracist sound texts. The texts should:

highlight the history and accomplishments of different marginalized communities, recognizing that it's important that we don't show only struggles and pain;

be authored by members of the community explored in the text; and/or

feature diverse varieties of English, code-switching, accents, or multiple languages.

Not all of these selections in the list will work for each disciplinary classroom, but there should be something here for everyone.

Podcasts

Audio Memoirs

Poetry

Speeches

Interviews

Excerpts from a 1964 interview between Martin Luther King Jr. and writer Robert Penn Warren

NPR interview with Ibram X. Kendi

Audio Drama

Music

Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" (violent content: only use this in addition to stories celebrating Black success and accomplishments)

Beyoncé's "Freedom," featuring Kendrick Lamar

Cynthia Erivo singing "I'm Here" from The Color Purple

The most important thing to remember when using these (and other) materials to foster antiracism in your remote classroom is that while many texts have the potential to be antiracist, the way in which educators teach and discuss the text-and the ways in which we conduct our classrooms-is where the meaningful change happens. Antiracism is much larger than any one assignment or list of resources; it is a mindset and culture that must be intentionally and carefully promoted.

As many of us look to the reality of remote classrooms in this coming fall, we believe that the mode of sound is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal to promote an antiracist, empathetic, and relational learning experience for our students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Sound Texts in Antiracist Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Educators are facing the intimidating reality of remote classrooms this fall; many are also looking for new ways to promote antiracism because familiar methods may have seemed more authentic, manageable, or accessible in an in-person classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students can learn a lot about the Black experience in America when teachers seek out a variety of resources to supplement their curriculum.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teach About Africa's Immensity

Africa is immense in all ways. Modern Africa comprises 54 countries, each with its own political history, cultural influences, and social intricacies. There are vast nations like Algeria and small island-states like Seychelles. Astoundingly, Africa counts more than 1,000 ethnic groups, who speak more than 2,000 languages (a number that soars to 3,000 if it includes dialectical varieties). We can identify at least 85 precolonial kingdoms.

Whether you're just starting to teach about Africa or have experience doing so, adopting a stance of learning about this immense continent with students can be useful. A good place to start is with geography, making use of maps to build students' geo-literacy to understand the relationships between representation, size, scale, and human diversity. Ask the question, "How big is Africa?" and use this How Big Is Africa? curriculum to help students learn about how mapping projections have reduced the continent's size.

Identify Africa as the Heart of Humanity

Historically, Africa was considered by outsiders to be the periphery of the world. And the list of stereotypes held about the continent, rooted in long-standing racism, is long. Our students' cognitive schema are influenced by these powerful messages that still operate in society. One way to provide a counter-narrative that humanizes and celebrates the continent and its people is to emphasize that Africa is the evolutionary birthplace of humanity.

In addition, the continent showcases pioneering advances in civilizations, such as the mastery of iron technology, and is critically significant to world history. Teach the ways that African history intersects with the histories of other continents. Precolonial African history is especially important because African countries' modern borders were established by colonial powers, a fact that hides the (much longer) history of great societies and kingdoms that have spanned the continent.

One easy strategy to nurture your students' reverence for African history is to study UNESCO World Heritage sites that help contextualize Africa's global significance. Examine the Burkina Faso iron-smelting ovens that date back to the eighth century BCE to teach the mastery and intensification of iron smelting in Africa, or study monuments like the monolithic churches of Lalibela.

Connect to Africa Across Disciplines

The geographical, cultural, linguistic, and political diversities of the continent constitute an invitation to interdisciplinarity. Elementary social studies frameworks can draw on African contexts to study geography, migration, interactions between humans and their environments, the circulation of ideas and culture, and political geography and modern countries' borders. Many teachers are now exploring layered interactive maps to develop inquiry about the intersection of places and culture.

French and English literature teachers can internationalize their scope of texts and choose from a solid corpus of excellent anglophone and francophone African novels, including Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu by Ousmane Sembène. Africa is easily integrated with math and science when educators teach about the history of the development of scientific and mathematical ideas that have African roots. Science teachers can connect with world history content when they teach about the emergence of environmental conservation as a reaction to the effects of colonial exploitation of land and resources.

Resources from African Studies Centers across the United States, many of which are National Resource Centers (NRCs), can help make the work of integrating Africa into the disciplines easier. At NRCs, outreach staff support instructional design plans with specific resources.

Teach Africa to Affirm Identities

Linking curriculum with aspects of African culture promotes global education for all students. In an era in which we are existentially threatened by climate change and political dangers, it is a vital educational approach to promote our students' sense of unity and respect. Teaching about African history, politics, and culture supports our students' developing identities as global citizens.

Additionally-and crucially-Africa has deeply shaped the cultural context of the United States, especially that of African American and African diasporic students. Given persistent racial injustice in education and the existence of curricula still plagued by Eurocentric perspectives, there's an urgency to embrace Black Lives Matter at School and equity and antiracism approaches in the classroom.

This means that teaching about Africa can be part of an antiracist practice, as it enables historically marginalized student groups to become visible in a multi-perspective curriculum that affirms their identities and dismantles narrow, one-sided perceptions of their cultures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching African History and Cultures Across the Curriculum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Africa is immense in all ways. Modern Africa comprises 54 countries, each with its own political history, cultural influences, and social intricacies. There are vast nations like Algeria and small island-states like Seychelles. Astoundingly, Africa counts more than 1,000 ethnic groups, who speak more than 2,000 languages (a number that soars to 3,000 if it includes dialectical varieties).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The open letter by Martin Luther King Jr. is an excellent resource for teaching persuasive writing and much more.

Everett Collection Historical / Alamy

If I could teach only one text, it would be Martin Luther King Jr.'s " Letter from Birmingham Jail " (LBJ).

What first draws students is the author. Most have heard excerpts from "I Have a Dream," but few of them know that King was also a powerful writer. My rural Southern students' respect for King's reputation is enough to pique their curiosity, but they are usually intimidated by the length of the piece ("This is a letter!"). To encourage them, I highlight that he wrote the letter while he was insolitary confinement. This fact creates another point of connection, especially for the African American males, many of whom have already had their own conflicts with law enforcement or almost certainly know someone who has.

This reading comes as the centerpiece of a unit on persuasive writing. LBJ is one of two great examples of persuasive writing, the other being the Declaration of Independence, which we read first. Like Thomas Jefferson, King uses classical logic, including a well-structured categorical syllogism, to defend his ideas.

The letter is divided into 10 sections, each either responding to a charge or making a challenge. Using the jigsaw reading technique, one or more students analyze each section of the letter, identifying the rhetorical techniques used and evaluating how successful that section might have been with the target audience. Then, putting our evaluations together, we look at what we have learned from King about earning respectful consideration for one's ideas.

The rich historical allusions in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" entice and reward additional study. For example, King cites the long global tradition of civil disobedience, from Socrates to the Boston Tea Party. He also references a thoughtful blend of biblical and classical literature. He introduces my students to some of the great thinkers of the ages, including T. S. Elliot and Reinhold Niebuhr. Using these sources as markers, King places the civil rights struggle in its context as part of a longer, larger human story.

A Lesson in Civil Rights

LBJ is a primer on the civil rights movement, specifically 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, which was a critical point in the struggle for human rights. King methodically outlines the four steps taken by the civil rights activists during a campaign: collecting information, negotiations, self-purification, and direct action. The letter animates historical terms such as interposition, states' rights, and nullification by showing the human cost of social change. Students marvel that after failing to achieve change through talks, the activists spent days or even weeks training themselves not to respond violently to brutal treatment.

Since the events of 1963 are ancient history to today's students, I usually preface the study of the letter with a discussion of the documentary Mighty Times: The Children's March, which is available from Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance). The documentary highlights the role of school-age children in the fight against segregation in Birmingham. Along with King, thousands of students volunteered to violate the city's segregation laws and be jailed, some for up to two weeks. My students are particularly impressed that teenagers like themselves played such key and sacrificial roles in the fight for equality.

Exemplary Writing

As a writing text, LBJ is elegant and passionate. It contains a challenging range of vocabulary, grammatical structures, stylistic elements, and ideas. For instance, in response to the charge that the Black people of Birmingham were being premature and impatient in their use of demonstrations to end segregation, King vividly transports the readers into the daily life of a Black father in the Jim Crow South using a stream-of-consciousness technique:

Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, 'Wait.' But... when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people...

In passages such as this, I show students the value of detailed evidence and appeal to empathy in support of a persuasive point.

Likewise, answering the charge that he is a political extremist, King first redefines himself as "stand[ing] in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community." Then, with rhetorical deftness, he realigns himself and the civil rights movement alongside some of history's most celebrated extremists, including Martin Luther and Thomas Jefferson.

One of the most difficult concepts to teach novice writers about persuasion is the importance of writing for a specific audience. King writes to an ecumenical group of fellow clergymen, who had written a public letter deploring the use of direct, nonviolent actions. He establishes both his connection and credibility with his readers, while also chiding them for their own hypocrisy to the mission of the Christian church (with a nod to Greek mythology).

I appreciate that "Letter from Birmingham Jail" easily lends itself to many teaching approaches, to integrated subject content, and to student creativity. As a literary work, it can be a launching point, a bridge, or a culminating piece. There always seems to be more to discover and never enough time, which is why I continue to revisit it alongside my students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The open letter by Martin Luther King Jr. is an excellent resource for teaching persuasive writing and much more. Everett Collection Historical / Alamy If I could teach only one text, it would be Martin Luther King Jr.'s " Letter from Birmingham Jail " (LBJ). What first draws students is the author.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discussions about racism and how to proactively address it are happening among White educators, and that’s a good thing. There’s no perfect formula for becoming an antiracist teacher, but on the Damascus road toward antiracism, the first thing is to understand the terms racism and antiracism.

Dr. Ibram Kendi, founder of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University and author of the book How to Be an Antiracist, defines racism as the “marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities.” Antiracism is the opposite—measures that eliminate racial inequity on the basis that racist policies are the cause of racial inequities.

For Kendi, you cannot identify yourself as “not racist” absent identifying yourself as an antiracist—being an antiracist is the only alternative to being a racist. Simply being neutral isn’t enough for Kendi: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral during times of great moral conflict.”

Exploring These Definitions in Action

With these terms defined, you can explore how racism plays out within society, the community where you live and work, and your school. Racism is designed to maintain White supremacy, which Dr. Crystal Fleming defines as the social, political and economic dominance of people socially defined as “White.”

Some people define racism as something within a person’s heart rather than policies and ideas that shape the experiences of racial groups, but Fleming says that White supremacy is maintained from one generation to another through socialization, the process through which our families, peer groups, and social environments shape our behaviors, beliefs, and identities. For Fleming, it’s not what’s in your heart that matters because we live in a racist society and racism is all around us.

Teachers seeking be antiracist can next explore the connections between how racism in society informs racism within their school and how racism within their school helps to maintain racism within communities—and how these things maintain White supremacy.

For example, aggressive criminal legislation, in addition to racist ideas, is the foundation of mass incarceration, a policy under which Black people have been disproportionately imprisoned. And in an effort to deter Black children from walking down the wrong path, or to gain their compliance, zero-tolerance policies based on the “broken windows theory” have been adopted by schools.

Exploring racism in real time to understand how it works is critical to the ability to speak on it. This only happens, however, when terms are clearly defined.

Assessing Your Classroom

Having defined key terms and examined them in action, the next step is to determine whether your classroom—instruction, assessment, content resources, and discipline management—is a racist or antiracist classroom. To determine that, you must ask yourself some key questions:

Is your method or philosophy of teaching student-centered—accounting for your students’ strengths, needs, culture, and experiences, in addition to what they learn and how they learn it? Or is it teacher- or administrator-centered—focused only on students achieving benchmarks in a one-size-fits-all approach? Concern for what and how students learn is important, but a benchmark is incomplete when it is centered only on the display of a learned skill rather than on a display of the skill and its acquiring under an equitable set of circumstances. If you’re not factoring in how a student’s history of experiences and culture informs their classroom experience and performance, you’re doing a disservice to the student.

Does your teaching utilize culture and community as a foundation for collaboratively building new knowledge, using core content knowledge for the purpose of building skills like critical thinking and problem solving in order to empower students and strengthen communities? Or is your teaching limited to lecturing, memorization, or reading aloud, whereby you talk and identify what students need to know and your students are to listen and obey? That may seem archaic, but I’ve seen teachers who continue to teach this way. Even if teachers use engaging techniques that make learning fun, education must involve a greater purpose rather than simply conveying information. Learning the game of basketball may be fun, but it is without purpose if I never play the game—we must likewise encourage students to see a purpose in their schoolwork.

Are you utilizing resources such as texts, artifacts, images, documents, and stories that are reflective of the racial and ethnic demographics of your classroom, school, community, and society at large in order to affirm the identity, history, and humanity of your students? Or are your resources limited to items that reflect a Eurocentric framing of intelligence, history, beauty, and humanity?

Establishing a Classroom Centered on Community

When I taught, I frequently engaged my students in conversations about racism, police brutality, and income inequality. I did this with students from grades 7 through 12. To do that, we established a community in which we established and protected our sacred space as one of shared ideas, transparency, intimacy, respect of truth and all voices.

For tough discussions, we would use these norms:

Organize desks in a circle and provide yourself a seat in that circle. This creates a community among your students and brings you in as part of that community.

Introduce debating rules and facilitate organized debates. This framing normalizes discourse procedure whereby procedure becomes culture.

Ask your students to address each other by their last name—Mr. Smith, Ms. Jones—and you do the same. This reminds all within your community that everyone is of value and worthy of respect. This was a norm of my classroom culture at all times, not just during debates.

Prime students for discussions with questions for which they must read and do research to get informed prior to the discussion, establishing that facts and evidence must inform interests and passion-driven opinions.

Never excommunicate anyone from the circle or community. Always reprove in love, then rectify or remedy the violation and restore the student. This establishes your community as one not of punishment but justice.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s no perfect formula for becoming an antiracist teacher. Nevertheless, these action items are critical to becoming the person you hope to be and the teacher all students desperately need.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
An Antiracist Roadmap for Discussing Tough Topics in Class

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This long-term strategy for guiding conversations on topics like racism requires prep work to ensure that the classroom is truly inclusive of all students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A high school teacher shares strategies for using literature to guide discussions about race with students who would rather avoid the topic.

In February, my seniors read Toni Morrison's Beloved and were considering how a traumatic history can haunt the present. They had finished an article about George Washington's relentless pursuit of runaway slaves, and I asked if this piece of the first president's biography mattered. A few students had mumbled diplomatically: It matters a little, sort of; it doesn't detract from his legacy.

"Whiny people care," Jasper said.

"Does everyone feel that way?" I asked. A minute of silence. I knew that some students disagreed with Jasper but weren't comfortable speaking up, and I'd need to try to draw them out. The bell rang-I'd have to follow up later.

I'm used to White students, especially boys, checking out or offering resistance when race enters a literary discussion, as it does with Beloved, To Kill a Mockingbird, and There There. Some question the well-established historical record or suggest that merely talking about race sows division. Those who view racist jokes as essential free speech provoke classmates. Some White students complain that they can't relate to books written by people of color, as if any of them have been the prince of Denmark or stalked an ex on Long Island. I have often encountered White students who condemn slurs and wince at news of police killing Black people, but doubt they personally benefit from America's history of racism.

Amid June's protests, my students might have responded differently, but in February, apathetic or exhausted, their eyes glazed over. Despite having never really done so, they were tired of talking about race.

White students are 35 percent of my school population. Most of the rest, Latinx students largely, live in neighborhoods that are segregated from those of their White classmates, who often dominate both student government and class discussions. I started my teaching career in a different city, eager to help my Latinx and Black students find opportunity and power, but now, 10 years later, I believe that cracking through the silence and discomfort of White students may be a more pressing antiracist exercise.

This discourse is far from all I prioritize in my English class. But it's necessary, and through planning, frequent failure, honest reflection, and adjustments, I've settled on some strategies for using English class to improve these conversations.

Challenging the Canon

Beloved may be my favorite novel, and it treats race and history with a complexity that suits seniors. But like generations of students past, my ninth graders read To Kill a Mockingbird, which places the unjust trial and killing of an innocent Black man within one little White girl's coming-of-age story. Like many teachers, I don't have the freedom to jettison district-mandated core texts.

So my students critique the book as a vehicle for a meaningful conversation about race. Instead of presenting Atticus as a role model, I encourage students to parse his flaws. Do To Kill a Mockingbird 's lessons about racism really suffice in 2020? Students often come to the conclusion that Atticus's cuddly maxims don't assail the fundamental problem in his world or ours. And if that's the case, why do some teachers (and students) still see the book as perpetually relevant?

But, ideally, students would instead read Kindred or The Nickel Boys to participate in this conversation. I would love to bury Atticus Finch and instead share the latter's Jack Turner and Elwood Curtis, brave young Black characters resisting Jim Crow.

Reading the Book Is Not Enough

Diversifying the curriculum does not fight racism-it's unhelpful to read The Nickel Boys without excavating history, for example, or to shoehorn Kindred into an easy lesson about tolerance and forgiveness that never bends toward justice.

Teachers have to let books like these speak their full truths because many students prefer the easy lessons, sometimes indulging in delusional interpretations of texts for comfort. For example, Marina, a White girl, would not accept that Beloved 's vain abolitionist Mr. Bodwin all but re-enslaves free Black people through an exploitative economic arrangement. I was glad to upset her.

Sometimes we need to foster discussions that force the issue. Half a class of ninth graders insisted that, for trying (and failing) to exclude White kids from her church congregation, To Kill a Mockingbird 's Lula is as racist as bigots who vote and serve on juries. The ensuing debate led many to see racism as the product of power as well as prejudice.

Launching an Inquiry

Instead of force-feeding an opinion to students, I sometimes assign an inquiry after we read Beloved. For example, I've had student panels research the long-standing impact of race on housing development, health care, education, and criminal justice in their own county, and then formally present findings to the rest of class. This way, students own the search, even if they're initially unconvinced of the premise.

Teachers can invite school administrators or see if the media studies class can film the presentations. Make the work public, so what students discover and share can educate others.

Letting Students Write About Themselves (and Pretend Not To)

Sometimes, cautious students write most honestly about an uncomfortable topic when they can remain anonymous, or when they can use fictitious characters to reflect authentic experiences.

When we read There There, my students discuss how author Tommy Orange uses first-person narrators to capture an urban Indian identity ignored by pop culture and mainstream history. Last year, after finishing the book, each student contributed a single chapter featuring a first-person narrator to a book that served as a polyphonic portrait of their high school environment. I asked them to create characters to reflect authentic though overlooked experiences. I wanted them to think about whose experiences are discussed and understood least in the school.

Unsurprisingly, when we turned to the writing exercise, many students-emboldened by anonymity-wrote vignettes detailing personal experiences with racism. No one knew for sure who was responsible for each chapter of the photocopied publication, which we distributed to students and teachers, but many students learned something about their world, including the extent to which their peers confront prejudice.

Taking Steps Forward

I've been inspired by my former students taking to the streets in impassioned protest. Their anger is a healthy response to recent events. I did not understand racism's reach and breadth when I attended mostly diverse public schools in Kentucky. I try to give White kids the education I needed-a jump-start for a lifelong process of action, listening, reflection, and evolution.

In June, Paula, class of 2019, wrote to thank me for preparing her for the reckoning she was having with family and friends. Even more comforting was an Instagram story from Nick-a Jasper from another year. He hadn't posted anything in two years, but when he finally did, it was not a party pic or beach vista, but an earnest missive urging his college classmates to support Black businesses.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Engaging White Students in Conversations About Race

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A high school teacher shares strategies for using literature to guide discussions about race with students who would rather avoid the topic. In February, my seniors read Toni Morrison's Beloved and were considering how a traumatic history can haunt the present.

# data[].attributes.headline
NPR - From slavery to socialism, new legislation restricts what teachers can discuss

# data[].attributes.subject
NPR - From slavery to socialism, new legislation restricts what teachers can discuss

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fresh Air for Feb. 3, 2022: New legislation restricts what teachers can discuss

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hear the Fresh Air program for February 3, 2022

# data[].attributes.headline
Resources provided by Valley View Elementary in Pleasanton

# data[].attributes.subject
Resources provided by Valley View Elementary in Pleasanton

# data[].attributes.body
https://blackhistorymonth.gov/

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/black-history-month

https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/african-american-history

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/black-history-month.htm

https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/annual-observances/african-american-history-month

https://www.pta.org/home/events/About-Every-Child-in-Focus/Calendar/African-American-History-Month

https://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/blackhistory

https://mcm.org/kid-friendly-ideas-for-celebrating-black-history-month/

# data[].attributes.body
A Recollection of Jackie Robinson

Thursday, February 24th at 5:00pm (ET)

Join National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Manager of Digital and Outreach Learning, Bruce Markusen and the Honorable Rodney E. Slater, former Secretary of Transportation for a conversation on the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson.

In this program, we’ll celebrate Jackie Robinson by taking a closer look at the Hall of Fame infielder and civil rights pioneer. We’ll examine the reasons why Branch Rickey chose Robinson to break the color barrier, the bigotry that Robinson faced, and the successes he achieved both on the field and in his post-playing career as a civil rights advocate.

# data[].attributes.headline
From Black Panther to Catwoman to Makkari, we celebrate the portrayals of Black Superheroes throughout cinematic history.

# data[].attributes.subject
From Black Panther to Catwoman to Makkari, we celebrate the portrayals of Black Superheroes throughout cinematic history.