History fills students with narratives that help make sense of the world around us — be it global, national, or local relationships. Studying history can inspire the future, motivate us, and improve our decision-making and judgment. History helps us understand other cultures and ourselves, builds citizenship and civic engagement, and can provide insight into present-day problems. We can learn about past conflicts and learn how communities can rise above and provide strength, unity, and resources in the absence of that support, and create a path forward. This is the essence of Making Black America.
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. made a series that celebrates the joy and achievements of the Black community called Making Black America: Through the Grapevine. The four-part series takes viewers through the early 1770s to the present day, showing how Black people have found ways to stand up and thrive, even when faced with racism and oppression. As Dr. Gates described, “From the founding of the Prince Hall Masons to Black Twitter, African Americans have forged networks in their own image as the ultimate act of resistance and survival.”
Making Black America chronicles the vast social networks, organizations, and traditions created by and for Black people. The premise of this series stemmed from W.E.B. Du Bois’s reference to the “Veil,” a visual metaphor for the color line. “Black Americans with great ingenuity and imagination, created a world with its own values and rules, a world with unfettered racial self-expression. A world that W.E.B. Du Bois called the Veil.”
Many teachers and schools honor the accomplishments of Black pioneers and key historical figures during Black History Month, reflecting on the rich history of Black America. However, it’s important to amplify that history throughout the entire school year. African American history IS American history. Carter Woodson, who helped to elevate African American history by launching Negro History Week in 1926, said, "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”
When students see and hear themselves accurately reflected in this history, they are more engaged academically, socially, and emotionally. This is a strong reason to highlight history and accomplishments of Black leaders year-round.
The approach taken in creating lesson plans and learning modules around Making Black America was to infuse these classroom materials with joy. Focusing on the joy allows African Americans to be seen as the heroes of their own narratives and for all students to bear witness. Great examples include the creation of the Negro Baseball League, the establishment of fraternal organizations and HBCUs, the lives of Black entrepreneurs, and the broad influence of Black musicians.
In the creation of these educational materials, we partnered with BlackPast, which provides comprehensive, reliable, and accurate information concerning the history of African Americans in the United States and people of African ancestry in other regions of the world. The aim is to foster understanding through knowledge in order to generate constructive change in our society. For Making Black America, BlackPast provided essays for students that would help teachers create deeper learning opportunities.
We encourage educators to lean into the program and the resources available, utilizing essays from BlackPast and clips from Making Black America, discussion questions, and classroom activities to create a richer experience for students. Whether it’s creating baseball cards with your middle school students for the Negro Baseball League or having your high school students explore the educational philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, there are creative and thoughtful activities that can be incorporated throughout the school year. The collection offers pathways to engage and understand hip-hop, history, and culture in new ways. In one lesson, students can gain a greater understanding of the historical impact of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and in the next dive into a critical analysis of how hip hop is an important social commentary on issues affecting the Black community by dissecting Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message.” Explore the full PBS LearningMedia collection as it includes thoughtful and engaging lessons like these, and your students will feel the intention behind the collection and its intended impact.
Educators wield much influence in their classrooms and can use that impact to make their students feel empowered, respected, and valued. History brings together storytelling, civics, and engagement wrapped into one — exploring the past and thinking about the potential of our future.
One of the people that Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. highlights in the making of this series was Carter Woodson. Woodson said, “A people cannot know its future until it knows its past… And collectively the more we as Americans learn about our ancestry, the more we get an accurate picture of what it means to be American. And to be an American means, by definition, that you are multicultural and at the level of the genome — multiethnic. That’s just the way it is.”
We must take the history and knowledge that is Making Black America into our classrooms to enrich the mind of our students. Teaching Black history can empower students to understand the past and shape a positive and more equitable future.