Miss Lori asks The CAMPUS Kids what Black History Month means in school

February is Black history month, but it hasn’t always been that way. Black history month actually started as a week  by  carter G. Woodson in 1926. Then it was known as Negro History Week. In 1976, as a part of the 200th anniversary of this country, Negro History Week was elongated and renamed Black History Month. I distinctly remember the change it represented for me in school. Subjects that used to barely merit a page turn now became a curriculum concentration, at least for the month. Now, 34 years later I ask The CAMPUS Kids what this long fought for month means for them in school

SMILE On!

Miss Lori

“February is Black History month. What do you do in school to acknowledge this month? Is there something else you would like to see happen either in school or in Chicago?”

Abi age 10~
In my school we talk about different people who have made a difference in our country.  I really like Rosa Parks because she didn’t let bad people push her around.

Tess age 9~
We read about famous Black people—this year we haven’t really started, but the last two years we read Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. I like reading stories.

Arianna age 10~
To celebrate Black history month in school I am creating a project about a famous African American. I decided to do to my project on Laila Ali. I am going to create a collage depicting her greatest achievements as well as her life from youth up until now. I want my project to show how this great woman was able to rise above the challenges in her every day life and prove that she could be someone important no matter what color her skin may be.

Elita age 9~
I read more books about black history. I would like to see more people do the same!

Kyra age 11~
Since I am homeschooled, my school isn’t doing anything, but I went to a Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration service, and my choir is doing a bunch of African American and African songs. I can’t think of anything right off the bat that I would like to see happen, but I do miss the things I did in public school. I can’t wait to do them again.

Ava age 11~
Black History month has started off in a great way with discussions about Martin Luther King Jr. and many other important African Americans like Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman.  It’s great to talk about these people because of the life changing things they did for for equal rights for all. We are all affected to no matter what color of our skin.

Anaiya age 7~
I am going to be in the Black History Bowl at my school for Black history month. The Black History Bowl is a competition, sort of like Jeopardy, where 4 students from each classroom compete against each other by answering questions about famous and historical African Americans in History. The winning team wins a prize and last year, my team came in first place!

Jaedyn age 6~

In my school we’ve read many books about great African Americans, including Martin Luther King Jr and Harriet Tubman. We even get to do projects. My favorite was about the book Martin’s Big Words. We had to choose words from the book and then draw a picture. I chose “Love is the key to the problems of the World.” I drew a picture of Martin Luther King Jr shaking the hand of a tanned skinned woman. Then I drew the same picture using kids, one white and one black.

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