What We’re Reading–Black History Month

I have a confession to make…I’ve never really done anything for Black History Month, or even black history, in school. Sure, we’ve learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and we’ve studied slavery and Civil Rights in relation to American History, but it was more of a blip than an in-depth study. After we learned about the Negro Leagues last year, and following local events here in St. Louis, I realized that I was doing my children and history a disservice. So I resolved that this February, we would add black studies to our history lessons every week. I looked for books from familiar series (If You Lived, Hero of the Faith, and Childhood of Famous Americans, for example), biographies and autobiographies, and award winners in the Newbery and Coretta Scott King categories. The reading list I came up with starts at the beginning of America as a country, and goes through the Civil Rights Movement. It includes books for early elementary through adult reading levels. Of course it doesn’t cover everything (we only have a month!), but I think it’s fairly comprehensive, and will give us a better understanding of black history in America

 

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