Celebrating Black History
Many wonderful blog posts written in honor of Black History Month, especially those posted by organizations with aligned missions such as ours at Smart Start, working to improve the lives of young children. Many start with a caveat, recognizingthat the history of Black people and African Americans must not be elevated and honored but one month a year, but rather 365 days a year. Much of the writing also focuses on looking back –not surprising, as it’s Black HISTORY month, after all – at the vast and diverse accomplishments of Black people, both living in the US and beyond, that have come before.
As our Racial Equity Team at NCPC discussed our approach to a blog for this 2022 Black History Month, we honed in quickly on the present, and who fills our lives in the present: first, we thought about our colleagues and all paused to acknowledge that many of our teammates, those who are not currently serving on the Racial Equity Team, would also be excellent writers of a blog on Black History Month – and how we might expand our invitation for writing about Black history to others in subsequentyears, and second, that, given our passion for supporting early childhood at NCPC, we each cherish our roles in relation to young children.
Some of us are parents, some of us are grandparents, some of us are aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors to little ones who hold very special places in our lives. And we want the best for them – which includes growing up with an understanding and respect for the past – and the chance to grow into a future that is full of hope, justice, and opportunity for all.
By looking back, we get more clarity about the present and inspiration for the future, and there is no more hopeful future than one in which our youngest children become kind, smart, and compassionate individuals. We have many and varied resources which each of us can offer up in sharing who and how to teach about Black history and racial justice to the young children in our lives, but one which we all agreed would be valuable to lift up in the Black History Month blogosphere, is Sesame Street, and we share these resources with you in hopes for that better future for all young children alive today
Together, you and the young ones in your life can grow together through these developmentally appropriate resources. Enjoy, reflect, and come together to create racial justice with these resources!
Sesame resources:
- https://www.sesameworkshop.org/what-we-do/racial-justice
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9wvRaktRc
