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The precursor of Black History Month was Negro History Week, which was first observed in 1926. It was initiated by Carter G. Woodson, the “father of black history,” and founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. At that time, the study of black culture concentrated on Afro‐American historical figures. The civil rights movement in the United States and the decolonizaiton of Africa were decades away.

This research study focuses on fifth-grade African American students who attend an all-Black charter school whose administration and teachers are committed to providing Black history instruction throughout the year. To fulfill the school's mission, the teachers integrate additional resources into the curriculum that includes lessons and activities about Black history. Therefore, the study sought to answer the following question: How does learning Black history throughout the school year impact African American fifth-grade students' self-esteem and positive self-image? The authors examined student work, conducted observations and listened as the participants engaged in critical discussions about race and racism.

Way to Go (WTG) is a K-12 public charter school located in an urban mid-size city in Florida, with a 100% Black student population; all WTG students receive scholarships and free lunch. The 15 participants in this study self-identified as African American fifth-grade students. The authors conducted a qualitative research study that included 13 observations, an analysis of five student work samples and a focus group interview with seven students. They used interpretative phenomenology to gather African American fifth-grade students' experiences and their interpretations of these experiences (Moustakas, 1994) while acquiring information about Black history.

The themes that emerged are it's time to go, unsung heroes and Black history is exciting. In the first theme, they learned why Blacks migrated from the South to northern cities and understood why it was time for them to go. Next, they explored the history of unsung Blacks who inspired them to think about a variety of careers to pursue. Finally, they were excited to learn Black history because they understood the importance of learning this history in order to grapple with current events, and they recognized that knowledge of this history would improve their self-worth and life choices.

WTG charter school exemplifies what schools should attain for regarding the teaching of Black history. Since elementary school provides the foundation for learning, it is the best time to teach African American students about self-esteem and what it means to be proud of their Blackness. The fifth-graders in this study exemplified how African American students take pride in their history and have a positive sense of self-worth when taught Black history. Black history lessons and activities such as the ones utilized in WTG school will benefit African American students and contribute to their success as students.

This article examines the work of Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) and Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958), two early 20th century historians and educators who dedicated their professional lives to the study and advancement of Black history and women’s history respectively. In addition to their historical research and prolific publishing, Woodson and Beard devoted significant time and energy advocating an inclusive historical narrative in US schools and colleges. This work focuses on three of their primary goals: (1) challenging and correcting the accuracy of the historical record, (2) using history as a tool for mitigating racial and gender stereotypes, and (3) bringing women’s history and Black history to the public. The article concludes with a discussion of the relevance and usefulness for contemporary educators of strategies used by Beard and Woodson as they sought to correct the historical record and develop curriculum that would engage all students.

Using the philosophical lenses of revisionist ontology and the politics of personhood, this paper explores the notion of Black Founders of the United States. I introduce the concept critical intellectual agency to argue that Black Founders brought unique contributions to the American experience. Their efforts were twofold. First, Black Founders established separate Black institutions that would become staples in Black communities after emancipation. Second, Black Founders challenged the supposed egalitarian beliefs of White Founders through media outlets. To illustrate, I focus on one Black Founder, Benjamin Banneker and his letter to Thomas Jefferson to illustrate how Black Founders philosophically responded and challenged White Founders prejudicial beliefs about Blackness. This paper seeks to challenge social studies teachers’ curricular and pedagogical approaches to Black Americans during the colonial period by providing a heuristics and language to explore the voices of Black Americans in U.S. history.

The use of art as resistance is well documented in academic scholarship. Gregerson (2007) acknowledged that taken for granted realities and histories are rewritten through lyrical poetic uses of pauses, words, and articulations. Ortiz and Raquel (2005, p. 107) explored the portfolio of Puerto Rican artist Alicea and concluded that he “successfully researches and rescues broken pieces of history to construct new images…he rewrites history through his portfolios, offering us a version of history that invites us to learn about and to question what has previously been written and presented” (Ortiz & Raquel, 2005, p. 107). Addressing black resistance through soul music, Yancy (2004, p. 289) explains that “style is the dynamic expression or articulation of the motif of overcoming…we need to move within the space of soul and style where our collective languaging is a commentary on both” (emphasis added).

The function for the historically Black college and university (HBCU) has always been a hallmark of resolve educational inclusion and justice to promote the Negro identity, and develop social and economic mobility. Yet despite diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) determinations popular today, the authors contend that to cater to subpopulations outside of the Black community creates a marginalization and distraction from their historic purpose and legacy. As a necessary function of relevance, the focus of underserved populations on HBCU campuses should, instead, unwaveringly remain on African-Americans, descendants of slaves (DoS). We empirically examine HBCU academic curricula for African-American consciousness that is forward thinking for community advocacy and social justice. Research findings of HBCU course catalogs (N = 98) describe a very limited scope of course titles and descriptions that appear to cultivate intellectual tools to engage in racial and ethnic self-advocacy as a vital role for continued survival. The authors contend that the relevance of HBCU institutions cannot be fully realized and promoted absent a comprehensive understanding of the educational and socioeconomic status of the African-American population. Discussed are the implications and recommendations of how HBCUs will be able to retain their uniqueness and viability of purpose, including the application of social reconstructive theory in practice, as a theoretical framework.

This article outlines theoretical and pedagogical approaches to investigating racial violence with learners in grades 3–12 and K-12 teacher candidates. Throughout, the authors use the 1898 Wilmington Race Massacre as a central example of racial violence. Using a blended framework of Muhammad’s historically responsive literacy, King’s Black historical consciousness and place-based learning, the authors describe two different inquiries that build content knowledge around the Wilmington Race Massacre and context knowledge around place as it relates to Black agency, resistance and perseverance.

The first inquiry, aimed at 3–12 learners, explores the Black historical consciousness themes of Black agency and resistance. It uses the inquiry design model (IDM) template but expands the template to include a historically responsive literacy lens. The second inquiry describes how to incorporate historical sites into the study of racial violence. This inquiry explains how local cemeteries can be used as interdisciplinary classrooms and also artifacts.

Throughout, the authors also reflect on how this work has changed and improved over time as well as thoughts moving forward with examining the 1898 Wilmington Race Massacre through an interdisciplinary lens.

This article is the first to explore the 1898 Massacre in Wilmington, North Carolina from an interdisciplinary practice and cross-grades lens. It offers multiple step by step approaches for classroom teachers and teacher educators to enact interdisciplinary work with both 1898 and other acts of racial violence in their own places and across the United States.

The authors describe an original unit plan that draws from local and national concerns for truthful history education about the history of racial violence in the United States. The unit plan contextualizes one impetus for truth and reconciliation in a community with a history of anti-Black violence.

The participants partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative to pilot the unit in their district’s new African American History course. The unit drew on historical research and cultural memory to situate local history within a broader context of racism and violence.

The teachers identified eight goals for the unit so that students could understand racialized violence, acknowledge racism as the lived experience of many of their students, and participate in a collaborative learning environment with productive discussions. Speaking from their own experiences with racism, and creating opportunities for students to do the same, the teachers aided the community in voicing long-silenced memories.

Besides bridging some of the gaps between local, regional, and national histories, more research is needed to further examine historical trauma and its implications for both the past and present, in order to amplify and humanize experiences of racism. Additional research is a critical step in developing more thoughtful, empathic and holistic discussions of history and racism at the local level.

In the wake of the recent past, the authors have learned that teaching about the history of racial violence can be enhanced and empowered by reference to relevant current events. The resurgence of racially charged language and violence over the past few years makes this goal more urgent than ever. This unit gives practical guidance to teachers who face this challenge.

The sociopolitical reality of historical trauma and racism must be confronted, and proximity to key events is important in conveying the urgency of racial violence and the need for history education that addresses it. Teachers are making difficult decisions about their options for teaching about race, and they are understandably concerned about any perceived missteps. Nonetheless, inclusive, truthful history education is an appropriate and essential response to narratives of exclusion and silence as the authors help students to develop deliberative skills concerning difficult topics such as racial violence. Teachers and students, together, can do the crucial work of remembering.

The stripping away of narrative agency, identity and history can cover up stories about the stripping away of life and dignity. In the unit plan, the authors recognize truth and reconciliation—especially in the education of people who have relatively little exposure to topics of race and racism—as elemental to a restorative stance against racism.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the history of Black women as critical civic agents fighting for the recognition of their intersecting identities in multiple iterations of the feminist movement.

Utilizing Black feminism and intersectionality I explore the many ways in which Black women have fought against multiple forms of oppression in the first, second and fourth wave feminist movement and organizations in order to fight for their rights as Black women citizens.

Black women in the past and present have exhibited agency by working within such multiple civil rights movements to change the conditions and carve out inclusive spaces by working across differences and forging multiracial coalitions.

This paper serves as a call to action for social studies classroom teachers and teacher educators to rethink how we remember and teach feminist movements. I also explore how we can use this past to understand and advance the conversation in this present iteration of the women’s movement to work across differences in solidarity toward equal justice for all.