Changing the narrative on culture in the classroom has been one of the many goals of mine and the teachers I work with. Staff at Emerson Academy have shared Black history facts each week with a quiz on Fridays. Teachers like Rose Jones coordinate trips for students to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
On Feb. 17, we attended a performance from the Stivers School of the Arts Dancers led by Deshona Pepper-Robertson. It was an amazing opportunity to bring our students together to listen to the history of Black art and contemporary dance from the Dayton area.
Credit: Lisa Powell
Credit: Lisa Powell
I remember having these experiences and going to museums with my school as a kid, but with the recent pandemic, many students were not able to share in the joys of these experiences offline and in-person. Without these experiences, critical moments in understanding and celebrating a culture’s history could be lost. Something as seemingly small as never hearing the Black National Anthem, which was sung at the beginning of this year’s Super Bowl, or as big as peeking in the crawl space that was used to help slaves escape to freedom at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, can be moments of learning that students will one day share with their own families.
Learning the Black National Anthem had an effect on me like learning the U.S. National Anthem. There was an effect that music had on me that ingrained the words into my everyday life. “Let us march on, ‘til victory is won.” resonates with me a resilience that never ceases like the U.S. National Anthem’s ”Bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” It is important that others get the opportunity to hear and learn the Black National Anthem to help build community and preserve the knowledge of resilience of African American culture through song. If the next generation doesn’t learn songs like the Black National Anthem and other key pieces of Black history, they may well be doomed to live by the narrative created for them by others.
It is with these tiny seeds of knowledge that we help kids grow into excellent citizens who want to take care of their culture, community, and world. As Dr. Carter G Woodson said, “real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.”
Dexter Bailey is an educator, speaker, diversity and multimedia professional from Dayton, Ohio who holds a Masters in Education and is a Senior Content Leader in Technology Education for National Heritage Academies.
About the Author