Education Goes Beyond the Classroom

By Joy Kazadi

You may have heard the names Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, but what about Charles Drew or Matthew Henson?

For some, the month of February marks a time of remembrance; for others, it’s just another month. Since 1926, February has been designated as Black History Month in America. Although the accomplishments and contributions of prominent black figures in history are recognized, how can one month alone be sufficient to account for an entire race?

In the academia realm, history is taught to most Americans in the early years of elementary school. But whose history is being fed in the permeable minds of children? Younger generations of Americans as a whole have less knowledge of the history of black people, and much blame has been directed to the school systems.

School systems, primarily public schools, take on many responsibilities and challenges such as educating its citizens. But the true responsibility lies in providing a fair and balanced representation of the history of all Americans. When it comes to black history, issues such as slavery and the Civil Rights Movement are subjects incorporated in the majority of schools as February approaches, but its content is still not fully taught. Nonetheless, the need for the black community to explore their history shouldn’t be solely left in the hands of the school system, right?

Certainly not! A recent publication of blogs from a selection of luminaries shed light on their perspectives of black history. British rap artist Kingslee Daley, better known as Akala, highlights the importance of the black community to take on the issue themselves. “We have to look in the mirror towards our own history…we can’t keep looking to the British Government to hand us our culture and history; it’s our job. We don’t take our history seriously because we feel we have none.”

The problem with assigning one month to the history of an entire race is evident: there is much more to learn than what can be acknowledged in the 28 days February accounts for. But rather than complaining of the lack of black history in schools, we should be complaining that younger generations aren’t being educated outside the classroom.