Konstella

Each February, Americans across the United States commemorate Black History Month, a month-long national celebration of the contributions and achievements that Black men and women have made throughout U.S. and world history.

As we look back on the events of 2020, honoring Black History Month remains as important as it has ever been, as it is an inclusive call to action for all Americans to recognize the Black experience while remembering our nation’s past, challenging its present, and inspiring its future.

Check out the DOE’s Morning Bell for book suggestions regarding Black history and the Black experience that we feel families and educators can read aloud or assign to their students in grades 3K–12 throughout February and beyond.

Additional Resources for Black History Month

Resource	Summary
Center for Racial Justice in Education, Black History Month Resource Guide for Educators and Families and Black History Month Resources #2	Two collections including dozens of resources organized into categories to support the integration of Black history and experiences in school curricula and at home.
NYCDOE School Library System, Black History Month: Remembering the Past Shaping the Future Collection	A collection of 333 ebooks and 112 audiobooks for young people relating to the Black experience in the US and beyond. Available to NYCDOE students and teachers by logging into the Sora app with their NYCDOE credentials.
New York Times, Honor and Learn This Black History Month	List of cultural and historical events occurring in February to honor Black History Month with registration links.
New York Public Library, Black History Month at NYPL	The New York Public Library celebrates Black History Month throughout February with live online events and programs, blog posts, recommended reading, and a wide array of digital resources available to anyone with a library card.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Black Liberation List for Teens and Black Liberation Reading List for Kids	For 95 years, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has preserved, protected, and fostered a greater understanding of the Black experience through its collections, exhibitions, programs, and scholarship. In response to the uprisings across the globe demanding justice for Black lives, the Schomburg Center has created a Black Liberation Reading List. The titles on the list represent books we and the public turn to regularly as activists, students, archivists, and curators, with a particular focus on books by Black authors and those whose papers we steward.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Public Programming	A listing of the public events hosted by the Schomburg Center for the month of February.
National Geographic Kids, Black History Month	Description: A short reading about the history of Black History Month for elementary school readers. Focus Question for Black History Month: What is Black History Month and how did it develop? Discussion Questions: Who is Carter G. Woodson and why is he important to the history of Black History Month? Why did Carter G. Woodson want people in the United States to focus on Black history? When was Black History Week expanded into Black History Month? What does Black History Month honor? What is the role of Black History Month presently?
USA Today, Why Is Black History Month In February? How Do You Celebrate? Everything You Need To Know\	Description: Article with a short history of Black History Month and a discussion about how to expand the teaching of Black history beyond the month of February. Focus Question for Why Is Black History Month In February?: Why is Black History Month important? DIscussion Questions: What is Black history? What is Black History Month? How did Black History Month begin? Why is Black History Month in February? The article quotes scholar LaGarrett J. King as saying that some, “teach Black history from a white-centered perspective.” What do you think that means? Why is it important to teach Black history from a Black perspective?

End of the Week 2/5/2021 Spanish Version is attached.

Thank you.

Yvette Agas-Bautz, Parent Coordinator