City schools Chancellor Meisha Ross-Porter helped to introduced a new black studies curriculum Wednesday that will seek to better acclimate kids to the “role of race in power relationships and the impact of systemic and institutional racism.”
Porter was joined by city legislators, academics, and nonprofit representatives in unveiling the City Council’s initiative at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Manhattan.
A pilot of the new offerings will be rolled out in city schools as early May, officials said.
Porter said that the curriculum will equip city kids to combat the racism in their midst.
“If we’re serious about addressing racial justice, we have to look at what our students learn every day,” she said. “And not just black children, but all children.”
Porter and others have long argued that city schools — which are 70 percent black and Hispanic — should offer learning materials and emphases that better reflect the system’s demographics.
“Our children have to see and experience themselves every single day in the curriculum,” she said. “They have to see their value and worth because they have seen so many other messages that say different.”
Presenters said that the curriculum will train a greater focus on early African history and civilizations including Ethiopia and Timbuktu.
The initiative will allow city teachers room to move beyond a singular focus on black history in the time of slavery, they said.
Black Edfluencers United president Shango Blake said the curriculum will complement but also challenge what is being taught in the nation’s largest school district.
“We’re not in opposition ot the current history,” he said. “We just want to be included in it.”
Blake questioned why he only learned about significant cultural contributions from African-Americans after he exited the educational system.
“Why did I have to go to the movies to learn that black women played a significant role putting America on the moon,” he asked. “Why didn’t I learn that at school? Why are our children having to learn about Tulsa Oklahoma because it’s the 100 year anniversary? Why wasn’t it known in the books?”
Eagle Academy Foundation executive Jawana Johnson said that the current political climate necessitated a retooled approach to black history.
“In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the ensuing social unrest and the calls for racial justice that followed, the need for a systemic approach to cultivate a better and deeper appreciation of the contributions of black people within New York City schools was more pressing than ever,” she said.
Presenters said the $10 million initiative will also examine what is currently being conveyed in city schools and identify areas in need of overhaul.
The curriculum will seek to “offer a counter-narrative to what has regularly been taught in schools,” Johnson said. “A truer telling of our story all students deserve to hear.”