Tag: Black history.

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Educator Spotlight, Exploring Our World, Main

Rediscovering Black History in Louisville: A Reflection

For Black people, the Ohio River isn’t just any river—just like the Red Sea isn’t just any sea to Christian believers.  When enslaved Africans escaped from plantations to go North, the Ohio served as an almost-there point. They knew freedom waited on the other side if they could get there. Can you imagine facing that huge river, understanding what it meant once you got to the other side, while also remembering the family and friends you had to leave behind? Continue reading Rediscovering Black History in Louisville: A Reflection

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Educator Spotlight, Exploring Our World, Main

Exploring Through Hip-Hop: A Win-Win for My Students and Me

Hip-hop was our vehicle for exploring universal issues, beginning with learning about storytellers and leaders like Phyllis Wheatley and Muhammad Ali and eventually through engaging with our community about issues the Young Prodigy’s felt, understood, or lived. Because our foundation was letting students lead their own learning, when authentic opportunities arose for community engagement, we could take advantage of them or even create them for ourselves. Young Prodigy’s speak with policymakers and community leaders regularly now because their own learning has led them there. The community benefits from their engagement as much as they do. Continue reading Exploring Through Hip-Hop: A Win-Win for My Students and Me

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Educator Spotlight

Tea Cakes and Black History: Reclaiming a Legacy

I first learned about the history of tea cakes from a book called Christmas Gift, by Charlemae Rollins, about how enslaved people were allowed to cook certain things at Christmastime, and one of those recipes was a tea cake. Tea cake recipes were passed by word of mouth because our ancestors couldn’t read or write; they were forbidden from learning, of course. They didn’t have measuring cups or spoons, but they were able to create the recipes by word of mouth with loose measurements. Continue reading Tea Cakes and Black History: Reclaiming a Legacy

National Geographic Education Staff2 Comments