SPEAKER_03 0:00

Um it's important that before we teach our students about the slave trade, that we teach our students who the Africans were, how the Africans lived, and what the Africans contributed to America. Hi, my name is Miss Ayres. I am certified an elementary school teacher for 15 years here in the state of Virginia and a 20-year Navy war veteran. Welcome to my new classroom, Dr. King's class. I became an educational activist and started this podcast with just one mission, to add African contributions to the elementary social studies curriculum. In Dr. King's class, we infused African contributions during our students' Foundation of America lesson. When we introduce our students to the Greek culture and the Roman culture, in this class, we also introduce our students to the African culture, who the Africans were, how the Africans lived, and what the Africans contributed to America. I created this podcast because when I was in elementary school, my teacher infused African contributions into his lesson plan. And it made a difference in my life then because I decided to become an educator, and it made a difference in my life now as a public school teacher and now an educational activist. In 2004, after I completed 20 years in uniform, I returned to Virginia because I knew I was becoming a public school teacher. And as I was preparing for a social studies lesson, I was doing the research on the Greek culture and the Roman culture, and it was then that I realized African contributions had been omitted from the elementary social studies curriculum. I was disappointed because I know the importance of laying the foundation early in our students' elementary experience. During the foundation of our students' learning. So in 2020, when COVID closed down in-person learning in the public classroom, that was when I started preparing for a new type of classroom, Dr. King's class. And our mission is to petition the Board of Education, petition your local government official to add African contributions, to infuse African contributions into the elementary social studies curriculum. Because social studies is one curriculum that's routinely updated, depending on the needs of the parents and local community.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Local school districts will not have the option whether or not to implement the legislation. Colorado wants to ensure that students of all backgrounds have a more complete education, highlighting the innovations, challenges, and leadership of black Americans.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

How did this all start? While states across this nation are doing the unthinkable, they're doing the unimaginable, trying to erase history. 44 states are deciding what part of black history should be taught. We can't try to erase history. How did Denver Public Schools pass a law that requires all schools K through 12 to teach African contributions? It all started with the movement. There is a movement across this nation demanding educational reparation. Reparation is not always monetary. This educational reparation is parents and students and local communities demanding a balanced curriculum, a curriculum that tells the truth. And the truth is Africa was a thriving civilization before the slave trade. And that truth must be taught starting in second grade. There's a movement here in Virginia. We're a part of that movement. Our governor, then Governor Northam in 2019, passed an executive order directing states and local officials to implement African contributions to be a part of the public school curriculum. Not supplemental learning, part of the fundamental learning. And our governor back in 2019, when he issued this executive order, he said it's our job, all of us, to ensure that when the next generation looks back, they see a more accurate narrative of American history, one that tells the truth. How did Denver public schools pass such a law? It started with the students. And that trip to the African American Museum changed the students' life. Students altered their view of history curriculum that was being taught in their schools after they learned that there is no American history without African contribution. Four girls, Janelle Nanga, Donnie Austin, Leah Yezar, and Alana Mitchell from Denver Public Schools. These remarkable young women launched a movement to impact changes for all students. These students, those four women in particular, while they learned, they they shared, while they learn about African contributions, as they learn about the slave trade in public schools, when they went to the African American Museum, they were filled with emotion. They said they saw and experienced and read about their history and their culture, and it broke them. They said they were filled with a surge of pride and a newfound sense of self just by learning about African contributions during that field trip.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

The aftermath of that trip was crazy. I mean, we were all so filled up. We had so many emotions, and I feel like that's what really drove us to want to make a bigger impact and bring everything that we had felt in Washington, DC back to our community and back to MLK.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

I think one of the assistant principals who went with this, she said something like, we can't let our emotions and our feelings die here. It was just really knowing that we would be doing a disservice to ourselves and to other students if we didn't at least try to give them a bit of this experience. So I feel like in that moment, while it was directly said, like, we can't leave this behind, it was like an emotional moment where we knew we wouldn't be able to forget our vision of the Malkay used to create great leaders.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

At the museum, they learned about African poets and authors, they learned about the entrepreneurs and the inventors. And they recognized during that trip to the African-American museums, those students recognized they had not been taught what they most needed to know in the public classroom. They said they were sad that they had to travel a thousand miles to learn about themselves. And they shared if they hadn't traveled a thousand miles, where would they be? The students' emotions were were they were angry because they realized that they had been lied to. They realized you cannot teach American history without black history. Lastly, the girls felt if this is how we feel by being exposed to black history on a field trip, imagine how much greatness we could get or do in our community if we can bring this back to Denver, Colorado. After returning from a field trip from Denver, Colorado to the African American Museum in Washington, DC, after they learned of the African contributions, they realized it's impossible to teach American history without African contributions. That trip, just the representation, they realized we can't teach black history starting with the slave trade. And all students, both black and white, deserve to know of the rich contributions of African Americans. So when these young students returned from their field trip back to Denver public schools, that's when they started a movement. They learned that social studies is one run discipline that is routinely updated. And they wanted to know why hadn't anyone advocated for us? We spend 181 days a year in class and not be taught the truth. The students were upset. They spend 900 hours a year in class, and the truth is omitted. When they were at the museum and they learned about the African American contributions, they were filled with a surge of pride and a newfound sense of self as a black American. And they said, they vowed, we're not gonna let this experience die here with us. We must take this information back. We must take this experience back to our schools. It was then that these students resolved to change the way Denver Public Schools covered black history. They demanded from their board of education a balanced curriculum, one that tells the truth. And the truth is Africa was a thriving civilization before the slave trade. Support Dr. King's classroom, where the curriculum is more balanced. Balanced curriculum by adding the missing piece. And that missing piece is African contribution. Everyone benefits when we tell the truth in the classroom. And the truth is Africa was a thriving civilization before the slave trade. And when we teach this truth, the students benefit. The teachers benefit in this world. And I'll leave you with one of Dr. Martin Luther King's quotes. Take the first step in faith. You do not have to see the whole staircase, but just take the first step. I'll see you next time. Class Dismissions.