Black History Month Q&As

1. Can you describe your journey with the NAACP of Grand Rapids? "I will say I'm an NAACP baby. I grew up in the organization. My parents had us involved at a very, very young age—involved meaning they had me as a card-carrying, dues-paying member as a youth and all throughout junior high, high school, and college. Then when I graduated college, they said, “Hey, if this is important to you, ...

1. How do teachers incorporate talking about Black History Month and its importance in their classes? "I think there's a variety of things that teachers do to incorporate Black History Month into lessons. I think it can be small, little tidbits of like, 'Oh, do you know this person and a small profile on them?' But then, you do see our history classes, in particular, getting in a little bit dee...

1. How do you incorporate talking about Black History Month and its importance in your class? "I've said before [that] American history is Black history and vice versa. We'll spend a little more time to put a spotlight on it in February, but anytime you're talking about American history, you're also talking about Black history." 2. Why is Black History Month important? "When we talk about the core democratic...