February 07, 2018
Celebrating Black History Month With Your Kids
When you’re the parent of a transracial family, it’s vital that every child’s ethnicity is supported and nurtured. Black History Month is an excellent opportunity to connect your child to their roots as a black person, helping them celebrate and understand their history. There are so many ways to do this, and many are fun for the whole family. Here are a few thoughts on how you can celebrate Black History Month with your little ones.
Make it a movie project. Load up your month with film nights featuring black actors and black stories. Akeelah and the Bee, Selma, Hidden Figures, The Secret Lie of Bees, Disney’s Ruby Bridges, Remember the Titans, Malcom X, Black Panther (releasing this year), and The Color Purple are just a few examples of excellent and historic films. Here is a fabulous list of movies that features black films spanning a variety of age groups.
Read books that feature characters of color. Huffington Post published a roundup of 21 children’s books every black child should read, and there are some fabulous titles on the list. This is an excellent opportunity to stock your little one’s library with stories that reflect their skin color and heritage.
Listen to black musicians! Black music is an indelible and vital aspect of music history. Keep a playlist building and teach your children about historic periods in black music like jazz, soul, R&B, rap, spirituals, gospel, blues, rock ‘n roll, funk, ska and reggae. Here are 100 musicians to start with 😉
Visit historic monuments, museums, restaurants, or institutions in your area that connect to black culture. Try a new type of food, highlight the black artists at your local museum, visit a monument and learn about the person or period it honors. This is a fun way to excavate black culture in your own town and to create a personal connection to your child’s history with where they currently live.
Black poets have contributed legendary pieces to the art form’s canon, and this is a beautiful month to snuggle up and have a read. Poets.org recommends these 12 poems especially for Black History Month. Each poem is accompanied by a short essay explaining its meaning and significance.
Find out about Black History Month events in your area…then show up! Showing your child that your community honors this important month only helps to boost its importance and show them they do have love and support. Encourage them to invite their friends, and make it a fun field trip day.
Of course, this is just a small list of ways you can get the dialogue and activities moving with your family this month. Anything you do to celebrate your child’s heritage will have a big impact. And remember that this is just a start…February is a special time of celebration, but each child’s identity and background should be a proud point of conversation, learning, and activities all year long!
