Happy Black History Month!

Happy Black History Month!

Happy Black History Month, everyone! With this February being a leap year, we get one extra day to enjoy great novels, poems, plays and essays written by authors such as Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison and Frederick Douglas, Barack Obama, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Angie Thomas, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Christopher Priest and many, many more. I am very excited!

This February, commit to celebrating Black History Month! Take time to read a book, poetry, essay of a new Black author – or your favorite author. Below you will find a list of books, websites, plays and events happening in February 2020. In honor of Black History Month, I have gathered some resources and compiled the below list describing how you can celebrate Black History Month:

1. Read!! – Read as much as you can. All different genres – both fiction and non fiction. Below are Booklists to get you started.

• Poetry
  • The Root List of 20 Black Poets
  • PBS Black Poetry Collection
  • Blavity’s 11 Books of Poetry for Brown Girls
  • Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry
• Memoir
  • Essence’s Top 17 Memoirs and Biographies
  • Book Riot’s 50 Contemporary Black Memoirs
  • NPR’s Black History Month Memoirs
  • Black is the Body by Emily Bernard
• Book List Pick
  • Essence 2020 – 24 Books by Black Authors
  • Good Reads’ List of African American authored books to be published in 2020
  • Black Web America’s list of 30 Books African Americans Should Read
• Historical Periods:
  • Poetry Foundation: Intro to the Harlem Renaissance
  • Jim Crow South – John Howard Griffin “Black Like Me”
  • Civil Rights Leaders
  • History.com Black History Time Line
• Resources
  • NMAAHC Learning Lab
  • Black Lives Matter
  • We are Teachers – 7 ideas to celebrate Black History Month

2. Write about what you read! Whether you write a full essay in your journal or on your blog, post about it on facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat, or text a friend or participate in an online group – react to what you read.

The response should explain how the particular writing changed your perspective or made you feel. Or you can compare what you read to a similar experience yours. There are no real parameters or requirements for the response. Just your personal reaction to what you read, in what ever form that takes.

3. Go to one of these events:

• Cave Canem Poetry Events
• Black History Month Extravaganza
• Speaking Truth African Americans in Journalism
• Jersey City Art Walk
• Spirituals- Celebrating African American History and Heritage
• Newark, NJ Museum

4. Tell a friend!! The works of literary art and historical documentation are important for everyone to read, understand and appreciate!

So how are you celebrating Black History Month? Learning w/ Leigh is offering a book club for children entitled African American Heroes. I hope to see you there.