Florida churches are stepping up to teach Black history classes

At New Generation Missionary Baptist Church in Opa-locka, a new class has gained popularity with younger congregants — and it’s not your typical Bible study or Sunday school.Since last year, the church has been teaching classes about African American history using a program created by leaders from Faith in Florida, a coalition of over 800 congregations across 41 counties in Florida. The group of religious leaders developed the Black studies toolkit last year to counter the Florida Legislature’s controversial revision of state academic standards, which put a particular focus on reshaping Black history education.“Now, our Black history classes are larger than our Sunday school classes and Bible classes because it has struck an interest,” said the Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida. “Children can understand that Martin Luther King is not just about a parade.”Since its launch in May of 2023, hundreds of historically Black churches in Florida and across the country have joined the movement, using the toolkit to help fill the void they feel has been left by lawmakers attempting to water down the history of Black people in America.The Black church, a term that refers to a congregation that falls under one of the seven major Black Protestant denominations, has a deep-rooted history of supporting Black history education and civil rights advocacy.“We realized, and I realized as a Black woman, that our history has always been a part of our teaching and our culture in the Black church,” said Thomas. “The history itself still sits in our pews.”The toolkit was designed to give faith leaders different approaches to teaching Black history — whether through a Biblical lens, policy, government or through music and art — but can really be used by anyone, with resources available for every age level.It’s broken up into a variety of subject areas, including “From Africa to America” which covers the Transatlantic Slave Trade; “Racial Terrorism & Civil Unrest,” which covers lynching and the Jim Crow South; and the “Criminal Injustice System,” which covers policing in America and mass incarceration.“We created this toolkit giving faith leaders the option and opportunity to choose from any form of teaching ... we understand that Black history can be taught in many ways,” Thomas said. “It will not be diluted, nor will it be watered down.”The toolkit has been embraced beyond Black churches and outside Florida. Today, faith leaders from over 400 congregations in 29 states have committed to teaching Black history in their congregations. It has also been used by faith leaders in predominantly white churches, in mosques and other non-Christian denominations as well, according to a spokesperson from Faith in Florida.Now, Faith in Florida is expanding its efforts by holding a training and news conference this weekend. Faith leaders and educators are convening in Orlando for a three-day national training to share their experiences and takeaways using the toolkit. Organizers said training sessions will include a visit from curriculum companies whose products can help facilitate Black history programs within churches.The training will conclude on Saturday and end with a news conference where faith leaders intend to renew their commitment to providing access to accurate Black history education for everyone.As the state’s Republican-led political leadership began targeting history standards in 2022, leaders from Faith in Florida requested to meet with the Board of Education with hopes of discussing their concerns.“Will they even listen to a group of faith leaders who really care about the teaching of Black history?” recalled Thomas, who is also a pastor at New Generation Missionary Baptist Church.The group wanted a chance to push back on House Bill 7 , which included, among other changes, new curriculum standards requiring instruction on how enslaved people benefited from their bondage . Faith in Florida leaders viewed the bill as an attack on the access to Black history in Florida schools and an insult to professional educators.“Teaching Black history has now become a threat again. Why would anyone go to such extremes to dilute this? We just can’t understand,” said Thomas. “It just baffles us.”But, Faith in Florida didn’t get the response they had hoped for. Thomas said education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. responded that he would come to their meeting, but never showed up.They tried again, inviting lawmakers to a church in Miami Gardens to hear from educators and faith leaders about their concerns for HB 7.At the time, the bill was part of a larger movement by Republicans to ban teaching critical race theory — a concept taught only in higher education spaces — and restrict teachers from talking about implicit bias, oppression and other “woke” concepts in schools. The legislation drew criticism from groups such as the Florida Education Association teachers union and the NAACP for watering down Black history and creating confusion and fear for educators.But once again, Diaz, a Miami native, didn’t show up, according to Faith in Florida. The Department of Education did not respond to an email for comment from the Miami Herald.At that point, Faith in Florida members decided it was time to take matters into their own hands. In May of 2023, they launched a Black history toolkit — complete with reading materials, videos and resource lists — to encourage churches to teach Black history on their own terms.“We felt like we were given a bag of lemons, and we took those lemons and turn it into lemonade,” Thomas said.Each section of the toolkit includes myriad resources, including books by Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Michelle Obama and Kimberle Crenshaw, documentaries such as 13th by Ava Duvernay, and “Trayvon Martin: 10 Years Later”, and a variety of nonfiction articles. Some of the book titles, including “I Am Not Your Negro” by James Baldwin, have been banned by some Florida school boards .Over the past few years, the Florida Legislature has focused on education bills that sponsoring lawmakers say are designed to protect students from being “indoctrinated” or made to feel guilty about America’s past. HB 7, for example, would prohibit K-12 and higher education institutions from teaching certain concepts, including the idea that someone might be oppressed due solely to their race or sex, or anything that makes anyone feel guilt due to the past actions of someone with a shared identity.Faith in Florida believes that much of this conversation misrepresents what Black history aims to do.“This is the history of this country. This is a history of Florida,” said Thomas. “Those same children can be taught in a way to say, I want to be a part of changing history.”She said Faith in Florida works to unify people of different backgrounds not divide.“Even when we talk about the worst part of how Black people were treated, during slavery, it has not been taught in a way where one was offended, but it has brought awareness,” she said. “This existed, and we never want to see this existence happen again.”At a service Tuesday evening at New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, one of the partners of Faith in Florida, Rev. Alfonso Jackson Jr., spoke about the role church can play in teaching children about Black history.“I believe that it’s up to us to share even more of our heritage beyond February,” Jackson Jr. said. “But regularly, we ought to share with our children of what God has done for us ... and let the church talk about where we come from.”Speaking to the congregation, Jackson referenced one of his favorite books from the toolkit, “The Mis-Education of the Negro” by Carter Godwin Woodson. The 1933 book offers a critique of America’s education system, explaining how African American children, at the time, were being indoctrinated with concepts of inferiority in society.“It’s up to us to provide them with a relevant and empowering education, to remind them that essentially God doesn’t make any mess,” Jackson Jr. said. “When we do our job in teaching our children and the younger generations what God has done for us, then they can turn around and say ‘if God did it for them, surely God can do it for us right now.’”The pastor then asked the congregation to look around the room and pointed out that some of the older members there may have lived during segregation in Jim Crow era.“There are some of you all here today that you remember seeing the signs of ‘colored water fountain’ and the white water fountain. Is there anyone brave enough to say ‘I remember that.’” Several hands went up in the church. “You all are living history,” he said.When New Shiloh was approached by Faith in Florida last year about the toolkit, church leaders immediately jumped on board.“It was really amazing because we were we were met with such great excitement that we did not necessarily expect,” Jackson Jr. said. “The room was packed with people and children and adults wanting to just know more.”Faith in Florida executive director Thomas, who grew up in Miami-Dade, said this project has given her a chance to reflect on her own history. In 1966, she remembers that her first-grade class was the first to be allowed to eat in the cafeteria at her school in Liberty City.For many South Florida congregations like New Shiloh, the toolkit has opened the door for faith leaders to have candid conversations about Black history and share their own stories with younger generations. The toolkit has its own section for Florida history, including resources on incidents like the 1920 Ocoee Massacre and the killing of Arthur Lee McDuffie at the hands of Miami-Dade police officers in 1979.Jackson Jr. said his experience growing up in Coconut Grove — a historically Black area first settled by Bahamians in the 19th century — is an example of how Miami’s Black history can sometimes feel forgotten.“Ever since I was a kid, I was taught that Coconut Grove was Bahamian founded, and has a rich Bahamian heritage there,” Jackson Jr. said. “As years have gone on, Coconut Grove today does not look like Coconut Grove that I grew up in ... and with that, what I’ve seen is that the history account has also been changing. And it has become more whitewashed.” This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.

Florida churches are stepping up to teach Black history classes

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