5 Resources for Black History Month from Black Authors

While we should be including and highlighting people of color throughout the year, Black History Month is a great time to put a special focus on the specific contributions of Black people. When possible, I think it is important to try to use resources authored by Black people when teaching about Black history and culture. I recently searched Teachers Pay Teachers for Black History Month resources, and did not see anything by Black authors on the first page! I gathered five resources perfect for Black History Month from Black authors for a variety of grade levels:

1. Black History Month in Kindergarten by Lanesha Tabb from Education with an Apron From Lanesha: "I tried to design [this resource] in such a way that students could have an introduction to the history of the black American in this country. From there, we celebrate lesser celebrated people in the areas of the arts, science, and inventors."

2. Influential Leaders in Black History from It's MoNique's World From MoNique: "I basically just wanted to insure that I was spending time highlighting Black Leaders and not just focusing on the struggles. I do mention different obstacles that each leader faced but my hope was that my kiddos would not just see Black people as poor, less than, and see us as people who are inventors, writers, actors, teachers... leaders." 

3. Black History Month Studies by Tamara Russell From Tamara's description: "This is probably my favorite topic to teach on all year! :) The bundle represents resources that I've been using and reworking for the last several years. It just gets to be more fun every time I share my love of this with my students! Included in this pack are my MLK Literacy Unit, my Underground Railroad Unit, and my MLK Sentence Scramble Freebie. There are also two packs of fluency passages. One is for high first grade the other is for high second."

4. Black History Month Research Passages by Princess Netherly From Princess's description: "Help your students go beyond learning about MLK and Rosa Parks for black history month. The passages are designed to give teachers flexibility in assigning students research."

5. Letter from Birmingham Jail & Call for Unity from Tanesha B Foreman From Tanesha's description: "In 1963, eight white clergymen wrote a letter condemning nonviolent protests happening in Alabama. From a jail cell, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr wrote a response to each argument presented by the clergymen. This letter contains some of Dr. King’s most recognized quotes such as, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” This unit focuses on analyzing arguments presented in the two letters, responding to various text dependent questions, and participating in a Socratic seminar." {for 8th-10th grade students}

Whether you use these specific resources or not, I hope you make an effort to seek out Black authors and creators when teaching Black history this month and throughout the year.