Supporting equity in schools, during Black History Month and throughout the year

The first “Negro History Week” was celebrated in 1926, an observance initiated by Carter G. Woodson, a prominent African American historian, scholar, educator and publisher, with the help of other contemporaries. Later in 1976, the commemoration was expanded to the entire month of February, the month chosen in a nod to the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

In 2022, a modern focus on Black history must include conversations on equity in schools. During this Black History Month, we discussed the importance of the annual observance in the context of school equity with Dr. Emily Kelahan, PSBA’s senior equity training manager. “Equity is about meeting each student where they are and giving them the resources necessary to achieve their full potential,” whether those resources be supplies or a safe, supportive and affirmative learning environment. She adds, “We cannot provide that environment without examining the past?in all its complexity, facing our present challenges, and daring to imagine?a better future.?Black History Month is an opportunity?to celebrate the accomplishments of Black individuals and communities?and to?co-create a more just and inclusive future.”

Along with the varied ways the commonwealth’s 500 school districts celebrate Black History Month, Dr. Kelahan suggests school leaders mark the occasion “by doing what they can to better support teachers who are trying to facilitate?dialogue amongst their students and communities about race.”

Beyond the annual observance in February, equity remains an important element in the day-to-day business of schools. Dr. Kelahan says, “One of the most transformative things we can do to elevate equity is to see that many of our?daily?thoughts and actions already support it. Anytime you recognize that something about someone’s circumstances prevents them from fully participating in something, and you take a little more time or give a little more consideration to help them get to the same level as everyone else, you are practicing the principles of equity. Equity can seem intimidating, but we may not need to work as hard as we think to see its importance once we realize that we already think it’s important. Equity is a natural extension of?the care and concern for others we already feel. From there, it’s?a matter of figuring out how to systematize and extend that same thoughtfulness and care to everyone?in our district.”

Look for a conversation between Dr. Kelahan and PSBA CEO Nathan Mains on a recent episode of Video EDition on our YouTube channel, and catch up on past episodes while there. ?