tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365667.post3672868167690523960..comments2023-11-03T08:24:58.157-04:00Comments on Black Educator: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365667.post-67694587071255407992014-03-18T09:48:30.623-04:002014-03-18T09:48:30.623-04:00Many children’s books about African American Histo...Many children’s books about African American History puts the focus on the “white man’s” power; thereby overshadowing our true strength and accomplishments. Wow, that’s a big statement to make. It is! As a preschool teacher and Director and Founder of an African Heritage preschool this statement has repeatedly rung true during story time. <br /><br />I have searched far and wide to use story time a magical place where my students can learn about history and themselves. All of the kids are curled in their beds waiting to hear the story begin. I see their sleepy faces and drooping eyelids slowly shut as I read, but open up quickly when they hear an exciting moment. After the story the Question and Answer period begins. We have to remember the most magical part is their interpretation of the story. And boy do that have good questions to ask. I was reading Kadir Nelson’s “Heart and Soul”, a beautifully illustrated book. In fact, I have the book placed out of the reach of the children because the pictures are like painted masterpieces. As Nelson explains the history of Africans while in America he shows a picture of George Washington on a horse and an enslaved African standing next to him. <br /><br />One of my beautiful students proceeds to ask me, “is that God standing next to the man?” To be sure I know which man he is referring to I ask, “Is which person God?” He says the man on the horse, (George Washington). I respond by saying, “No, he was the first president of the United States.” My precocious four-year-old student asked again, “Well is he like God?” I was happy we were having this discussion. Not so much to talk about religion, but more so the imagery our children see and how they interpret the world around them. Furthermore, how they interpret themselves in this world. I respond to his question by comparing him to President Obama. And it seemed that satisfied his my mind. Thank God for the Obamas! But this still does not really answer the true question of how children of African Heritage understand their place in the world around them. <br /><br />In the Rosa Parks story a white man tells her to get up from her seat. A white man threw a brick at Dr. Martin Luther King. We were enslaved by white master’s. The Civil Rights Movement was about taking down the signs of White Only and Colored. These are all stories we continue to tell our children. While these stories allow our children to see people of African Heritage fight for justice and equality. It is very hard to tell a four-year-old sitting in your seat when a white man tells you to get up is an act of defiance without placing the power on the white man. Even though we are actually fighting to make a positive difference, the person with all the power is this “white man.” Thereby creating this power dynamic as godly. Based upon how we tell our stories this “white man” has all the control and power.<br /><br /> One of the things we have to do is use story time as this magical moment to create a new world. And in this world we take the phrase, “white man” out of it and just say “man.” In reality, we want our children to stand up for themselves regardless of who is trying exercise power or control over their being. This does not diminish the stories like Rosa Parks, it better illuminates their strength and power. <br />Moyahttp://www.innerchildartistry.orgnoreply@blogger.com