Black History & Culture Academy
Building a Legacy through Knowledge
Program Success 5 Black History 2021
What was Africa like before colonization ? Did ancient African civilizations have literature , art and music ? Did Africans sell each other into slavery ? Did the human race originate in Africa ?
We can answer these questions by studying the history of Africa .
Why is racial profiling by police so common ? Why is Black voter suppression an issue and how long has that been going on ? Why is there a racial wealth gap ?
Why are there still neighborhoods that are predominantly inhabited by Black people , with Black schools but no Black businesses ? And what role does the practice of redlining , housing discrimination and loan discrimination , both for homes and businesses , play when we see this happening around us ?
We can answer these questions by studying the history of America .
I launched my Black History & Culture Academy because as a college professor for the past decade , I believe in the power of knowledge . Unfortunately , Black history has been woefully neglected in our public schools and many students don ’ t even learn any significant amount about the history of Blacks in this country throughout their K-12 careers .
Elizabeth Leiba President / CEO , Black History & Culture Aademy
There is no national curriculum or set of standards for teaching Black history in America . Only a small number of states , including Arkansas , Florida , Illinois , Mississippi and New York , have have laws requiring that it be taught in public schools .
In recent new analysis , reporters found that seven states don ’ t even mention slavery directly in their state standards , while eight states don ’ t mention the Civil Rights Movement at all . Only two states specifically address white supremacy , and 16 states list “ states rights ” as a cause of the Civil War .
Something is WRONG with this picture when many Americans are not aware of the practice of redlining as a legal policy to restrict housing to Black folk , that still affects the ability of Black people to build wealth and provide stability for their families through homeownership . It ’ s the reason what I created a course in my program specifically about the pervasiveness of this practice .
See Black History Page 4