Black History Month
Resources from the Academics Division
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Library Services
Resource
Resource Type
Link
Description
Grade(s)
List of Black Authors and Illustrators
List of Black Authors and Illustrators to assist in the promotion of a culturally responsive library program.
Click on the author/illustrator name and it links you to their home page or a website that features that particular person. On the list 3 books featured per name. Contains information on checking out Sora eBooks.
ECE-12
Black Authors: Sora eBook and audiobook collection
Ebooks and audiobooks from Denver Public Schools' Sora digital library.
Sora collection highlighting authors who identify as members of the Black community.
ECE-12
Black Boy Joy: Sora eBook and audiobook collection
Ebooks and audiobooks from Denver Public Schools' Sora digital library.
Sora collection celebrating the humanity of black boys.
ECE-12
#1000BlackGirlBooks: Sora eBook and audiobook collection
Ebooks and audiobooks from Denver Public Schools' Sora digital library.
Sora collection of books based on Marley Dias' initiative to curate and promote books that reflect the lived experiences of Black girls.
ECE-12
History Liberated: Sora eBook and audiobook collection
Ebooks and audiobooks from Denver Public Schools' Sora digital library.
Sora collection highlighting the perspectives of historically marginalized groups to provide a well-rounded view of our nation's past and present.
ECE-12
Harlem Renaissance: Sora eBook and audiobook collection
Ebooks and audiobooks from Denver Public Schools' Sora digital library.
Sora collection of books about the Harlem Renaissance and its leaders, as well as books written by Harlem Renaissance creators.
ECE-12
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Adapted PE
Resource
Resource Type
Link
Description
Grade(s)
Diversity in Aquatics
Non-Profit Website
Educate, promote, and support swimming, water safety, and healthy aquatics activities for vulnerable populations.
K-HS
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Visual Arts
Resource
Resource Type
Link
Description
Grade(s)
Jordan Casteel Paints Her Community - Art 21
Video documentary
Where does a painter find her subject matter? With a process that takes her from the streets of Harlem to her studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn, artist Jordan Casteel paints vibrant large scale portraits, making visible the often unrepresented humanity of Black men. At first struggling to find subject matter that could speak to the political realities of police violence and implicit bias, Casteel drew inspiration from her twin brother. The film follows Casteel as she travels from a brunch at her aunt's Harlem home to a studio visit with university students, to an informal hangout with friends and finally back to the streets of Harlem, mirroring the artist’s own navigation of New York's diverse racial and cultural spaces. Recognizing her complex position as a Black woman painting the bodies of Black men, Casteel nevertheless feels present in the work.
MS-HS
Can Art amend History? - Titus Kaphar - TED
TED talk video
Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the present. In an unforgettable live workshop, Kaphar takes a brush full of white paint to a replica of a 17th-century Frans Hals painting, obscuring parts of the composition and bringing its hidden story into view. There's a narrative coded in art like this, Kaphar says. What happens when we shift our focus and confront unspoken truths?
MS-HS
Life Doesn't Frighten Me - Maya Angelou
Read aloud video
Poetry by Maya Angelou and art by Jean-Michel Basquiat provide students with a creative prompt for addressing and overcoming imaginary fears through the power of art and the spoken word.
K-5th
Black Representation in Art
Google slides
Black artists have made and continue to make significant contributions to our understanding of contemporary art by addressing issues and topics that are often left out of the canon of traditional art history.
K-HS
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Music
Resource
Resource Type
Link
Description
Grade(s)
Decolonizing the Music Room
Database of educational units and song resources for examining historical oppressive systems in the world of music and amplifying the achievements of BIPOC musicians, producers,and composers.
Songs, units, music, biographies and discussion forums for people to discuss and examine different perspectives of music making, and how music has been used through out history for social justice, and how music can be used as a system of oppression or as a vehicle for change.
ECE-12
List of Black Composers and Vocal Groups
Youtube Music examples of Black composers and black vocal groups (classical and gospel genres)
This is a list of songs and picture of Black composers not taught in traditional music classrooms.
ECE-12
Music by Black Composers - Classical
Extensive Database of Music by Living Black Composers
ECE-12
List of All HBCU Marching Bands
Database of names and information on all HBCU Marching Bands
Learn about and listen to musical examples from different HBCU marching bands and learn about this rich musical tradition!
ECE-12
History of Hip-Hop
PBS Website of lessons, video examples, and lessons on every aspect of Hip-Hop
This PBS website offers a wide variety of lessons, musical examples and videos ranging from the "history of" to "How to Create; your own Hip-Hop
ECE-12
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Dance and Theatre Arts
Resource
Resource Type
Link
Description
Grade(s)
Decolonize the Dance Classroom
Database of resources for various genres from BIPOC sources and presenters
From "Momentum Stage" this collection is full of resources that feature presenters and content that comes from diverse perspectives and not through channels of systemic privilege.
ECE - 12
Decolonize the Drama and Theatre Arts Classroom
Database of plays and source materials for various genres from BIPOC sources
From "Momentum Stage" this collection is full of resources that feature presenters and content that comes from diverse perspectives and not through channels of systemic privilege.
ECE - 12
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All Content Areas
Resource
Resource Type
Link
Description
Grade(s)
ArtsEdge
Articles, lesson and unit plans and videos, music
Through the Kennedy Arts Center. Provides videos, lessons and unit plans and performances for all arts content areas that covers a wide array of topics, themes and cultures. Also provides cross content materal as well.
ECE - 12
About Black History Month
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February is Black History Month, a time when the nation reflects and pays tribute to the generations of African Americans who fought with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society, according to the official website. There are teaching resources provided from the National Archives, Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum available here.
Read an excerpt from Dr. Bailey's "Importance of Broadening Our View of History":
You can tell a great deal about a country and a people by what they deem important enough to remember, to create moments for — what they put in their museums, their textbooks and what they celebrate. We also can learn more about a country by what it chooses to forget — its mistakes, its disappointments, and its embarrassments. The author James Baldwin wrote, “It is the past that makes the present coherent.” For many Americans, Black History Month is a time to reflect on the past, recognize the present and look forward to the possibilities of the future. A broader view of our histories can benefit all students and make school a place where all children can feel valued, appreciated and safe.
Below are a few lessons learned about why teaching and learning African American and other histories of our diverse U.S population is so important in today’s landscape.
- History grounds us in our roots. We need to understand where we have come from in order to understand where we are going.
- History helps us understand change. History is a continuous documentation of our past, including great triumphs and grave mistakes. History is also about the place.
- History reveals patterns in our pasts. Another way this lesson of change is important is by helping us understand the patterns that arise in our shared timeline. History repeats itself, as the saying goes.
- History provides a foundation for activism. Only by having a firm grasp on history can we tackle the kinds of political, social or educational reform that we want to see happen.
- History makes us more empathetic. It also provides a rather strong foundation for empathy across cultures.
- History can inspire us to learn more. Finally, history is important because it is a long, nearly endless collection of stories, lessons, and philosophies to learn.
- U.S. history, Colorado and Denver history makes no sense without African American, Latino, Native American and Asian history.
- Our nation’s present problems with race and intolerance make no sense if we don’t know the history behind them.
- All peoples’ history is American history, and it should be taught throughout the year across the curriculum—not confined to a single month.
Board Presentation
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The Board of Education heard an overview of a course on Feb. 16, called "DPS - A Unique Racial History," developed by Dr. Sharon Bailey, Dr. Darlene LeDoux, Dr. Antwan Jefferson and Dr. Ramon Del Castillo. The course was designed to build awareness among students, community members, staff and leaders about the history of race and education in the city of Denver. View the full presentation here.
