Women’s History Series Continued: Celebrating and Empowering Black Women (Including Teaching Resources)

Dr. David J. Childs, D.D., Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University

Originally published October 11, 2020 as “Black Women’s Lives Matter”

Introduction
In this article we will continue our custom of writing articles that elevate the status of women in our society by exploring women’s history and empowerment. Women’s studies has been very much neglected by past and present teachers, thus we will continue to provide resources for the study of women in middle grades and secondary classrooms.

In past articles we highlighted the notion of intersectionality. Kimberly Crenshaw (Who coined the term) defines intersectionality as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”  Based on the idea of intersectionality women of color have a different experience in the United States than their White counterparts. In this article we will bring to light the fact that society often overlooks issues related to Black women. We will also provide teaching resources to help educators address the topic in their classrooms. 


Lupita N’yongo Photo credit: Nick Barose

Black Women and Girls Matter 
With the mounting deaths of Black people by the hand of police officers, the focus has often primarily been on African American males. As we see more and more Black women are killed by law enforcement, people are recognizing that this is a demographic that is often overlooked. A recent New York Times article from September 2020 points out that since 2015 48 Black women have been killed by law enforcement, which has only resulted in two charges. Furthermore, after witnessing the debate between then Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence the world witnessed the disrespect often directed toward women of color, with President Trump calling Ms. Harris a monster in response to the debate. This hearkens back to the time Michelle Obama the then first lady of the United States of America was repeatedly referred to as an ape. These are obvious racial tropes and epitaphs that hearken back to uglier times of Jim Crow and slavery. 

Breonna Taylor’s Life Not Vindicated
With the death of Breonna Taylor and the acquittal of the officers that killed her, there are renewed cries that society does not value the lives of Black women. This has been an all too familiar scenario where the killers of a Black woman get to walk free. There is much controversial surrounding the court proceedings and how the Kentucky Attorney General arrived at the not guilty verdict of the officers. 

Further demonstrating the devaluing of Black women is the urgent crisis of the large number of Black girls that have been missing in the US. The Women’s Media Center in a February 2020 article stated that “an estimated 64,000-75,000 Black women and girls are currently missing in the U.S… The tens of thousands of Black women and girls who are missing include abductees, sex trafficking victims, and runaways. Black women and girls exist at the intersection of racism and sexism, and quite often poverty. These barriers contribute to disparate and poor outcomes in many arenas, including but not limited to health, wealth, housing, education, employment, food security, access to water, and violence.” Only recently has serious attention been given to this issue, and only because of the public outcry and media outlets highlighting it.

Teaching Ideas to Include Black Women’s Studies in Classrooms
There are a number of creative ways to integrate the study of Black women past and present into classroom curriculum. Middle grades and secondary teachers can compile articles that address the issue of missing Black girls in the United States. Educators can also compile resources that highlight the accomplishments and celebrate Black women and girls. Other projects can include exploring the lives of little known Black women in history and assigning novels or books written by women of color. 

Assessments
There are many creative assessments that can be done as well. Students can write poetry or short stories expressing their thoughts on women empowerment. Teachers can have students free-write and journal regularly and also have frequent judgment free discussions in response to the writings. We would suggest using the fishbowl discussion format, for effective meaningful conversations. Another idea is to have students create documentaries that highlight the accomplishments of women of color both past and present. The class can also create plays that celebrate notable Black women in history.

Other Ideas
Teachers can assign individual students or groups to teach lessons that highlight notable Black women or various achievements they have accomplished. Students can write letters to their congress person raising awareness about human trafficking or other issues that impact women. Lastly, students can connect with women of color their age from other states or countries through creating a digital pen pal assignment or connecting via social media or video conferencing technology.



Here is a small list of notable Black women authors whose books that can be used in the classroom: Jacqueline Woodson, Sharon Draper, Mildred Taylor, Zora Neal Hurston, Jesmyn Ward, Virginia Hamilton, Angie Thomas, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.          

Below are some lesson plans and resources that can help teachers engage students in lessons that celebrate women of color.
Nevertheless They Persisted: Black Women & The Fire Within Them (Lesson Plan)
A Dr. Lane Lesson Plan: Teaching Black Women in Film
Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters Lesson Plan
Celebrate Women This Black History Month
Suffrage for Black Women
Women on the March: A Lesson Plan on Imagining the Future of Feminism

Questions for Discussion and Reflection
1. Why do you think issues that affect Black women are often overlooked or ignored?
2. In what ways can you become a greater advocate for women of color?
3. Do you see a lot of progress in the areas of women’s rights? Why or why not?
4. What are creative ways we can use the classroom to empower women of color?
5. Connect the idea of studying women’s empowerment and history to state and national social studies and language arts standards.

Please share what resources you find useful for your teaching.

We are open to feedback and discussion. If you see any typos or grammatical errors please feel free to email the author and editor at the address below:
childsd1@nku.edu

4 Comments

  1. This article discusses the importance of bringing recognition to Black Women in issues and conversations that surround social injustice and empowering the Black community. Black women impacted the trajectory of civil rights issues and have often been overlooked when it comes to having these conversations. This article educates, raises awareness and offers resources to understand intersectionality is not just a term, it is something that we have to be aware of. I really enjoyed this article because during women’s history month it is important to uplift and listen to all women’s voices in an effort to create change.

  2. I really enjoyed this article, as it discussed women’s history, which is a topic that I like to learn about. It is incredibly important to teach, and I enjoyed looking at the teaching resources. Even in preschool and kindergarten, which is the age group that I would like to teach, it is important to teach about female historical figures and not just male historical figures. This topic is still extremely prevalent in schools as often women’s history is just a single unit, with not a lot of substance to it. This was an issue at my school as well.

  3. As an educator, how do I be apart of a solution? There is no easy answer, I know. Working in early ed. we promote diversity by having multicultural photos, books, materials throughout the classroom. Through the cues it prompts discussions and questions with the students. We embrace all students differences and their strengths. Is that enough? The facts above are alarming. 75,000 black woman and girls missing? Why is that not a national headline? Absolutely heartbreaking.

  4. As a black woman myself I loved how this section talked about how black women are often overlooked by the media and society as a whole. I thought it was really important that this section acknowledged that black women live in the intersectionality between racism and sexism. This article also really made me realize how little black women are represented in the media. Before reading this article I had no idea that so many black women were missing or that 48 black women have been killed since 2015 and none of them have gotten justice. Even though the systemic racism has been against Black People I believe it’s really important that we all do what we can to spread the knowledge about the injustices POC face in the U.S. and other nations.

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