Black people have always been a part of Miami’s history: the first name listed on the city of Miami’s charter, dating back to the 1890s, is that of a Black man: Silas Austin.
But students don’t necessarily know that when they first sign up for Renee O’Connor’s Black History class at Miami Norland Senior High School in Miami Gardens.
“I'm dealing with a subset of students that are coming in only knowing about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks … I am at an introductory level with students,” O’Connor said. “A lot of the problems we have in this country stem from ignorance, and the fact that people don't know their history."
O'Connor is among the many South Florida teachers who, along with their students, are finding new ways to commemorate Black History Month, focusing on Black resistance and Black accomplishments. It's been especially significant at at time when state officials are cracking down on how that history can be taught.
Ahead of an expected White House run, Gov. Ron DeSantis has continued to zero in on eliminating what he calls “woke” ideology in education, seizing on national flashpoints around what children learn about race, gender identity and history.
I'm dealing with a subset of students that are coming in only knowing about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks … A lot of the problems we have in this country stem from ignorance, and the fact that people don't know their history.Renee O'Connor, Black History class teacher at Norland Senior High School in Miami Gardens
Florida announced last month it was rejecting the national College Board's Advanced Placement African American history course, saying it violated state law and was historically inaccurate. The state argued that it promotes the idea that modern American society oppresses Black people, other minorities and women; includes a chapter on Black Queer Studies that the administration finds inappropriate; and uses articles by critics of capitalism.
The College Board released a revised curriculum downplaying some components that had drawn criticism, a move that drew the ire of scholars and advocates on the left. The organization has since maintained that the changes were substantially complete before DeSantis made his objections.
O’Connor, who is Jamaican-American, said she loves teaching her students about the full scope of the African diaspora — and giving them the tools to understand the world around them.
“We talk about redlining. We talk about housing discrimination. We talk about real world things … so they can see that history is not just dates and times and pictures of old people in a book,” she said. “Because it's catching up to them every single day.”
This year, she says, the work seems more critical after the DeSantis administration rejected the AP African American Studies class being piloted in some of the state’s high schools, and as conservatives try to ban the works of Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.
“The history of Black Americans and brown Americans has always been a struggle,” O’Connor said. “So if it's the governor, if it's police brutality, whatever it is … it's going to continue for the rest of our lives. It's how we respond to it.”
For Cyara, history has always been one of her favorite subjects as a student. When her high school in Miami-Dade County began piloting the AP Black studies class, she jumped at the chance to take it. WLRN is not disclosing her last name to protect her privacy.
“It's hard to tell that Africans and African American culture is really a deep root in a lot of our societies today. A lot of the time we hear of the Italian Renaissance and how that affected us … but we don't really talk a lot about how Africa has affected our country as a whole,” Cyara said.
Cyara says she was shocked when the DeSantis administration blocked her AP class.
A lot of the time we hear of the Italian Renaissance and how that affected us … but we don't really talk a lot about how Africa has affected our country as a whole.Cyara, a Miami-Dade County student
“I think these things should be talked about just so we can show appreciation to the people who lost their lives … and the people who fought for civil rights, who fought for voting rights and made our country the way it is,” Cyara said.
“It's America the great because we can vote, but it wasn't America the great when everyone could not vote,” she added.
Teaching this history, said O’Connor, isn’t just about the struggle, but about joy.
“We're focusing on happy things. Black joy as a form of resistance … through music, through dance, through literature, through church, through food,” O’Connor said. “So that’s our focus here at school this month.”
Cyara says she’s finding ways to celebrate too, by being a part of her school’s Black History show. This year she says the theme is “resistance”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
