“No matter what anyone says, I believe in the truth. I stand for justice, no matter who is for it or against it. I am first and foremost a human being, and as such I believe in those who benefit humanity as a whole. I act for the sake of things.” – Malcolm X
We are partnering with Rev. Carl Johnson, President of the Florida General Baptist Convention, to launch a statewide task force to challenge the Florida Governor and the State Department of Education to teach black history accurately, factually, and openly. I requested. . In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we have formed a task force in Florida entitled “Teaching Our Own History.”
Carter G. Woodson, founder of Negro History Week, urged us not to sit idly by and watch the system “miseducate” black people.
Our task force will present to the government a comprehensive curriculum to properly and effectively teach African and African American history to Florida’s public school students. Additionally, we will develop more than 40 “Freedom Schools” by 2025. We will not sit back and allow any governor to erase the accurate teaching of Black history.
The objectives of the “Teaching Our Own History” Task Force are:
- To encourage accurate and impartial education about the history, culture, experiences, and valuable contributions of African Americans to Florida and this country.
- Develop strategies and solutions to support and strengthen public education in marginalized communities.
- Develop and adequately support 40 Freedom Academies across the state of Florida.
- Create a critical after-school program that uses an age-appropriate African American history curriculum to strengthen reading, writing, and math skills for students in Title One schools in marginalized communities across Florida.
- Create a summer “Freedom School” to teach young people about African American contributions, self-worth, personal responsibility, and the importance of African American contributions.
- Authorize and incentivize Florida’s three private HBCUs to develop laboratory schools on their respective campuses by 2025.
- Cultivate and build partnerships with foundations, corporations, and philanthropists to support programs and events that consistently celebrate the contributions of African American history, culture, literature, faith, and heritage.
We all need to redouble our efforts to fight for social justice, voting rights, civil rights, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs is shameful and insulting.
Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida, chairs the Teach Our Own History Task Force.
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