You don’t need to be Black to celebrate Black history.
Sharing, celebrating, and honoring Black stories is something that we do in my classroom all year long.
However, this year for Black History Month I created a list of people on my own that I wanted students to learn about each day of the month. Growing up I rarely remember hearing about people other than MLK and Rosa Parks during BHM.
I asked my co-teacher, who also happens to be an AMAZING artist, to partner with me on this project by sketching all the people in the line up! (21 total) What better way to honor a person than to have an artist sketch them?! This is also an embodiment of one of our core classroom principles- BE CREATIVE. ART IS JOY. JOY MATTERS.
Meet Mx. Jaxen de Bellis!
Q: How did you get involved with this project?
Jax: When Jasmine asked me to partner with her on this project, it was an immediate and enthusiastic “yes!” I’ve always been a fan of making pieces of art to be part of a series or collection. Usually the subject of my art revolves around the communities I occupy, so to be invited to use my talents to center the Black community was a huge honor for me.
Q: How do you celebrate Black History?
Jax: I think a lot of non-Black people struggle to know what their place is in celebrating Black History Month. But I also think acknowledging Black Excellence is more simple than we often make it. Acknowledging Black excellence is me doing a book report on Stevie Wonder in fifth grade; it’s me going through my Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin phase in middle school; it’s me watching every movie Lupita Nyong’o puts out; it’s me bragging about being from the same area that LeBron James is from. We all acknowledge Black excellence all the time whether we know it or not, because Black excellence is part of our American culture. The only thing different about February, is that it’s not just about acknowledging Black excellence, but making it a celebration!
Q: What have you learned by being a part of this project?
Jax: The thing I most took away from this project is that the classroom truly is a safe space. Jasmine says that all the time, but it’s also enforced consistently and wholeheartedly. It’s safe for me to be an artist in this classroom. It’s safe for me to be a writer in this classroom. It’s safe for me to be Queer in this classroom. And with it being a safe space, each person gets to share various parts of their identity as they feel comfortable. When a culture of safety is cultivated, the whole class benefits, and it makes room for more people to share their truth and their talents!
That’s all for now, y’all!
#blackhistoryisamericanhistory
#youbelonghere
jax on instagram: @jaxlivinbby
