SAN ANTONIO – There is a strong belief among historians and researchers that racial tensions throughout the nation directly correlate with people not knowing or understanding the history in this country that play roles in the continuing call for racial equality.
There is a team of about 40 historians and researchers who’ve created a new school curriculum called Black History 365; An Inclusive Account of American History, that explores crucial pieces of history often left out of text books.
KSAT-TV Extra: Watch extended interviews with the creators of the book below.
“We have over 3,000 original images that many people have never seen before,” said BH365 CEO, Walter Milton Jr., who said the course work chronicles black history, the good, bad and the ugly.
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The curriculum is offered in hard copy format and through digital and interactive platforms.
“And we start off in ancient Africa, sort of the beginning of time. And then we come all the way up to contemporary history,” Milton said.
From the role of African civilizations to the George Floyd incident in Minnesota, and pivotal events in between, co-founder Joel Freeman said the course work focuses on historic moments that have shaped the climate of our nation today.
"We have the syphilis project, Tuskegee Syphilis Project that has caused a lot of mistrust in the African-American community. Just the lynchings, Jesse Washington, in Texas, just half the half the town came out to see the lynching,” Freeman said.
BH365 media relations director Carleen Brown said the course work also includes a musical component that students listen to and learn about music from different eras.
“As we engage students around their local history, they, too, now are helping us to unearth and inform African-American history in a way that we all haven’t had the opportunity to do,” Brown said.
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Those involved in BH365 said it’s important to understand the past in order to create a better future for all.
“We want to be intentional in terms of helping young people have the skill set so that they can really be ‘solutionists,’” Milton said.
Black History 365 is expected to be incorporated into more than a dozen school curriculums, mostly in Dallas, by this fall with more throughout the state and nation over time.
To explore the table of contents of the book, click here.