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Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action

February 10, 2022
ILLUMINATING THE PAST TO BRIGHTEN THE FUTURE
PESA’s Black History Month presentation is rich in untold stories and fascinating facts
The late Nobel Prize-winning South African cleric and anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu once said, “We learn from history that we don’t learn from history!” 

We hear you, Mr. Tutu, and at PESA we take that as a challenge. Which is why we have created an engaging educational program devoted to February’s Black History Month and the significant social, scientific and cultural contributions made by Black Americans and others around the world.

Did you know, for example, that:
  • Smallpox inoculation was introduced to America by a slave?
  • One in four cowboys were Black, despite the stories told in popular books and movies?
  • A young woman named Claudette Colvin preceded Rosa Parks’ brave protest against sitting in the back of a bus, but that Parks was deemed better-suited to represent the civil rights movement?
Those are the kinds of interesting facts that students at the Los Angeles Learning Academy were presented with recently by PESA social work interns. 

PESA has created a suite of programming on topics ranging from Earth Day and climate change to voting rights and social media, and in each presentation, interaction is highly encouraged.

For example, in this instance, students were asked to share what they knew about Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Many recalled Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the writings of Douglass, but all learned that February was designated as Black History Month because both Lincoln and Douglass were born this month. And in a quiz portion of the program, clues were provided as to a Black history hero’s accomplishments and students eagerly tried to identify the person.

If you’re an educator interested in having your students receive our Black History Month presentation—or one on any number of other topics— contact PESA. ■

If you’d like to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.