It is essential to share Dr. King’s message of the need for racial justice and civil and human rights. We at The New American Academy Charter School believe it is crucial to share and embody his vision of a society that actively promotes a community free of racial injustice and that that actively promotes love, justice and humanity with our students early on in their education. If we ignore the pervasiveness of racism, we become guilty of perpetuating the injustices that continue to plague our country today. To honor Dr. King’s legacy, The New American Academy Charter School is projecting his values and hope for change in our student’s curriculum.
As an educator, I have a moral and social responsibility to do my part and help create change, not only on the day we commemorate Dr. King’s life but all year round. One way we do this at our school is to invite inspirational community leaders who are people of color to speak to our students. For example, Dr. Marcus Bright, PhD, who works as the district coordinator of 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a mentoring program for black male students in Miami, recently spoke with my students about the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King. “The hard work and faith possessed by Dr. King makes it possible all of us to sit in this room today and learn about the many gifts and sacrifices he has made for all of us,” he told them.
At the beginning of the school year, each new kindergarten class at The New American Academy Charter School selects a team name from influential figures in our history. This year, I was especially proud because our kindergarten families voted to name their cohort “Team King” in tribute to Dr. King and his powerful words that inspired millions of people. I could not be more excited to work with our kindergarten students to forward his vision for a better America.
For many of our kindergarten students, this will be their first exposure to Dr. King, his message, his civil rights movement, and the racial injustices that minorities endured not so long ago. These students will learn about activism, the civil-rights movement, peaceful protest, integration, and voting rights for the first time. Properly communicating these nuanced and challenging subject matter is of the utmost importance to The New American Academy Charter School
As “Team King” prepared to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy, they capture the essence of what we should all strive to be as Americans and our schools values of Humility, Empowerment, Aspiration, Responsibility, Teamwork and Scholarship (HEARTS), which align with Dr. King’s vision. We hope they aspire to become better citizens, colleagues, neighbors, family, and friends. We hope they continue to seek equal opportunities, education, and justice for themselves and for all their peers. We hope students everywhere feel inspired by the possibilities of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and know that with hard work their dream one day can become a reality.
And that reality is evidenced by progress we have made in the last decade with the election of President Obama, Ayanna Pressley becoming Massachusetts’ first black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 and former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, Stacey Abrams, securing the Democratic party’s nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. In fact, she was the first Black female major-party gubernatorial nominee in American history.
In the cultural sphere, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on September 16, 2016, a highly anticipated moment for African Americans and many supporters of the civil rights movement. This museum is an acknowledgement of the contributions African Americans have made in academia, medicine, politics, sports, music and pop culture. It’s important for students to hear and learn about these historical victories because it provides the examples and role models they need to realize their dreams are attainable.
I hope that “Team King” inspires more schools around the country to celebrate what Dr. King hoped to see in classrooms someday: men and women of all colors and backgrounds coming together to honor his dream for forgiveness, love, and reconciliation. With continual effort, we will keep his legacy alive in our schools, at our dinner tables, and eventually every neighborhood in our nation.
Lisa Parquette Silva is principal of The New American Academy Charter School, 9301 Avenue B, which is between Canarsie, Brownsville and East Flatbush.
