Rye Country Day School is celebrating Black History Month across all three divisions this February. Here are just a few examples.
Haraya Club
The Haraya club is sponsoring three Upper School activities, including distributing pins featuring the colors of the Pan-African Flag, Wildcats Around the World discussion groups led by students who are from the African diaspora, Rep Your Flag Day, and Black Icon day to celebrate black history, identity, and culture. Looking forward to the month's student-led programming, Haraya Vice President Ritchel Amankwah '22 shared, "Black History Month is a way to commemorate all the people that fought for our freedom, as well as influencers within the black community. It's also a way for me to honor my family and my Ghanaian culture. The Haraya Club is working to bring together and celebrate all the different representatives of African and Caribbean culture at our school. The club provides an opportunity for all Upper School students to celebrate in community."
The month of February in the Upper School also began with a morning meeting screening of Google's Black History Month video featuring the most searched icons and historic moments (and, AP Computer Science students were available to discuss Google's analytics and methodology with their schoolmates).
Bulletin board featuring chemist Alice Ball
In the Middle and Lower School, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee has created a special Bulletin Board highlighting influential and inspirational black Americans. Students in every Lower School classroom are learning about Black History Month, and morning meeting time has been dedicated to honoring black leaders and changemakers.
Lower School Library Black History Month display
The Lower School Library is featuring African American literature and biographies of notable figures including Ron's Big Mission, Finding Lincoln, and The Girl with a Mind for Math, among others. Lower School artists are also celebrating Black History Month by learning about the Gee's Bend Quiltmakers, Jean Michel Basquiat, Jacob Lawrence, Benny Andrews, Dave the Potter, Clementine Hunter, and Curys Karibu.
Grade 2-5 French classes bulletin board
Grade 2-5 Spanish and French students are bringing in pictures of black Americans they admire and sharing a little about them with their classmates.
Ms. Rosenzweig's Middle School Spanish students are watching and discussing Professor Henry Louis Gates's 2011 PBS series "Black in Latin America," which examines how Africa and Europe came together to create the rich cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Sixth grade students discussing "Glory Be"
Sixth grade students in Ms. McDonald's Language Arts classes are reading Augusta Scattergood's Glory Be and Carolyn Meyers's White Lilacs, unpacking themes of civil rights, equality, justice, and power. As part of the unit, the students are also watching the Southern Poverty Law Center's documentary A Time for Justice, which captures the spirit of the civil rights movement through historical footage and the voices of those who participated in the struggle, including the the bus boycott in Montgomery, the school crisis in Little Rock, the violence in Birmingham, and the triumphant 1965 march for voting rights.