As February marks Black History Month, Democrats, Rep. Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (NY-16) and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker reintroduced The African American History Act in both the House and the Senate and are urging leaders across the nation to tell the truth about the United States’ history of racism and white supremacy. The bill was reintroduced on Feb. 2 with over 100 original co-sponsors in the House, representatives for Bowman and Booker said.

 

“It is our moral imperative to tell the truth about our past to finally reconcile with this nation’s history of racism and white nationalism, and our legislation will serve as a vital component in our fight to do just that,” said Bowman, who represents the Wakefield section of the Bronx and the southern part of Westchester County. “The truth is under attack by white supremacists attempting to ban Black history at all levels of education, but we know that a democracy cannot exist without access to truth.”

 

Bowman continued, “As a Black man and an educator, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for this nation to collectively commit to learning from our past. Sen. Booker’s and my legislation invests $10 million over 5 years to support African American history education programs that will be available for students, parents, and teachers.”

 

He added, “The moment we are in requires a clear-eyed effort to ensure that everyone has access to resources and education that accurately recount African American history – including how the Black struggle for freedom has strengthened our society for all Americans and brought us closer to realizing the potential of our democracy.”

 

As reported, in June 2021, Bowman attended the consecration of African Burial Ground in Van Cortlandt Park, an event which coincided with Juneteenth that year.

 

Meanwhile, Booker, who represents New Jersey, said the story of Black people in America was inextricably linked to the story of America. “The fullness of this rich history must be told – both its dark chapters and the light brought by generations of people determined to overcome and make our country better through an ongoing quest for justice,” he said. “We have seen this happen far too many times throughout history – where some dismiss our important stories and intentionally change the way history is told to fit political agendas.”

 

The senator continued, “As we begin Black History Month, I am proud to reintroduce this legislation that will invest in initiatives to make African American history education programs more accessible to the public, help educators incorporate these programs into their curriculum, and develop additional resources focused on Black History for students and families to engage with.”

 

According to both legislators, a multiracial democracy that ensures the social, economic, and political rights of all in the United States requires reconciling with American history and America’s original sin of slavery and white supremacy. They said that in order to reconcile together as a nation, it’s critical that there are opportunities and dedicated resources for truth-telling.

If passed, Bowman and Booker’s African American History Act would invest $10 million over 5 years in the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to support African American history education programs that would be voluntarily available for students, parents, and educators.

 

They said the bill would help the NMAAHC expand and improve upon their work in a variety of ways, including:

• developing and maintaining a variety of accessible resources to promote an understanding of African American history, including a collection of digital content, housed on the NMAAHC website, to assist educators, students, and families across the country in teaching about and engaging with African American history;
• engaging with the public through programming, resources, and social media to increase awareness of African American history through a social justice and anti-bias lens;
• convening experts and creating and disseminating scholarly work; and
• translating new and existing NMAAHC work into multiple languages.

 

The legislators added that the bill would also support the NMAAHC’s work to increase national capacity for African American history education, including:

• developing and disseminating high quality pedagogy related to teaching African American history;
• providing opportunities for Professional Development for early childhood, elementary, and secondary teachers;
• designing and implementing a teacher fellowship program; and
• engaging with local and state leaders interested in incorporating these resources in curricula.

 

In the context of the announcement, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers said kids needed access to age-appropriate, honest lessons about the country’s history — its successes, its struggles, and its failures. “These malicious, politically-motivated efforts thwart our efforts to have children think critically, expand their perspectives, and prepare them for whatever comes next,” he said.

 

Weingarten added, “This bill will help our kids have a thorough understanding of the history and contributions of African Americans. We support Rep. Bowman and Sen. Booker in ensuring our kids have the right to learn, the right to think for themselves, and the right to information.”

 

Meanwhile, Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, CEO of the American Psychological Association said the association applauded Bowman for introducing the African American History Act.  “An accurate teaching of history is not only vital to our development and well-being as individuals, but also as a nation,” he said. “Understanding our past provides the ability to make systemic improvements to the lives of all of our citizens, including by eradicating disparities in educational attainment, socio-economic status, and healthcare outcomes.”

 

Some of the 104 original co-sponsors include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY14) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15) who also represent parts of The Bronx, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) who represents parts of The Bronx and Manhattan, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-7) who represents parts of Brooklyn, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) who represents parts of Manhattan.

 

The bill has been endorsed by around 50 organizations from across the country including but not limited to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Bronx Climate Justice North, The Collective New Rochelle, Hispanic Democrats of Westchester, Indivisible New Rochelle, Indivisible Scarsdale, Indivisible Westchester, Mount Vernon City School District, Mujeres en New Rochelle, New Rochelle FUSE, North Bronx Racial Justice, NYCD16-Indivisible, Teach the Truth – Westchester, Universal Hip Hop Museum, and Yonkers Family YMCA.

 

Mondale Robinson is founder of the Black Male Voter Project and he said that in a time when threats to certain freedoms are under attack in manners not seen in decades, there was but one grounder: history. “An unmolested history that accounts all of America’s past events, and most particularly in human affairs is mandated to comprehend both where we are and how we got here, which requires a robust commitment to any teachings that shade in unfinished learnings of said affairs,” he said.

 

Robinson continued, “For this very reason I stand one-hundred percent behind, beside and in defense of Rep. Bowman’s re-introduction of the African-American History Act, for it is the missing anthology of this country and brings us all closer to a fuller appreciation of America’s historical scholarship.”