Webinar On-Demand: '1619' Lessons for Educators and Academia

Part of the 1619 Impact Showcase, including "The Power and Purpose of Historical Archives," and "1619 Impact on Students and Classrooms.” 

In this closing keynote from The 1619 Impact Series, Dr. LaGarrett King is in conversation with Pulitzer Center Outreach Assistant Kendra Grissom about The 1619 Project as a tool for Black history education. Dr. King is an award-winning professor of social studies education most known for his Black history framework, Black historical consciousness, which is the primary topic of his current book, "Teaching Black History for 6-12 Teachers: An Introduction to the Black Historical Consciousness Framework for Teachers." View this webinar to learn more about his perspective on what lessons The 1619 Project has to offer educators and historians.

Key Highlights:

• Dr. King offered various framings for the history education space: “One thing that we really need to understand as we need to teach our students is that we're not teaching a curriculum, we're teaching citizens. We're teaching people who will be decision makers in the near future. So our lessons and our histories have to attend to them being decision makers.”
• In conversation about curriculum that purports to teach Black history without mention of anti-Blackness and with focus on heroes and milestones, Dr. King says, “It's 1964. Why were they the first, right? Was it because Black people didn't have the intellectual capabilities to do this? Was it because of this? Was it because of that? And that's where we're talking about this non-racist versus anti-racist approach to history teaching and Black history teaching—getting at the gist of the complexities about being Black and anti-Blackness that has hindered Black society for many years. Without us understanding that context, students who are in classrooms just think, 'well, Black people just didn't have the agency to do various different things' or 'they weren't intellectual enough' or 'they didn't try.'”
• When asked about hopes and dreams for the future, Dr. King included a note about the Pulitzer Center sharing, “First of all, I dream that Pulitzer Center continues to do wonderful work from years to come. I really enjoy what you all do and I get to know you all a little bit better through different aspects. I dream that y'all continue to influence society and influence teachers. When I talk to people who have worked with you all, they always have really great things to say about everyone there and the organization. But really, I dream that everyone is in a space that allows them to teach Black history, effectively, critically, and with loving and human care.”