“If history is not shared, it is forgotten. This is why we must educate our scholars about Black history – Black history is American history. It is for everyone.”
– Adejumoke Akinbusuyi, Uptown Site Director
Since opening its doors in 1994, Christopher House’s Uptown campus has served thousands of scholars and families. This year, we celebrate Uptown campus’s 30th year of serving this diverse community and the 125+ families served today, representing many countries and cultures from around the world, including Argentina, Belize, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mexico, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Togo, and the United States.
In celebration of Black History Month over the past month, Uptown’s staff and teachers partnered with parents, inviting them into our classrooms to teach scholars about native languages, foods, and outdoor games. Each week, scholars “traveled” to different corners of the globe. On their first stop, scholars visited Ghana to learn about weaving and how to wear a Kente Cloth, followed by Nigeria where they sang songs of gratitude and tried their hands at making Jollof Rice. Shortly after, scholars ventured to East Africa where they tried Ethiopian Injera Bread and practiced home languages like Oromo and Amharic. To finish their global journey, scholars returned to the United States to read books like “Lily Brown’s Painting” or “Do Like Kyla” by author Angela Johnson, play popular playground games like hopscotch, and learn about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Celebrating Black History Month says, ‘We care about our Black scholars and the Black Americans who have helped shape our country. It says both you and those who came before you are worth celebrating.’ It creates a sense of belonging for our Black scholars and helps our other scholars learn to create an environment that celebrates history and culture, even if it’s not your own,” Adejumoke “Jummy” Akinbusuyi, Uptown Site Director, shared.
Across our family of schools, Black History Month is a time of remembrance, education, and celebration and year-round, Christopher House prioritizes and integrates the celebration of our community’s identities and cultures.
“No matter what we are doing, we are constantly learning more about each other through open and insightful conversations about who we are, where we come from, and what makes us, us.”
At the heart of these interactive and joyous activities is the teaching that our unique identities should be proudly expressed and celebrated at all stages of life. We create culturally rich, diverse, and inclusive environments that encourage our students to grow in appreciation and love for not only themselves, but for those around them by celebrating our community members’ authentic selves.
“Identity is something that often changes and develops as we grow. Some parts of us remain the same throughout our lives and others evolve and change. Beginning to develop a strong sense of self from a young age curates positive self-esteem. In a world constantly telling us who to be, learning from a young age that your identity is made up of different parts, helps children – who eventually grow into adults – learn to love the total sum of themselves,” Jummy said. “This is why diversity and representation are so important in early childhood. Representation teaches children that our differences should be celebrated, and early exposure to diverse cultures helps children learn to communicate and problem-solve with different types of people. It teaches children that ‘You and I may look, act and think differently, but it doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish a lot together.’”
To see the diversity celebrated throughout Black History Month at Christopher House, check out the links below:
- Watch a short video from our Uptown After School scholars,
- Black All by Itself is Luxury, by Rachel Wilson,
- See more from the Christopher House Black History Month talent show,
- Sign up for the Christopher House newsletter.
