Celebrating Our Stories, Inspiring Young Voices: KIPP New Orleans Honors Black History at KIPP New Orleans, Black History Month sparks joyous energy in our halls. More than a lesson plan, it’s a family reunion, celebrating our shared roots and passing the mic to our students to uplift their voices. We gather to honor giants like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks while also bearing witness to the talents blossoming in our classrooms today.
Our schools are alive with student passion and talent honoring Black history. High schoolers showcased their literary talents in the annual Black Lives Matter Essay Contest. Budding authors across grades are visited by writers of color during initiatives like the annual Authors of Color. Classrooms have been crafting unique tributes, such as door decorating contests, performance showcases, and even a Black music museum to demonstrate flair untethered by circumstance.
This is the resilient spirit breathing life into our celebration. By providing spaces for young minds and hearts to create, process, connect, and express freely, our responsibility is to empower them to author the next monumental chapter. Their ideas won’t just change systems but reshape culture. Their peer collaborations offer models of possibility. And their pride in the journey behind them is matched only by their hunger to build a society where their humanity – and everyone’s – is finally seen, valued, and protected.
Yes, we pause to remember giants of history who carried the torch to get us here. But we also roll up our sleeves with our youth to carry flames toward the horizon we journey together. At KIPP New Orleans, Black History Month may honor our past, but it truly ignites the power and potential of our future.