In July 2023, the Florida State Board of Education approved new African American history standards that sparked national outrage for being incomplete and misleading.
One of the most controversial standards required teachers to teach middle school students that under enslavement, Black people gained skills that later benefitted their lives.
So, in response to these concerns and the ongoing erasure of critical aspects of Black History, the Florida communities, organizations, churches, and cultural institutions are stepping in to fill the gaps.
In Delray Beach, for instance, Charlene Farrington leads Saturday morning classes at the Spady Cultural Museum to teach teenagers the Black history their schools won’t provide.
Her lessons explore South Florida’s Caribbean roots, the state’s dark history of lynchings, how segregation continues to shape communities, and how grassroots activism fueled the Civil Rights Movement.
“You need to know how it happened before so you can decide how you want it to happen again,” Farrington told her students, according to the Associated Press.
Efforts like Farrington’s have gained popularity as the state’s approach to African American history faces increased scrutiny and political challenges.
In 2022, Governor Ron Desantis signed House Bill 7 into law, which limits discussions of race, history, and discrimination in K-12 classrooms.
His administration banned certain Advanced Placement African American Studies courses, citing alleged legal violations and historical inaccuracies.
Although Florida has required schools to teach African American history since 1994, many argue that the state has failed to implement it fully.
According to state reports, only 12 of Florida’s 67 school districts effectively teach Black history, consistently integrate the content into lessons throughout the school year and secure support from school boards and community partners.
School district officials told AP News that they follow the state mandate to limit their teachings to heroic figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks during February’s Black History Month while neglecting systemic issues and lesser-known events.
Even in districts with staff dedicated to teaching Black history, some educators are afraid of violating state laws, according to Brian Knowles, who oversees African American, Holocaust, and Latino studies for the Palm Beach County School District.
“There’s so many other districts and so many kids that we’re missing because we’re tiptoeing around what is essentially American history,” Knowles said.
It’s this frustration over the restrictions that led educators like Renee O’Connor to take a sabbatical last year from her job teaching Black history at Miami Norland Senior High School.
Now, O’Connor is back in the classroom but has also chosen to help community groups like Faith in Florida—a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a powerful, multicultural, nonpartisan network of congregational community organizations that address systemic racial and economic issues—develop their own Black history programs outside the public school system.
“I wish, obviously, all kids were able to take an African American history class,” O’Connor said, “but you have to pivot if it’s not happening in schools.”
Even parents are stepping up. Sulaya Williams, a mom and educator, told AP News that she started teaching Black history in 2016 after she couldn’t find the comprehensive instruction she wanted for her children.
Now, her Saturday classes in Fort Lauderdale attract students like her 12-year-old daughter, Addah Gordon, who says she’s finally learning about her ancestors.
“It feels like I’m really learning my culture. Like I’m learning what my ancestors did,” Addah said. “And most people don’t know what they did.”
