Black History Month

Aisha Fukushima is a Performance Lecturer, Justice Strategist, Singer/Songwriter, and RAPtivist (rap activist). Fukushima founded RAPtivism (Rap Activism), a hip hop project spanning 20 countries and four continents, amplifying universal efforts for freedom and justice. She is a multilingual, multiracial African American Japanese woman who has done lectures and performances everywhere from the United States to France, Morocco, Japan, Germany, England, South Africa, Senegal, India, Denmark and beyond. Fukushima’s ‘RAPtivism’ work has been featured on Oprah Magazine, TEDx, KQED Public Television, The Seattle Times, TV 2M Morocco, The Bangalore Mirror, HYPE, South Africa’s #1 Hip Hop Magazine, and Tour highlights include performing for audiences of over 20,000 people in Nepal, speaking with the President of Estonia about the power of music to create change, and sharing stages with the likes of Bernie Sanders, Angela Davis, Emory Douglas (Black Panthers), KRS-One, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, The Isley Brothers, and M1 (Dead Prez). As a public speaker, Aisha combines the art of performance and lecture. In my keynotes she links themes such as hip hop, global citizenship, empowerment, feminism and cultural activism through storytelling as well as live musical performance.

As a native son of Denver, Jonathan McMillan has deep roots in Denver that extend throughout the metro area. He is a seasoned expert with over 30 years of experience in gang intervention, policy, and community violence prevention. He has dedicated his career to creating safe communities by working with at-risk youth and families. Once involved in gangs and incarcerated as a young adult, Jonathan transformed his life. He became the creator and Director of the City of Denver’s Office of Youth Violence Prevention and the first Director of the State of Colorado’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Throughout his career, Jonathan has led numerous initiatives to reduce youth and gun violence. These include evidence-based programs that tackle social and economic factors contributing to violence. Jonathan is also skilled in community violence intervention. He has developed programs in conflict mediation, trauma-informed care, and community organizing. Throughout his career, Jonathan has been recognized for his commitment to safer communities. He’s a featured speaker at various events, sharing his expertise on a range of topics from firearm injury prevention to youth violence. Jonathan once served as the chairman of the Denver African American Commission, where he strived to be an authentic advocate by crafting programs, policy recommendations, and legislation for the mayor’s office. In 2020, his expertise was further recognized when Mayor Michael Hancock appointed him to the Crime Prevention and Control Commission. Jonathan serves as a board member for several organizations, including Park Hill Strong, a youth violence prevention initiative, Bayaud Enterprises, and the Colorado Juvenile Defenders Council, highlighting his role as a leader and changemaker. Jonathan is passionate about creating a world free from the fear of gun violence, whether he’s speaking to policymakers, community members, or youth.

Dr. Lorgia García-Peña is a writer, activist and scholar who specializes in Latinx Studies with a focus on Black Latinidades. Her work is concerned with the ways in which antiblackness and xenophobia intersect the Global North producing categories of exclusion that lead to violence and erasure. Through her writing and teaching, Dr. García Peña insists on highlighting the knowledge, cultural, social and political contributions of people who have been silenced from traditional archives.

• Celebrate Women This Black History Month – Teaching Tolerance
• Black History Month: How do we change history? – Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
• Making Black History Month Memorable – Teaching Tolerance
• The 45 Days of Black History (Webinar) – Teaching Tolerance
• Creative Resources for Teachers Celebrating Black History Month – Education Week

• From MLK to #BlackLivesMatter: A Throughline for Young Students – Teaching Tolerance
• Teaching #BlackLivesMatter – Teaching for Change
• Making Black Lives Matter in Our Schools – Rethinking Schools
• Why Teaching Black Lives Matter Matters | Part I – Teaching Tolerance
• How to talk to young children about the Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles – Lalena Garcia
• Hoodies Up! #BlackLivesMatter in the Classroom – Teaching for Change
• Bringing Black Lives Matter Into the Classroom | Part II – Teaching Tolerance
• What happened in Ferguson – and why? – Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
• A District Profile | Black Lives Matter at School – Teaching Tolerance
• How One Elementary School Sparked A Citywide Movement To Make Black Students Lives Matter – Rethinking Schools
• Black Students’ Lives Matter – Rethinking Schools

• Why we still need Black History Month in the US – Aljazeera
• Why We Need Black History Month and why White History Month is Out of the Question – Odyssey
• 4 Reasons why it’s critical to teach black history – sheknows.com
• We Need to Change How We Teach Black History – TIME
• We Need to Teach Black History in Schools the Right Way – hercampus.com
• Why Black History Month still matters in 2017 – The CS Monitor
• We Teach Racism, Sexism and Discrimination in Schools – HuffPost
• The Black History Month debate is back – MSNBC
• We can no longer teach a whitewashed history’ – The Washington Post
• Is Black History Month limiting the teaching of black history? – CBC News

• Famous Afro-Latinos Tired Of Trying To Explain To People They’re Black And Latin – Madamenoire
• The question of Blackness: How conversations about Bruno Mars and Cardi B miss the mark – Black Youth Project
• Uncovering Anti-Blackness in Casual Conversation: Young Hollywood’s Words to Amara La Negra – Latino Rebels
• 8 Things Afro-Latinas Are Tired of Hearing – Latina.com
• The Black History of Latinos – Latino Rebels
• Afro-Latinas Embrace Their Heritage During Black History Month – NBC News

• Black Girls Are More Than Magic – Gloria Ladson-Billings
• Rediscovering the Black Girl Magic in literature that was snuffed out of my childhood – Black Youth Project
• Centering the Margins: Black Women, Black Girls, Black Youth – Brooklyn Deep
• Why Are So Many Transgender Women of Color Being Killed in America? – Tim Teeman

• Redesigned pride flag recognizes LGBT people of color – CNN
• Growing Up Gay in Black America: An Exploration of the Coming Out Process of Queer African American Youth – DeMarquis Clarke
• New Report Details the Experiences of Being Black and Transgender in the U.S. – Jordan Dashow

• Celebrating Black History and Diversity Builds Self-Esteem and Empathy – Too Small to Fail
• African American History For Kids – University of Illinois Extension
• Top 15 children’s books for black history month – Family Education
• How to talk to your child about Black History Month (A script) – Mama Knows it All
• Black Children and Black History: The Importance Of Teaching Our Kids the Complexity Of Us – My Brown Baby

• Black Students Lead Conference – national gathering of Black Student Leaders and campus-based advisors to address the most critical topics of diversity and social justice challenging our Black student’s community within colleges and universities.
• 1619 Education Conference – this conference will offer the opportunity to learn from Education Network members, meet contributors to The 1619 Project, and connect with journalists covering reporting related to The 1619 Project. Our Network members represent a variety of school contexts and have valuable insight on effectively implementing 1619 into the classroom.

• The Gender Institute for Teaching and Advocacy (GITA) Black History Month Podcast

• 5280 Black Owners and Chefs – a list of Black owners and chefs across the Front Range.
• 303 Magazine Black Owned Businesses in Denver – Black-owned businesses in Denver.