STAY WOKE, FLORIDA CREEPIN’

WHAT’S REALLY UP WITH THE AP CURRICULUM ON BLACK STUDIES?

This past February, the College Board unveiled its Advanced Placement African American Studies course to mad controversy. It appeared that the College Board had bent to political pressure from Florida by removing some of the course’s topics. The curriculum got caught up in a maelstrom about how to teach Black studies. Part of the drama was because states across the country, including Florida, are attempting to police discussions around race and history. In reality, AP African American Studies had been revised throughout 2022. The College Board CEO said the final changes were independent of objections from Florida’s Department of Education (DOE), which said the class “indoctrinated students to a political agenda.”

Last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Individual Freedom Act, also known as the “Stop Woke Act.” It regulates how race is taught in schools, colleges, and trainings. The Florida DOE said the new AP Black studies curriculum was “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” Though the letter didn’t state which law the curriculum violated, it’s not a stretch to say it was “Stop Woke.”

The AP Black studies curriculum has been a decade in the making. It’s being piloted at 60 high schools. Teachers say that although some topics are optional, that doesn’t mean they’re not included. Many students participated in Black Lives Matter marches, so pertinent issues will arise in class. Oregon high school teacher Maurice Cowley said the controversy “takes the focus off of the incredible experience our students are having.”

Whether you’re packing in with the crowds in ALBUQUERQUE CIVIC PLAZA, heading up the mesa to RIO RANCHO, giving thanks at CHURCH, or cutting up with your fam at the BACKYARD COOKOUT, you’ll be commemorating something special on JUNE 19.

Also referred to as “Jubilee Day,” Juneteenth memorializes the month and day when enslaved people in Texas were finally informed that the Civil War had ended the prior April and that they had, in fact, been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation an entire two years earlier. Black folks have been commemorating the postbellum era ever since, even though Juneteenth’s only been considered officially-official since 2021, when congress made it the first federal holiday added to the list since Dr. King’s birthday in 1983.

Like we’ve been saying since the Albuquerque Journal recognized our prominent voices in the Summer of Resistance 2020, Juneteenth is another sign to America that its Black brothers and sisters are deserving of the freedoms afforded everyone else and that our work toward equity and healthfulness in body, mind, and spirit is not about a mere moment, but is part of an enduring movement.

All summer long, we’ll be sure to keep you updated on what get-togethers we know are going down. Click on the QRs at right for our events calendar and check the NMBLC blog, called EQ Online, as well. Also, you can tell us about anything we might be missing. To send us the 411 about an event, please email to uplift@nmblc.org and enter ***JUNETEENTH UPDATE*** in the subject line.

But HOLDUP HOLDUP HOLDUP: we don’t expect you to wait for Juneteenth to start your summer partying; there are graduations to celebrate and summer sun to soak in. The Burqueños in City Hall get the ball rolling with the Community Block Party series, which land on a number of Saturdays through the spring and summer. The next two in the series come alive in our neck of the woods, the International District, on May 20 and June 3 at Wilson Park and Oak Street Health, respectively. Check out the flyer to the right and call Nichole Rogers’ office or click on the QR for more info!