Last year, I worked hard on something with WonderHere that I’m so incredibly proud of. We released a resource called Black Culture: A Family-Style Interactive Anthology. I wanted to write this post to tell you a little bit more about it and to explain where you can find it.
Tiffany (one of the founders of WonderHere) and I noticed that every year around February, which is Black History Month, there is a lot of talk in the homeschool community about Black History materials and curriculum. Following Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in January, these resources mostly center around the Civil Rights Movement. Don’t get me wrong, this is an important time in history that is definitely worth diving into. However, beyond a cursory introduction to famous people of the movement, or to other big topics like the enslavement of Africans in the Americas, we imagined the month to be a celebration of so much more. Further, we wanted to send the message that the contributions of Black people around the African diaspora, were not something to be studied in a way that was separate from everything else we do with our children all throughout the year.
The Black Culture Anthology is not a curriculum that you go through once quickly, and then you are finished. It is meant to be a resource that you can come back to again and again, multiple times a year, or even over a few years. It is meant to invite deeper study and spark curiosity about the culture of a diverse people. It is not a comprehensive overview of all things “Black.” It is neither a textbook of historical facts. It is a collection of voices and a groovy rendition…you might even say a retake, on materials typically found circulating around Black History Month.
The dictionary definition of culture is “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.” It encompasses different elements such as language, stories, way of dressing, cuisine, music, and arts. The African diasporic culture is rich and there is much from which we can learn. The Anthology basically takes a sampling of countries and cultures from around the world and presents people, historical moments, and above all, stories. We wanted to also include the voices of children, so we featured child authors who wrote pieces telling of their everyday lives and how they see themselves as smart, brave, strong, beautiful, and kind. This is an excerpt I wrote from the Anthology, talking about the importance of telling our stories:
You and I are the storytellers. The storytellers are all around us. The stories themselves are as simple as a walk to the park or as complicated as a historical account of injustice. To be Black is to be a child describing what makes him smart, or to be a thought leader or activist of one’s time. We can never stop telling our stories nor can we stop listening to them, collecting them, and reckoning with them.
I hope that in doing this we can build cultural exchange and awareness in a way that moves beyond trivializing or compartmentalizing for the sake of fabricating an understanding. Let’s reckon with each other’s stories by considering our relationship to them and also acknowledging our own feelings behind them. Let’s get good at celebrating Black culture and other cultures as a manner of normalcy. Our stories are diverse and important.
This collection is over 100 pages of narratives, informational articles, activities, recipes, games, and handcrafts. You will find contributing authors that include Amber O’Neal Johnston of Heritage Mom and Charnaie Gordon of Here Wee Read. Paired with a Child’s Companion Notebook for reflecting and responding to what is read, the Anthology invites you to explore and process in a way that highlights family connection. Available in both digital and print form, it truly is a beautiful resource created just for YOU!
Making Freedom Soup is one of the activities in the Anthology.
My daughter was one of the contributing child authors.
You can find the Anthology in my shop or at this link for the digital option: Black Culture: Family-Style Interactive Anthology and here for the print and ship option: Print and Ship Option.
Some of you might have seen the Anthology in my shop but perhaps you were skeptical after you clicked the link and it lead you off of my website. Even though I was heavily involved in the production of this beautiful resource, it is indeed sold through WonderHere. The link from my shop is an affiliate link.
One last thing, if you are reading this blog post in January of 2022 (I am fully aware that there are no dates on my posts but that, my friends, is a story for another time 
), then I hope you will encourage your children from ages 7-17 to enter this Writing Competition. We are hoping to feature the work of another child writer from any background in a reprint of the Anthology for this year. You have until the 21st to enter and I sincerely hope you will consider it! Click on the link to learn more.
***Below is an Instagram Live interview I did with Tiffany Thenor of WonderHere, about the Anthology after it was released last year:
