How To Teach Children The Importance Of Black Month.Tips From Craig Melvin

Craig Melvin gives us some tips on how to teach children the importance of Black Month. His children are respectively 5 years old and 7 years old, they are still small but the time will come when they will learn more about this.

One day during the months of the pandemic Craig says they were staying fourth in the house when suddenly the boy asked him why his sister was white as mom and he was Black as a dad. It was the moment when he realized he had to say that they are biracial. What was most important was that at the end of the day they were all human beings.

Craig and his wife never thought they would have to discuss these racial differences with the children until the George Floyd incident. There they realized that this conversation should be done.

One day while bathing the boy he started singing a song. It starts as a hum, and then he sang. I said, “Oh, is that ‘We Shall Overcome?” He said, “Yeah, how do you know that song?” I said, “Well, that was the anthem during the civil rights movement.” He was very happy to learn such songs in school where only two children were colored. The whole class had learned the song. Meanwhile what needs to be done is to learn more about Black History in schools.

Not just in schools but all countries. There should not be just one month to talk about the achievements of black people. One thing we have not yet talked to children about is slavery. How can I tell that people with the color of skin like dad have been forced to work for people with the color of skin like mom?

Lindsay and I have always gone out of our way to make sure that our kids are exposed to not just different places, but different people and cultures. I have long believed that exposure is our best tool to fight racism, hatred, and xenophobia. My greatest wish is for them to know and appreciate what it means to be Black in America.

I’m sorry when I hear my mother say that she was the only one from high school who went to high school and how difficult it was to integrate. There are so many firsts like that, and I hope my kids get to enjoy some seconds and thirds – and that at some point in our history, there are not so many superlatives.

How did you explain to children the importance of black month ? Share with us your experiences in the comments on Facebook.


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