What does Afrolatinidad and chocolate have to do with Black History Month? Keep reading to find out.
Since Inauguration Day, I’ve found myself doing a lot more doomscrolling than normal… which honestly probably isn’t the best way to disassociate myself from all the hate-fueled decisions that have been made in our country the last few weeks. But you know when people talk about “glimmers”? I found one of those on Instagram recently.
A teacher had posted a video of herself as she carried out one of her lessons with her kindergarteners. She had given all of the students a different color M&M. She then announced to the class that the students who had blue M&Ms “are the best kids in the class. Because your M&M is blue. So you’re the best”.
One kid immediately shouted out “my M&M is red”. I’m sure more kids voiced their feelings about not having a blue M&M, but the video then cuts to the teacher asking how that statement made them feel. Almost unanimously the class answered “sad”, and the students agreed that the statement had hurt their feelings.
After confirming that they knew the statement about the blue M&M color wasn’t true, she then instructed the students to take a bite of their M&M and to check what color the candy was on the inside. She asked her students: “Did the color of the outside matter?”, “Are they all brown on the inside?”, and “And they all taste the same, right?”
This was how she began a lesson about Martin Luther King Jr. The class then read a book together about MLK, and then they talked about the book. She was very honest with her students, telling the parts that were sad, instead of pretending that everything that happened was ok. Her questions prompted one student to shout, “He wanted that so we could be safe”.
Even though this was an age-appropriate lesson for Kindergarteners, we’ve unfortunately seen that many adults in our country could also benefit from @ms.craft_kindergarten’s lesson. Apparently we’re not celebrating Black History Month or honoring MLK anymore? I can’t control what the government is doing, and I’m not sure how that will affect curriculum in public schools, but we will still be having these important conversations at home. They cannot stop us from doing “good” within our own homes, and I plan on still doing as much good from my home as possible.
Especially to all of the Afro-Latinas in the United States, my heart breaks for you. Not only do leaders far too often perpetuate prejudice and racism against the Black community, they’re also villainizing the Latino community, and embracing racial profiling. And I know it doesn’t change anything – but I’m sorry. I’m sorry that so many people in power seem to have forgotten that important lesson on M&Ms.
During the month of February, I encourage you to celebrate Afrolatinidad. Elizabeth Acevedo is an Afro-latina Poet and Author, and her works include: The Poet X, Clap When You Land, With the Fire on High, and Inheritance: A Visual Poem. Check out one of these books to read, whether it’s from the library or a local bookstore. If you have a tween or teen like I do, you could both read one of her books at the same time and then spend some time talking about Black History Month and Afrolatinidad.
