Black History Month 2025
It has been a tradition for a few years now at CBA that we put together a presentation to share with our children. It has been a blessing to find historical figures our community knows about, some of whom are even related to our students. For example, two years ago, we learned about Francis Grimké, an ancestor of CBA dad and pastor Will Plonk. He escaped slavery during the Civil War and became a personal assistant to two Union lieutenants. After the war, he could get an education as a free man, attending Lincoln University and Princeton Theological Seminary. He became a pastor at Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
This year, Pastor Plonk spoke at both an EC chapel and an Elem/MS morning assembly: he taught our youngest students in EC about Martin Luther King, Jr., and he taught our children at the Elementary/Middle School campus about Hush Harbors, secret meeting places where enslaved African Americans practiced their faith during the antebellum era. Hush Harbors were a form of nonviolent resistance and independence. See his EC chapel HERE.
In addition, this year, some of our parents once more contributed to our communal presentation that we encourage you to read at home, too, but in a new way: CBA parents have made videos and voiceovers sharing what we have been learning with this year’s EC theme: “Music All Around Me: African American Contributions.” One of our CBA parents teamed up with her son, Tony Gonzalez, in Elementary 3 A. We are re-sharing this year’s presentation HERE. Thank you to the Gonzalez family, as well as the DeLoney family (Atarah in 5K B & Zion in Elementary 3 B), Herman Tisdale (Sarah in 5K A), and finally, the Mitchell family (EC 4K B) for the videos and the voiceover and thank you, John Mitchell, for teaching us about the Charleston to Origins of Jazz connection. The children really enjoyed saying, “It’s your dad!” “I know Tony!” and hearing and watching musical examples.
In addition, we added some extraordinary experiences to round out this theme: thanks to the generosity of “Gigi” (one of Archer Mitchell’s grandmas) and the ideas, research, and contact made by John and Jerez Mitchell, the Wona Womalan West African Drum and Dance Ensemble visited our EC Campus. If you would like to see a sample of the whole campus experience on February 18, please see the video to the right.
If you would like to see more of this group, please see our FB Live of that day, which included our children learning a West African song of welcome, “Funga Alafia.”
The 4K and 5K classes also spent dedicated time with this family of musicians and dancers, who told the children about their instruments and let them play them. If you would like to play this song for your kids as you go along, HERE is a link to a version on YouTube or Spotify. Here’s more of this fantastic experience below.
In the Elementary/Middle School Campus, some “Hidden Figures” were highlighted for the children, like Maestra Rossana sharing about incredible black women mathematicians like the ones featured in the movie by that name, and others equally important but less known. During “Friday Failures” the children learned about heroic figures like Phyllis Wheatley, America’s First Black Poet and a voice for freedom.
Furthermore, like in the past few years, we had the generous contribution of time as many parents volunteered to read books celebrating black lives in our EC classrooms. We thank you so much! The children loved it!
*Click on each photo below to enlarge.
Finally, in the last EC Chapel in February, we reviewed the origin and significance of Spirituals. We re-learned “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” We also learned that one of our favorite chapel songs is a Spiritual: “This Little Light of Mine.” We went into the meaning of these songs. We connected that Spirituals inspired other musical genres like Gospel and Jazz. We had the gift of a praise dance by former CBA parent (well, once CBA, always CBA) Keisha, to a gospel song by Yolanda Williams: “Still I Rise.” For a video of the dance, click here.
As we step into March, we take a moment to reflect on Black History Month and praise God for the beauty and diversity He has woven into our school community. We are deeply grateful for our incredible CBA family, representing a rich tapestry of cultures and backgrounds.
