Just pondering the concept of “Windows and Mirrors” and the mandate for culturally responsive education, and here is what flowed out.

We are the content.

But let me be clear: our story must not be relegated to slave narratives. Before we were slaves, we were sovereign. And in spite of our chains, we dreamed. We built. We taught. We healed. We led. And we endured.As a social studies educator with more than a decade in public charter schools in the Bronx and Harlem, I say this to my students regularly—some days directly, other days through the design of our lessons:“You’re not just here to learn history. You’re here to make history as well.”Because far too often, especially for black and brown students, history is delivered through the narrow lens of suffering. A curriculum of trauma. Our narratives get boxed into chains, plantations, and pity—our worth measured only by our resistance to oppression. But this is a cropped frame.Before the boats, before the branding, before the auctions—We were doing math, designing monuments, studying the stars. We were ruling kingdoms and pondering life, spirit, justice, and God.We were. And we still are. We are game changers. History makers.Core content. Not a sidebar. Not a single month. Active. Intentional. Essential.Fellow Educators: This is our mandate. If you want students to thrive, let them. Let them see that their history doesn’t have to begin at struggle. Let them see the brilliance before, during, and beyond the atrocities of oppression. Teach with truth. Teach with mirrors and windows. Teach like legacy matters—because it does.

Porter Prep: K-12 Teaching Resources

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