Deconstructing dread: Teaching through Black histories

Abstract

Some Black histories are absolutely dreadful. When we consider enslavement, racial violence, the terrors in the lynching of Emmett Till, the destruction of Tulsa during the Race Massacre, and the intergenerational traumas these events left behind, the residues of dread are made visible. Black histories are in a contentious social-political moment that often eradicates them from instructional programming or discounts their inclusion to simple stories that privilege educators’ comfort over students’ critical engagement (Jones, 2022). Years of miseducation (Woodson, 1933) document horrors done in the name of Black histories that require a revival through curricular pedagogical resuscitation or CPR (Johnson & Nicol, 2020), using strategies to move beyond the dread. This paper examines the experiences of educators deconstructing and moving beyond the “dread” through engagement with (1) spirit, (2) contextualized histories, and (3) otherworldly and beyond human means to show possibilities of moving through dread to center Black humanity. The discussion illuminates examples of teaching beyond the “dread” while outlining suggestions for anyone teaching Black histories.

Keywords:

• Dread
• Black history
• curricular pedagogical resuscitation
• teacher development

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brianne Pitts

Brianne Pitts is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at Western Michigan University. Her research complicates white teachers’ relationships with Black history through critical literacies and K-12 social studies instruction.

Dawnavyn James

Dawnavyn James is a doctoral student, an early childhood, elementary, and Black history educator, emerging scholar, and Black history researcher. She is a fellow at the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education. Dawnavyn is the author of Beyond February: Teaching Black History Any Day, Every Day, and All Year Long (2023).

Gregory Simmons

Gregory Simmons, NBCT, is a doctoral candidate (ABD) at the University at Buffalo. His research interests include the teaching and learning of Black history, social studies education and pedagogy, race critical theories, and whiteness in teacher education.