History in Color

The Fellow team of Rayna Walters, Garrett Griffin and Kurt Zimmerman (New Haven, CT) used a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant to deepen their scholarship and student conversations about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. But as they shared in this NPR interview, the slave trade is only a facet of Black history, not its genesis. And Walters and Griffin created a non-profit and downloadable curriculum to share that truth beyond their classrooms.

Anti Racism in Action (ARIA) was created in response to racial injustices and has grown into a community-wide effort dedicated to education, healing, and equity. According to the organization’s web site, “From our History In Color curriculum to community celebrations like Juneteenth and Kwanzaa, ARIA creates programs that uplift diverse histories, empower students, and bring people together. Our story is one of action, partnership, and the belief that lasting change begins with education and community.”

In celebration of Black History Month, ARIA partnered with the City of New Haven Department of Elderly Services and the Dixwell Community Q House to host a Family Game Night, with Black History trivia and games, food and intergenerational fellowship. Additional projects have included an exhibit titled “From Erasure to Empowerment” that highlights the role of education as a tool for empowerment, uplifting stories often left out of traditional classrooms and textbooks; a collaborative effort to document/preserve the Black experience in New Haven; and a walking tour which highlights the people and places intrinsic to the town’s black heritage.

ARIA’s History in Color curriculum, however, is available to anyone interested in teaching black history embedded in a social emotional component to grades preK-12, as is a suggested reading list curated by the non-profit.

“Our Fund for Teachers fellowship provided me with yet another lens from which to view the world. It has changed me,” said Walters. Taking a trip along the domestic slave trade from Alexandria, VA to New Orleans, LA was monumental and has helped push me to write grants for my current school. We need afterschool programs. We need a lot. I figured by starting here I can do some good and get our children more resources. Pray for us.”