Educators in Chicago are considering what it means to celebrate Black History Month as the Trump administration cracks down on diversity, equality and inclusion.

Last month, the White House released an executive order revoking the Department of Education’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives formed under former President Barack Obama and implementing a new order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” 

The order contends that DEI in “our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy.”

Symone Johnson, an assistant professor of African and Black diaspora studies at DePaul, emphasized the importance of teaching and celebrating Black history, especially in the current political climate.

“We’re in a time where … critical race theory, DEI, any kind of critical perspective on our history is under attack,” Johnson said. “So I think it’s important to continue to invest not only in Black studies, but just critical studies more broadly.”

In Chicago, schools such as James Farmer, Jr. Elementary in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood are opting to celebrate Black history every month of the school year.

“I always try to integrate Black history within the curriculum,” Marley Olivera, an eighth grade English teacher and instructional coach at the school, said. “I try not to just relegate it to Black History Month. I think that’s just too boxed in when I want to stress that Black history is American history.”

Even so, she facilitates and participates in celebratory activities during February in a “multitude of ways.” Activities have included schoolwide presentations on Black history and students dressing as historical figures for a schoolwide “wax museum.”

DePaul, too, has celebrated Black History Month with various events. On Feb. 19, the Black Student Union commemorated Black history and its anniversary with its annual gala, one of the organization’s signature events.

“I know at the gala people go all out … people stayed asking, ‘Oh, what’s the theme?’ Or ‘What should I wear?’” Safia Poindexter, the union’s president, said. “Like, it’s a really big deal.”

She added that these events allow the DePaul community to see Black history from a celebratory perspective.

“It’s important to not forget Black history, especially at DePaul because I feel like DePaul …  tends to teach Black history solely through an oppression point of view,” Poindexter said. 

At the K-12 education level, lawmakers updated an Illinois law in 2021 to require Black history to include topics such as the history before enslavement, why Black people were enslaved and the American civil rights movement. What is taught can still differ at various schools, said Olivera, the Chicago teacher.

“I think we need to invest into experts in those fields of the social sciences to actually educate students in the subject matter,” Olivera said. “You should not have someone who just took a few college courses … but you need to have someone with that passion to teach and to be able to get kids engaged within that context matter.”

Even as national policies shift, many educators also continue to push for a more comprehensive curriculum, ensuring that students receive a larger understanding of Black history beyond a single month of recognition.

“Black History Month is important because we still have a lot of work to do in terms of developing a real, comprehensive program for repair and reconciliation for historical harms that have been done,” Johnson, the DePaul professor, said. “I feel like until we do that, it’s going to be a struggle to really set ourselves up properly for the future.”

While Black History Month continues to be celebrated across Chicago public schools, Johnson said she hopes more people will get involved, especially as the DEI battle continues at the federal level.

“It’s not just a Black issue. It’s an issue for us all to face and reckon with,” Johnson said. “Within the diaspora, within academics in Black studies, there is this fight to maintain our sense of relevance and value.”

Olivera echoed this sentiment.

“I want (students) to see themselves in everything that is in front of them, not just to think about but see all people,” she said. “Whether it’s indigenous people, Hispanic people, you have to be able to see everyone as a part of this American system.”

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