By Kiara Dunlap
For The Birmingham Times
If you wandered into Birmingham’s N.E. Miles Jewish Day School in late February, you might have “met” tennis star Serena Williams, Civil Rights activist Ruby Bridges, NASA space pioneer Katherine Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, among other famous Black figures.
The school, which has Jewish and non-Jewish students, including students of color, celebrated Black History Month by creating a simulated wax museum honoring African American trailblazers.
Ringing the school’s large central area, the students, dressed like the figures they were portraying, stood silently, not moving until you pressed a make-believe button. Then, staying in character, they told about their lives and achievements, and when they were finished, they again stood silently. It succeeded in giving the effect of a wax museum.
Seeing how knowledgeable and excited the students were about the figures they were portraying was a joy. They had spent time studying the lives of these Black leaders and you could tell how motivated they were to tell their stories.
Visitors felt as if they were in a time machine – one that took you back into decades of Black excellence and achievement. “Meeting” these leaders from the past and learning about their accomplishments not only made Black History Month more relevant, but also made American history come alive.
These pioneers clearly impacted Black history. But they also changed American history. The students’ wax museum helped visitors appreciate this.
A goal of the project was to help the Jewish students and their families learn more about Black history. But another goal, given that the school is racially and religiously mixed, was to further bond the families through common learning experiences. This was evident as African American, Jewish and other families mingled together enjoying the exhibit.
Watching it all with pride was school staff member Emily Friedman who is a mom of one of the students and the school’s librarian. She felt it was important to create ways for the students to hear Black voices.
“In the library, we made a special effort during Black History Month to highlight Black authors and their stories,” Friedman said. “Most of these students, even our older ones, don’t fully understand Black history – and the fact that it is so much more than African Americans overcoming struggles.”
Turning to the bookshelves she pointed and said,” “Reading is a path to empathy. Other people can better understand the impact of Blacks on American history by learning their stories. And, as a Jewish school, I believe it is important that we teach about other minorities – and stress the importance of minorities not succumbing to misfortune and challenges but remaining strong and ultimately triumphant.”
(Kiara Dunlap, a senior at Miles College, is interning jointly with the Birmingham Times and Southern Jewish Life magazine. She focuses on stories of interest in the Black and Jewish communities.)
