Now Hiring Teachers For Our VPK & Toddler Programs! If you’re interested in playing a crucial role in shaping a child’s future APPLY HERE!
Black History Month is when we pay tribute to the generations of African American men and women whose struggles and accomplishments during times of racial injustice contributed to the history of America.
Black history is American history, and current generations need to know what happened in the past to shape our future. As part of Black History Month at Kids’ R Kids Avalon Park, students will learn about influential people like Rosa Parks and Garrett Morgan.
Who Was Rosa Parks?
Rosa Parks and her refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama. to be the catalyst that sparked the Civil Rights Movement.
Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, and moved to Montgomery, Alabama, at age 11 to attend high school. Rosa married Raymond Parks in 1932 and started working as a seamstress, and in December 1943, she joined the Montgomery NAACP.
Jim Crow segregation laws proved frustrating for Black Americans, forcing them into second-class citizenship. These laws dictated virtually every aspect of life, including which schools they could attend, where they could live, whether they could vote, what drinking fountain they could use, and where they could sit on public transportation systems. Jim Crow laws often divided public spaces into ‘colored’ and whites-only sections. Disobeying these laws often led to arrests and jail time for many Black Americans.
According to Jim Crow segregation laws, Black people were required to give up their seats to whites on public transportation when asked, and if they refused, they faced arrest, fines, and possibly jail time. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks finally had enough and denied the bus driver’s request to give up her seat for a white man. This incident sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Parks’ story gained the attention of the national and international press. This incident sparked the NAACP to challenge segregation laws in court.
The Supreme Court ruled bus segregation was unconstitutional in 1956. Rosa Parks became known as the “mother of the civil rights movement” and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.
Rosa Parks died at the age of 92 on October 24, 2005, and became the first woman in the history of the U.S. to lie in honor at the Capitol building.
Who Was Garrett Morgan?
Garrett Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky, on March 2, 1877. Despite having only elementary school education, he received patents for several inventions, including the three-way traffic signal and a breathing device, which became the precursor to the modern gas mask.
Morgan moved to Cincinnati while in his mid-teens, worked as a handyman, and eventually found work in sewing machine factories. Working with and repairing sewing machines sparked his curiosity about how they worked. This curiosity led him to obtain a sewing machine patent and open his own repair business.
The success of his business and the financial windfall from his patented sewing machine gave him the financial freedom to pursue other inventions. One such invention was a breathing hood he patented to protect the wearer from smoke inhalation, gasses, and other pollutants. This device, aimed at firefighters and the military, became the prototype for what we know as the gas mask.
However, while the device was proven successful, Morgan had difficulty marketing it being an African American and resorted to hiring a white actor to pretend to be the inventor. Despite the frustrations with his breathing hood, Morgan continued inventing, and in 1923, designed the first three-way traffic signal after witnessing a carriage accident at a busy city intersection.
Shortly before he died in 1963, the U.S. government recognized Morgan for his traffic signal and contribution to improving and saving numerous lives.
Participating in Black History Month is a great way to engage in the history of America and honor the achievements of Black Americans accomplished to create change while fighting oppression. We hope your children will find these stories about the courage of these and the many other Black Americans displayed despite discrimination inspiring and educational. Are you looking for a childcare provider in the Orlando, Florida, area for your toddler or preschooler? Contact us at 407-306-9035 or online to schedule a tour!