MIAMI — At New Generation Missionary Baptist Church in Opa-locka, a new class has gained popularity with younger congregants — and it’s not your typical Bible study or Sunday school.

Since last year, the church has been teaching classes about African American history using a program created by leaders from Faith in Florida, a coalition of more than 800 congregations across 41 counties in Florida. The group of religious leaders developed the Black studies toolkit last year to counter the Florida Legislature’s controversial revision of state academic standards, which put a particular focus on reshaping Black history education.

“Now, our Black history classes are larger than our Sunday school classes and Bible classes because it has struck an interest,” said Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida. “Children can understand that Martin Luther King is not just about a parade.”

Since its launch in May of 2023, hundreds of historically Black churches in Florida and across the country have joined the movement, using the toolkit to help fill the void they feel has been left by lawmakers attempting to water down the history of Black people in America.

The Black church, a term that refers to a congregation that falls under one of the seven major black Protestant denominations, has a deep rooted history of supporting Black history education and civil rights advocacy.

“We realized, and I realized as a Black woman, that our history has always been a part of our teaching and our culture in the Black church,” said Thomas. “The history itself still sits in our pews.”

The toolkit was designed to give faith leaders different approaches to teaching Black history — whether through a biblical lens, policy, government or through music and art — but can really be used by anyone, with resources available for every age level.

It’s broken up into a variety of subject areas, including “From Africa to America” which covers the Transatlantic Slave Trade; “Racial Terrorism & Civil Unrest,” which covers lynching and the Jim Crow South; and the “Criminal Injustice System,” which covers policing in America and mass incarceration.

“We created this toolkit giving faith leaders the option and opportunity to choose from any form of teaching ... we understand that Black history can be taught in many ways,” Thomas said. “It will not be diluted, nor will it be watered down.”

The toolkit has been embraced beyond Black churches and outside Florida. Today, faith leaders from more than 400 congregations in 29 states have committed to teaching Black history in their congregations. It has also been used by faith leaders in predominantly white churches, in Mosques and other non-Christian denominations as well, according to a spokesperson from Faith in Florida.

...continued

©2024 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.