Recently, Gov. McKee signed into law a bill that requires Rhode Island’s public schools to teach Black Heritage and history curriculum that was developed over seven years by the Black Heritage Society, Rhode Island College, and the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Keith Stokes, vice president of the Black Heritage Society, and a key figure in developing the curriculum, joined WhatsUpNewp for a live virtual video conversation to discuss the curriculum and its importance for all Rhode Island students.
“It took 400 years to get here,” Stokes said upon McKee’s signing the legislation into law.
The curriculum will explore the early years of enslavement, the roles that Black Rhode Islanders played in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, Reconstruction, the great migration north and onward.
