As school districts across the country weigh whose perspectives should be taught in schools, Pittsburgh Public Schools’ top leader says it's committed to embracing multiple identities and teaching their histories.
For the last 29 years, superintendent Wayne Walters has modeled that commitment through the district’s African American History Bowl Challenge. When Walters was a teacher and member of the local chapter of the mentorship group 100 Black Men, he advocated for the district to stage a local version of the national competition, which 100 Black Men had developed. The group wanted to ensure that African-American history was taught in schools.
“The belief that I have is that [African-American history] is everyone’s history," Walters said. "Representation matters, identity matters, the way that you see yourself in your learning matters."
It began as a Monopoly-style game and evolved over the years to a quiz-show-style contest. Middle schoolers are given a lengthy study guide and compete in four-person teams. High school students are given Henry Lewis Gates Jr.’s "100 Amazing Facts About the Negro," a nearly 500-page book of questions and essay-long answers. They play in teams of two. The book is based on a much shorter book published in 1934 by the Pittsburgh Courier's then-columnist Joel Augustus Rogers, who wrote regularly about African-American history.
Each school pairs students with a teacher who coaches them in preparation for the local competition, which is held during Black History Month. The winners of the high school competition receive a free trip to the national bowl for a chance to win college scholarships.
Al Valentine, the president of the local chapter of 100 Black Men, said the group continues to support the competition to show youth, Black youth in particular, that there’s a precedent for success.
“They are taught that they can’t, [but] there’s historical facts that say they can,” he said. “They can be leaders, they can be innovators, they can be engineers, they can be doctors and lawyers. As an organization it’s vitally important to put positive Black role models in front of them.”
This year, Yara Almoussa and Aaliyah Campbell won the high school competition and will compete this summer against high schools across the country during the 100 Black Men convention.
For the past five years the juniors have swapped which half of Gates' book to review, and they've quizzed each other with flashcards. They’ve represented the Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy since they were in seventh grade.
“It’s nice to really have a way to learn about a part of history that’s really fundamental to the way we live our lives and the way we learn about all American history," Almoussa said. "It was really informative, and we learned a lot from studying for the competition."
Campbell spent more time this year appreciating the work of author Zora Neale Hurston, whose 1937 novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" explores sexuality from the perspective of a Black woman in her forties.
“Just re-reading about how she kind of started the conversation around African American sexuality, I thought it was really, really cool and interesting,” Campbell said.
Beyond the competition, the bowl gives students time and space to appreciate and celebrate Black ancestry and culture. And although half of the district's students are Black, several contest participants were non-Black.
Obama Academy Social Studies teacher Jacqueline Clarke coached a team this year and read the questions in the final round. She says the competition gives students an opportunity to understand what Black individuals have contributed to American History.
“it’s so valuable for everybody — no matter Black, white, race, ethnicity, gender — to understand the level of excellence and the achievements and the accomplishments that the Black community has contributed to America,” she said.
Walters said the district’s commitment to talking about race and identity is especially important as states are limiting what is taught in classrooms about American history.
“I think if you’re excluding any part of the picture of what actually happened historically and not addressing multiple perspectives of ideas and events and places and people, then you’re somewhat being discriminatory in what you’re doing and the approach that you’re given to students,” he said.
Campbell and Almoussa head to the national competition in Las Vegas in June. Meanwhile, Walters says he’s already preparing for next year, the 30th year of the competition.
