I was pleasantly surprised a few months ago when PBS asked if I would speak about the growth of homeschooling among black families. After a few phone interviews, the film crew came down to spend time with my family and a couple of dynamic women that I’m blessed to call friends.
The camera followed us on a field trip tour of The Wren’s Nest – the historic home of Joel Chandler Harris, creator of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit. And to celebrate the heritage of African-American folklore through storytelling, we scheduled storyteller Akbar Imhotep to share some of Harris’ tales with our group. It was certainly the highlight of our day!
After the tour and storytelling, we headed down the street to enjoy lunch at Soul Vegetarian Restaurant – a black-owned business and the largest chain of vegan restaurants in the world. It’s a staple in Atlanta’s West End and another opportunity to expose the children to a unique dining experience. Our group descended upon the restaurant and was fortunate enough to meet the owner which is always a cherry on top when we’re out and about in the community. I had an amazing BBQ cauliflower entree that I’ve been unsuccessfully attempting to recreate at home since that day. My children had macaroni and cheese and salad, and we shared a piece of yummy cake – all dairy & meat free, of course!
It was a great day to have guests join in our homechooling adventures. Please take a look at the video, and check out the other women interviewed – Judy Sarden and Sheva Quinn.
This is just one news story covering the growing trend of black families taking their children’s education into their own hands. This recent article is another take on the same topic: The Radical Self-Reliance on Black Homeschooling. Feel free to leave others you find in the comments!
This…was…awesome Amber!!
Want to know another connection between us? Dr. Sheva Quinn just published “African American Families: Why We Homeschool” and 2 of my homeschooling friends co-authored with her: Tamara Somerville and Tenika Bailey!!
https://www.amazon.com/African-American-Families-Why-Homeschool-ebook/dp/B0855BX73R/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=why+we+homeschool&qid=1585515035&sr=8-1
I don’t know how I missed this! I can’t believe we have that connection. What a small, small world. She’s a dynamic woman, and I wish I could hang out with her family more often.
So excited I came across your video. I’m a professor of education in California at a state university and one of the topics we discuss in my Intro to Elementary Education course is about different schooling options (i.e. charter schools, home school, School with STEM focus, etc.)
I appreciate that this video is a lovely example of how families choose what they feel is best for their children, especially when they know about options and have the flexibility/ financial ability to do so. Excellent that it shows what happens in a day in the life of a well run home school experience and discusses the reasons why people might choose home schooling. Love your cite, just stumbled across it today while I was researching more children’s books with black characters.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the video! It was exciting for me to be a part of it because I’m passionate about families knowing that they do have choices. I also liked that they highlighted different types of families because it shows that we didn’t all choose homeschooling for the same reasons, and we don’t all do it the same way. I hope you’ll visit me here again!