TULSA, Okla. — One organization in Tulsa is working to make it easier to learn about black culture.
It's a program called Black History Saturdays, and it teaches people about Oklahoma’s rich black culture.
It happens one Saturday each month at the EduRec Youth and Family Fun Center. There are classes on black history for people of all ages.
Organizers of the program told 2 News it was created in response to House Bill 1775, which restricts what educators can teach on subjects like race or gender. They wanted to make sure that black history does not get erased from the books and to make sure the community is still able to learn.
“The way that black history was taught in our schools — we only get it really in February and it's a very watered-down version and so we're doing this all year round,” the program’s founder, Kristi Williams, told 2 News. “February is just a starting point for us.”
“The folks have done an amazing job making sure young people can not only engage in history but also give it context for what it means today,” Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols told us.
This is the third year of Black History Saturdays.
It was completely funded by the community for the first two years. But this year, they got a $100,000 grant from the National Geographic Society.
Williams said she hopes to expand the program, thanks to that grant money.
Areyell Scott, who teaches young children for the program, was excited by the news.
"That means that we can have more resources, more tools to help provide them with what they need," she told 2 News.
"I know that when I first started at the program, it was like, 'I gotta get the books! I gotta buy the books!'" Scott added. "But being able to have somebody to support and get the books that they [the children] need to see the great representation of who we were back then makes me feel good."
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