At that point, Faith in Florida members decided it was time to take matters into their own hands. In May of 2023, they launched a Black history toolkit — complete with reading materials, videos and resource lists — to encourage churches to teach Black history on their own terms.

“We felt like we were given a bag of lemons, and we took those lemons and turn it into lemonade,” Thomas said.

Each section of the toolkit includes myriad resources, including books by Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Michelle Obama and Kimberle Crenshaw, documentaries such as 13th by Ava Duvernay, and “Trayvon Martin: 10 Years Later”, and a variety of nonfiction articles. Some of the book titles, including “I Am Not Your Negro” by James Baldwin, have been banned by some Florida school boards.

Over the past few years, the Florida Legislature has focused on education bills that sponsoring lawmakers say are designed to protect students from being “indoctrinated” or made to feel guilty about America’s past. HB 7, for example, would prohibit K-12 and higher education institutions from teaching certain concepts, including the idea that someone might be oppressed due solely to their race or sex, or anything that makes anyone feel guilt due to the past actions of someone with a shared identity.

Faith in Florida believes that much of this conversation misrepresents what Black history aims to do.

“This is the history of this country. This is a history of Florida,” said Thomas. “Those same children can be taught in a way to say, I want to be a part of changing history.”

She said Faith in Florida works to unify people of different backgrounds not divide.

“Even when we talk about the worst part of how Black people were treated, during slavery, it has not been taught in a way where one was offended, but it has brought awareness,” she said. “This existed, and we never want to see this existence happen again.”

At a service Tuesday evening at New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, one of the partners of Faith in Florida, Rev. Alfonso Jackson Jr. spoke about the role church can play in teaching children about Black history.

“I believe that it’s up to us to share even more of our heritage beyond February,” Jackson Jr. said. “But regularly, we ought to share with our children of what God has done for us ... and let the church talk about where we come from.”

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