Heritage Harmony: Reimagining Black History Education for Liberation and Psychological Safety
Every year, Black History Month rolls around in schools, and I brace myself for what’s coming. I’ve seen how it’s often approached with good intentions but ends up reinforcing the very inequities it’s supposed to challenge. As a mother, a mindfulness educator, a school council member, and now a mature student returning to university for Psychology, I’ve watched firsthand as these initiatives fall short, failing to create truly inclusive and psychologically safe spaces for Black students.
Education should be a space for liberation, healing, and critical thinking. But too often, the way Black history is taught feels heavy with deficit-based, trauma-centered narratives that overlook the emotional and psychological well-being of Black students. Instead of empowering them, these approaches can retraumatize, leaving them feeling unseen or reduced to stories of struggle.
Returning to school as an adult has been healing in ways I never expected. In my Psychology studies, critical analysis is not just encouraged, it’s required. It made me realize how much this was missing in my own early education, where questioning material and thinking critically weren’t welcomed but punished. I was conditioned to accept narratives rather than challenge them, and I now see how harmful that was, not just for me, but for so many others. That realization has been a driving force behind my push for systemic change. I refuse to let the education system do the same to my children and to the generations coming after them. Our communities deserve learning spaces that foster curiosity, critical consciousness, and psychological safety, not ones that silence or diminish us.
The Emotional Toll of Advocacy
BHM is largely driven by the efforts of Black parents and caregivers who recognize the gaps in our education system and try to fill them. But this work is not without cost. In my experience, advocating for BHM initiatives means encountering a range of behaviors that signal avoidance rather than true engagement:
Deflection: Responses that acknowledge concerns but subtly shift responsibility elsewhere: “We are on a journey” or “We will include something in the newsletter.”
Over-positivity as a Barrier: A heavy focus on “Black joy” without addressing the real systemic issues and needs of Black students.
Delays and Last-Minute Action: Planning often happens too late, leaving little room for meaningful collaboration or participation in community events.
Performative Inclusion: Schools bringing in guest speakers without a long-term plan to integrate Black perspectives into the curriculum.
This cycle creates exhaustion and emotional taxation for those of us pushing for change, not only because of the extra labor but because we are often met with resistance in spaces that claim to champion inclusivity.
Psychological Safety and Trauma-Informed Education
"There's no such thing as neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom." Jennifer Mullan, Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice
Dr. Jennifer Mullan, in Decolonizing Therapy, discusses how systemic structures, including education, often retraumatize marginalized communities under the guise of inclusivity. Similarly, Dr. Joy DeGruy’s work on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) highlights how historical and intergenerational trauma impacts Black individuals today.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), (the primary classification system used by mental health professionals to diagnose psychological conditions), has historically excluded racial trauma as a distinct diagnosis. The most recent update in 2022 acknowledges the psychological impact of racism but does not formally recognize racial trauma as a standalone disorder. Instead, experiences of racism may be categorized under existing conditions such as PTSD if they meet specific criteria related to exposure to life-threatening harm or violence.
A growing body of work critiques white-centered trauma models for failing to account for the collective and intergenerational aspects of racialized trauma. Canadian scholars such as Robyn Maynard (Policing Black Lives) and Afua Cooper (The Hanging of Angélique) emphasize that trauma stemming from systemic racism must be understood not as an isolated experience but as a structural issue woven into Canada’s history and present-day policies.
Oppressive Pedagogy and the Need for Decolonized Education
“One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular view of the world held by the people. Such a program constitutes cultural invasion, good intentions notwithstanding.” Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed argues that traditional education often reinforces power hierarchies, conditioning students to passively accept knowledge rather than critically engage with it. This is particularly evident in how Black history is taught, often from a lens of oppression rather than empowerment.
A decolonized approach to education means:
Centering Black voices in curriculum design and facilitation.
Teaching Black history beyond oppression, integrating Afrocentric knowledge systems, joy, and resilience.
Engaging in co-creation with students, educators, and families to ensure inclusivity.
Considering “Black Excellence” - Should this be the primary focus?
While the idea of Black Excellence is often framed as aspirational, scholars such as Dr. Cheryl Thompson, (article here,) and Janice Gassam Asare, (article here,) critique the way it reinforces perfectionism, overachievement, and hypervisibility as prerequisites for Black worthiness. This not only places immense pressure on Black students but also fails to dismantle the systemic barriers that create inequities in the first place.
Black excellence should not mean having to outperform systemic oppression to be valued, it should mean being able to exist and thrive without constantly proving one’s worth. Schools must shift from upholding unrealistic standards of success to fostering environments where Black students can simply be.
Black History Month in the Canadian Context
Despite Canada’s distinct history, BHM programming often mirrors the U.S. model, focusing predominantly on American figures and narratives while erasing Black Canadian contributions. Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard provides critical insight into Canada’s own history of anti-Black racism, which is often overlooked in mainstream curricula.
True representation means:
Integrating Black Canadian history year-round, including events such as the destruction of Africville in Nova Scotia and the contributions of Black settlers in Western Canada.
Recognizing Afrofuturism as an essential component of Black heritage education, allowing Black students to envision themselves beyond historical struggles and into self-determined futures.
A Call for Transformative Change
If schools are truly committed to equity, BHM must evolve from a tokenized observance to a structurally integrated, psychologically safe, and healing-centered approach to education. This means:
Embedding mental health-informed and trauma-responsive practices in all discussions on race and history.
Moving away from white-centered pedagogy and creating learning spaces that affirm, rather than retraumatize, Black students.
Shifting from individual acts of representation to systemic change in curriculum and policy.
Beyond a Month: Towards Sustainable Educational Transformation
Education should be a tool for liberation, not compliance. This requires moving beyond a February checklist of events and towards a learning experience where Black history, identity, and futures are integrated into everyday pedagogy. It also requires that Black students, parents, and educators be equal stakeholders in shaping how schools engage with Black heritage, both historically and in contemporary contexts.
This conversation is not new, and I am certainly not the first to challenge the gaps in Black history education, nor will I be the last. But real change requires a united front. Heritage Harmony is a collective initiative bringing together mental health practitioners, contemplative justice and restorative justice facilitators, wellness coaches, and anti-oppressive educators to reshape how Black identity, history, and futures are integrated into education.
Black history is more than a record of the past, it is a living, evolving narrative of resistance, innovation, and self-determination. It must address not only historical injustices but also neocolonialism, systemic barriers, and the possibilities of Afrofuturism. If we are to hold the Ministry of Education and School Boards across Canada accountable, we must do so together, with clarity, strategy, and an unwavering commitment to justice.
If you are an educator, advocate, or wellness practitioner invested in this work, let’s build this movement, because true education does not just recount history; it transforms the present and envisions liberated futures.