Chicago student-led protests were vital to establishment of Black History Month, Illinois requirement to teach Black history

There are politicians across the country who are trying to censor or ban Black history from being taught, calling it divisive or anti-American. But Black history doesn't divide us; it inspires unity, resistance to injustice, and pushes us toward equity.

Illinois is one of the few states that mandates Black history be taught in public schools, but that wasn't a given. It was fought for.

In September 1968, just months after Dr. Martin Luthe King, Jr., was assassinated, students at Carter Harrison High School started organizing "Black Mondays." These weekly walkout protests were held to demand Black history classes, more Black teachers and college prep courses.

Despite police violence and protests, Latinx students joined the protests, and organizers helped spark a citywide strike of nearly 35,000 students.

That same fall, educators at Farragut High School issued a Black manifesto demanding Black history and Black leadership. Walkouts and teach-ins followed across Inglewood, North Lawndale and Woodlawn. Even suburban schools like Joliet Central saw students walk out for weeks that same year, and they won.

Eight years later, in 1976, President Gerald Ford became the first sitting U.S. president to recognize Black History Month in February. Pres. Ford issued a message urging Americans to honor Black Americans' vital contributions.

That wouldn't have happened without the Chicago students' activism.