"This isn't easy to teach."
November 5, 2009
Velma Maia Thomas, author and historian known for chronicling the struggles of African Americans from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement, spoke twice at Lesley University today.
Velma Maia Thomas
Thomas discussed Lest We Forget, a sort of pop-up book for older children, one that chronicles the slave experience through use of storytelling and primary documents.
Thomas’ tour of the book was punctuated with personal stories and her stunning singing of spirituals. But it was a discussion about the challenges that persist today in teaching slavery in American classrooms that brought out her best advice.
“You have to go back to what we’ve always done,” Thomas said, responding to a mother concerned her children were receiving a skewed view of history in school. “Teach ourselves. We always have to supplement our education and that’s what we do.”
“This is for your school system,” Thomas said, presenting the mother with a copy of the book. “Bring some other kids. Bring some neighborhood kids in.”
Thomas, a native of Detroit now living in Atlanta, began work on Lest We Forget after working in a church book store and collecting out of print books by African American writers. Eventually, she began receiving primary source documents related to slavery. She talked about seeing one business document regarding the sale of slaves.
“People had a price by their name,” Thomas said. “It really just changed my life. It becomes more than numbers and nameless people. You begin to see what happened to my people.”
As she collected documents, Thomas began to envision a place where people could view them and think about slavery. The African Holocaust Museum in Atlanta and Lest We Forget were born.
Thomas was familiar with the concerns of the audience about the challenges of teaching accurate history about a shameful period of American history.
“It’s not always about uplifting, because this is a depressing story,” she said. “This isn’t easy to teach. The Holocaust isn’t easy to teach, but it must be taught. But you must always end on hope and that people prevail.”