Our focus for Week 2 of Black History Month was The Slave Trade. If you missed our activity blog from Week 1, you can find it here. You will not find any activity suggestions in this blog. This is just my personal opinion. Learning About The Slave TradeWe all learned about The Slave Trade at some point, it’s often the only part of Black History that’s covered in schools (minus the odd mention of Rosa Parks). Even then, it’s taught from a European perspective, the focus being that slavery wasn’t a new concept to the 15th century and it was the Europeans who banned it (eventually, in the 19th century). The Slave Trade was the systemic displacement of a large group of people from a particular community. Hardly comparable to the slavery that was common at the time: people captured in raids and battles, as punishment or to pay off debts. It is believed between 12 million to 13 million people were enslaved and transported like cargo to the Americas. This was our focus during Week 2 of Black History Month. I know I said no activity ideas, but here are a few I couldn’t resist sharing:- You could hold a mock slave auction. - You could take a group of children cotton picking and teach them slave songs.- OR, you could visit a plantation to hear only the facts you want to hear about. What’s the solution? You can still teach children about what happened. Share all the facts with them in an age-appropriate manner. You can discuss facts vs. opinions at the time compared to what we know now. Think about lessons learned and the impact of displacing a large group of people. Just don’t engage in questionable activities that could land you on the front page!