Education would not be what it is today without the Black educators and activists who have fought to put all Kids First in our country — from Inez Beverly Prosser to Booker T. Washington to Ruth B. Love. Black History Month itself started with two people who knew the importance of education as a means for equal opportunity: historian Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse E. Moorland. The two founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in 1915 to prioritize the research of achievements by Black Americans and others of African descent.

During Black History Month, we look forward to celebrating some of the Black leaders throughout history who have used innovative thinking to create game-changing solutions that put #KidsFirst.

“I feel sometimes like a person to whom in childhood was entrusted some sacred flame…This is the desire to see my race lifted out of the mire of ignorance, weakness, and degradation; no longer to sit in obscure corners and devour the scraps of knowledge which his superiors flung at him. I want to see him crowned with strength and dignity; adorned with the enduring grace of intellectual attainments.” — Fanny Jackson Choppin.

Before the Civil War, no African American women had ever had the opportunity to get an education. Fanny Jackson Choppin was part of the earliest wave of African American women to receive an education and become an educator and advocate for students.

Born into slavery, Choppin didn't start school until much later in life, but she had a passion for education from childhood. She first attended Rhode Island State Normal School and then proceeded to Oberlin College, where she thrived in school. Her drive to become an educator came naturally. At Oberlin, she was the first African American to become a student-teacher, and she took the initiative to start a program to teach freedmen in the evening. Within four years of graduating college, she became the head principal at Philadelphia's Institute for Colored Youth, where she also taught Greek, Latin, and Mathematics.

During her time at the Institute, she established an Industrial Department within the school. She had a deep passion for African American Women's education, so she pioneered a Women’s Industrial Exchange at the school to showcase the works of young women. She advocated for her students fiercely, frequently convincing employers to hire them in professions where they were most skilled.

Choppin stayed committed to her position for 37 years and was eventually promoted by the Philadelphia Board of Education to become the first African-American superintendent of a school district. Above all, Choppin was an innovator and a disruptor. She put #KidsFirst in all she did because she knew that good education was vital to freedom and equality in our country. #BHMspotlight

"All children can learn. For thirty years, we have done what other schools declare impossible. I don't make excuses — I take responsibility. If children fail, it's about me, not them. I tell my students, if you think excellence is difficult, you don't want to try failure."

Marva Collins grew up in Atmore, Alabama, a small town with a broken, segregated school system. After completing her education at Clark College in Atlanta, she returned to Alabama to begin her teaching career. After two years, she moved to Chicago, where she worked in the public school system as a substitute teacher for 14 years.

Over time, Collins grew tired of the low standards within the Chicago Public School System, especially for those with learning disabilities. In 1975, she started school on the second floor of her home for her own children and the children in her neighborhood. She called it Westside Preparatory School. Collins refused federal funding to avoid red tape and instead charged $80 per month in tuition. Her rigorous curriculum taught phonics, the Socratic method, and classic literature.

Many of her students had learning difficulties, but Collins saw this as an opportunity to create something that put all #kidsfirst. Through high academic standards, an emphasis on discipline, and a nurturing environment, her students scored five grade levels higher on their standardized tests within the first year of attendance. These statistics began to draw the attention of educators nationally.

The school that started with only four students (including her daughter) began to grow rapidly into a k-8th grade institution and continued to thrive for over 30 years. During that time, Collins was considered by President Reagan for the role of Secretary of Education. She declined the position before it was offered to stay in Chicago and continue investing in the students of her community.

She eventually handed off the operation of Westside Prep to her daughter and, in 1996, returned to Chicago Public Schools, and in 1982 she was honored as one of the Legendary Women of the World, and in 2004 she received the National Humanities Medal. #BHMspotlight

Booker T. Washington was born into slavery in 1856. At the end of the Civil War, Washington's family was emancipated and relocated from Virginia to Malden, West Virginia. Severe poverty meant that at age nine, he began working in a salt furnace for five hours in the morning before attending school. He later began working in a coal mine where he first heard of Hampton Institute, a school for formerly enslaved people in Virginia. This formed his determination to get an education.

In 1872, he enrolled at Hampton, walked 500 miles to begin his studies there, and worked as a janitor to pay his way through. His years at Hampton were highly formative, and he excelled in school. Though he returned to West Virginia after graduating to teach, he eventually continued his education in seminary, then [joined the staff at Hampton as a teacher in 1879.

In 1880, a bill was passed by the Alabama State Legislature that provided funds to establish a school for Blacks in Macon County. This led to the establishment of the Tuskegee Normal School (now Tuskegee University). The school asked Washington's close companion, Samuel Armstong, to recommend a white teacher to become the principal. Instead, he pointed them to Washington.

Washington was hired, but when he arrived at Tuskegee, he found that the money from the state was hardly enough to acquire the land or buildings needed to start the school. Washington was fearless in the face of this; he began recruiting students and seeking community support. They opened in July 1881 in a small building loaned by a local A.M.E church, and he worked with students to build their classroom buildings and dormitories. Within eight years, Tuskegee had over 400 students studying and learning trades and skills that would allow them to pursue their desired careers.

Washington began his work at Tuskegee at age 25 and invested his life into the Institute until he died in 1915. He believed in his students and was committed to the impact of education on Black youth.

Currently, Tuskegee University stands as the #3 HBCU in the nation. #BHMspotlight