Many tend to believe that the Civil Rights Movement occurred light years ago. In reality, this important event in America’s history happened not too long ago, and even today Black people continue to fight for their voices to be heard.

Beginning in the late 1940s and lasting until the late 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was an organized effort by Black Americans to end racial discrimination and gain equal rights under law.

Government teacher Sean Murphy believes that it is highly important to teach students the importance of this event in social studies classes.

“Like all events in history, I think it’s important for kids to understand what has shaped the current government in the United States.” Murphy said. “Sometimes we don’t want to focus on the things that were tough or hard that made our country and sometimes those are the most important things that we should focus on.”

With the beginning of Black History Month starting on the first of February, Murphy also stresses how important teaching students the history of Black Americans really is.

“I think every issue is important, I think every topic should be discussed and I think that we shouldn’t be afraid to hide from tough topics and issues.” Murphy said.

When students are given the opportunity to learn about the movement, they learn how to recognize injustice. According to Learning for Justice, students can learn about the transformative role played by thousands of ordinary individuals, as well as the importance of organization for collective change.

Students need to learn about the social injustices of history. Celebrating Black History this month and educating yourself as well as others is a huge step.

Teaching about MLK’s ‘dream’ is incredibly important for everyone, and as long as race is a barrier for opportunity, and as long as poverty is an ordinary occurrence for people of color, King’s dream has not been achieved.

There are plenty of helpful resources students can use to educate themselves over Black history. Websites such as Learning for Justice and Library of Congress are full of information and media to help visitors understand why it is important that Black History month is celebrated.