28 days. The month of February is 28 days this year. 28 days to celebrate Black History. I couldn’t agree more with the author, Charles Smith junior, there has always been a love hate relationship with Black History Month. He says it so eloquently. “I love that black culture is shared and studied for a whole month but as a student of color I hated the idea of ignoring it the other eleven months.” His book, 28 Days: moments in black history that changed the world, is fantastic.

It has never made sense to me why we had to choose one month of the year to celebrate a population and a culture that was so integral to our nation. I have created packets in the past to celebrate Black History Month. I created Special People in Black History 4 Square Writing Prompt Templates and a Special People in Black History Labeling set. I have written blog posts about the AMAZING Harriet Tubman and the TALENTED Bessie Coleman and about using the 4 square templates to help our earliest writer write biographies.

But today I discovered Charles Smith, Jr’s book, 28 days: Moments in the Black History that Changed the World. Oh My Goodness! What a book! What a celebration.

I can’t believe this was published in 2015 and I only found it today.

Charles Smith, Jr, the author and Shane Evans, the illustrator, created a magnificent book. Both author and illustrator are winners of the Coretta Scott King Award, an award developed to honor African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults.

The people highlighted in the book start with Crispus Attucks in 1770 and ends with Barack Obama, our 44^th President.  

28 Days: The People

Starting with Crispus Attucks, “a slave, a sailor, and a patriot, he was shot by the British beginning the Boston massacre and, ultimately, the Revolutionary War.”

Charles Smith covers civil rights heroes like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X, sports heroes like Arthur Ashe, Jackie Robinson and Wilma Rudolph, political heroes like Thurgood Marshall, Barack Obama and Shirley Chisholm, medical heroes like Daniel Hale Williams.

People from scientific backgrounds and groundbreaking headlines. Charles Smith includes names known and “should-be” known in this page turner.

28 Days: The text

We start at the beginning of our country and we work our way through including people, dates, and important moments in our American history, as well as our judicial history.

From the ominous Dred Scott Decision of 1857 and Plessy v Ferguson Decision (1896) to the 14^th Amendment in 1868  to the Brown v Board of Education in 1954.  

The text is written with multi-genres in mind. From the poetry of Marian Anderson to the eulogy of Madam C J Walker.

From the acrostic poem of Matthew Henson to the number tallies of Oprah’s accomplishments. Each page also comes with an italics explanation of the special person and the contribution to our nation.

28 Days: The school-wide event

Let’s take this book and read it to our students for 28 days. Let’s read a page a day to celebrate the month.

What about Saturdays and Sundays? Could we ask staff members or community members to record these days and send a link with our students during the weekend?

Could we read two days on Friday and two days on Monday?

Could we ask classes to concentrate on one person from the book and provide an display in the hallway or library or main hall?

There are so many ideas running through my head.

28 Days: Make it count!

As a author, Charles Smith thought of Leap Year…and I’m here for it. He knew limiting a book, a history, and collaboration to 28 days was hard enough, but every 4^th year Leap Day added an extra umph just for us. Day 29 is the day of empowerment. I would even suggest every year at the end of the month, we pose Charles’ questions to our students.

“What will today bring, what will today be, will today be the day you make history?

Will your thought evolve science, will your skill earn gold, will your life story be one worth being told?

Will your questions change laws, will your words inspire others, will your name be passed on by fathers and mothers?

Will the fire in your spirit spark a revolution, will your actions advance humanity’s evolution?

Will others follow you into battle to defend liberty, will to day be the day you add to history?

Today is the day, today is to be.”

28 Days: in his own words

This youtube video was a recording of a YouTube live. Charles Smith talks about his book, why he wrote it, how he wrote it, and taking questions.

MOre Posts about Black History Month

This book is a wonderful addition to your classroom library. Whether it’s used as a read aloud for one class or a whole school, 28 Days is sure be a treasure for years to come.

I do get a small affiliate fee for the link to the book. This comes at no cost to you.