News Release

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Teaching Black history continues to be a polarizing issue in the U.S. A recent proposal to strike terms like “White supremacy” and “systematic racism” from Virginia’s elective courses on African American history, (Washington Post, 6/23/24), and the continuation of teaching the “benefits” of slavery in the Florida public school system (Politico, 5/29/24) highlights some of the conflict among politicians, parents and school boards on the subject.

Despite the turmoil, teachers continue to seek out ways to improve teaching Black history to their students, and for that, they turn to LaGarrett King and UB’s Center for Center for K–12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education. King, who is the Center’s director, created the Teaching Black History Conference. Now in its seventh year, the 2024 Teaching Black History Conference theme is “Black to the Future: Afro-futurism as Black History,” and is designed to push the boundaries of learning by reconceptualizing the past and present through writing about the future.

“A lot of times, when we think about history, we're thinking about the past. But in many ways, history shapes the future as well. If we understand the history, then we can alter our future in in many different ways, but that starts with historical knowledge,” King said.

That knowledge, King says, will be used to imagine a future without racism and anti-Blackness.

King explained that Afro-futurism is a movement that blends science fiction, history, and fantasy to explore the experiences of the African diaspora. It's a way of looking at the future through a Black lens, imagining worlds where Black people are at the forefront of technology, culture, and exploration.

“We’re going to use our knowledge of the past as commentary and reclaim it for Black people’s future. Not one of despair, but one that reimagines what it means to be Black in a society that historically was meant for us not to survive.”

Afro-futurism combines science-fiction, history, and fantasy to explore and connect the Black experience to forgotten African ancestry. King says that to reimagine a safe and free world for Black people, Afro-futurism must use history as its foundation.

“Afro-futurism evaluates the past to create a better present and prepare for a future void of those problematic histories,” King says. “It’s about using science fiction that is fact-based to teach about Blackness that diverges from societal understandings about Black people and their history.”

“For many, it is commentary on where we have been. In many ways, it is about teaching us about our history that has been forgotten or ignored.”

The Teaching Black History conference is the Center’s signature event and convenes hundreds of teachers to learn the best curricular and instructional practices surrounding Black history education.

“We host expert speakers and entertainment, but the stars of the conference are our teachers. Each conference session is led by a classroom teacher who shares their Black history strategies. The sessions are interactive, so participants will have hands-on experiences to bring to their classrooms,” King said.

This year’s teaching conference will take place from July 26 – 28. Two of the days, Friday (July 26) and Saturday (July 27), will be in-person, while Sunday (July 28) will be held virtually.

The sessions are for Pk-12 teachers, coordinators, school administrators, community educators, business owners, or anyone interested in improving Black history education.

The in-person sessions will be held at Diefendorf Hall on South Campus.

To learn more about the conference, visit this website.