Studying Concerning the Misplaced Voices of Civil Rights Activism in Harlem Education | Columbia

Another overlooked milestone the class was investigating is the New York City school boycott in February 1964, which was the largest civil rights demonstration in the country at the time. There were almost twice as many protesters as there were in Washington in March 1963. Led by several civil rights activists, including Milton Galamison, pastor of the Siloam Presbyterian Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the boycott called for integration as well as better teaching conditions and school facilities for black and Latin American students.

“History shows that segregation was deliberately and strategically introduced to undermine and hinder efforts by racially marginalized communities to gain access to quality education. As part of the course, students look at their own school and identify the main ways segregation is still an issue today.

“I’m getting to know so many perspectives on the civil rights movement in New York City,” says Giada R. (DDC’23). “It gives me a better understanding of the problems then and now.”

Even after a year and a half of virtual learning, according to Mahir, the students are super motivated and committed to the online curriculum: “The students share their knowledge and they teach me just as much as I teach them.”