“This class was amazing in educating students about the tragedies [formerly enslaved] faced but also their resilience. Before this class, I didn’t know how frequent slave revolts were. I forget the exact number, but I learned that one in 10 slave ships experienced a revolt.”
– Anonymous Student

Black History Month provides an important opportunity for inspiring, educational programming, cultural celebrations, and multi-generational gatherings that foster reflection and learning, uplift, and render affirming environments in school more visible. This important work extends beyond the initiatives of a single month, and can be found at Poly led by dedicated faculty and staff across divisions. Efforts of inclusion not only reflect the progress of school culture, but also demonstrate an educator’s commitment to academic excellence–one that is responsive to an evolving student body, learning environment, and world. 

Inside the Slavery and Resistance Course

History faculty member Joshua Perez designs courses that guide and challenge students in a deep investigation and engagement with the past. Last spring, he led the course Slavery and Resistance, which offered students the opportunity to explore the history of African enslavement in pre-Civil War America from a crucial yet often overlooked perspective—that of the people who lived and resisted through it and their descendants. Through an anti-racist lens, the course emphasized that studying this history without centering the voices and experiences of the enslaved results in significant gaps in understanding. To truly engage as historians, students must, as Perez wrote in the course syllabus, “unearth Black lives dehumanized and silenced” during that time.

“Certain kinds of trauma visited on peoples are so deep, so cruel, that unlike money, unlike vengeance, even unlike justice, or rights, or the goodwill of others, only writers can translate such trauma and turn sorrow into meaning, sharpening the moral imagination.”
— Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

Many student-led discussions, Perez said, focused on understanding the perspectives of enslaved people and specifically women throughout history and on challenging the mediums through which we learn about American and African American history. Through reading material that included Tamara Fakhoury’s Eight Dimensions of Resistance, Dr. Rebecca Hall’s Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Dr. Ife Williams’ Black Diaspora Slave Revolts Map, traditional textbooks, monographs, and contemporary artworks, the course explored historical accounts and ideologies that shape American history, emphasizing the ongoing impact of resistance within a national framework.

By studying acts of defiance often led by Black women, students were encouraged to think critically about how resistance has been interpreted historically and how it continues to shape America today, imbuing new possible understandings of present day forms of resistance. The goal, according to Perez, “is not only to understand this history but also to think critically about how resistance manifests in their lives and the world around them, and how to give visibility to the silenced narratives of resistance in our American historiography and in the present.”

Inside the Classroom: Analysis Meets Student-Led Discussions

“How well can you understand the experience of others?”
– Slavery and Resistance course description

Through comparative analysis of texts, research, and writing assignments, the Slavery and Resistance course challenged students to practice close readings and lead student-driven discussions; exploring complex questions with social-emotional awareness developed through diverse materials such as graphic novels, essays, music, and seemingly disparate texts. By engaging with these sources, students worked toward a holistic understanding inclusive of present day resistance movements, while honing their critical thinking, empathy, and analysis skills. 

From their discussions, students gained insight into understanding the silencing and uncovering of enslaved narratives and how they perceive resistance and its complexities in American history. They learned how resistance manifests through intersections of gender, economics, race, and how to apply these ideas to recognize resistance in the world around them today. While carefully planned, the course is designed to be purposefully flexible, allowing discussions and student insights to shape its trajectory which fosters an academic classroom culture that is responsive to students’ questions, reflections, and curiosities.

Applying Their Studies

The course concluded with an illuminating final unit called “Black Joy and Community,” which encouraged students to apply their newly-acquired knowledge and understanding of resistance to create new visions for liberation. Reflecting on the unit’s significance, Perez shared, “ I found the ‘Black Joy and Community’ unit to be a fitting conclusion to our course on enslavement and resistance. Students grappled with heavy topics such as dehumanization, the violence faced by Black bodies, and the erasure of Black histories. I aimed to create a space for students to learn about the concept of Black joy as a critical framework that can be both historicized and applied in their own lives, regardless of their racial identity. We read excerpts from Kleaver Cruz’s The Black Joy Project and Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies. We also drew upon Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance to unpack themes of power, rest, and joy. Along with a music playlist project, students reflected on how to move forward as individuals, considering their takeaways from the course and envisioning the freedom and liberation we need to achieve in our society. The frameworks of joy and community can resonate with all students.”

Student Reactions

One student reflected on the course’s unique approach, sharing, “I didn’t come in with much information about what the class would be like. We had a lot of creative assignments… My favorite project was the music project, where we chose two songs about resistance to slavery and Black oppression. It was both entertaining and insightful. I picked “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone and “Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder. It gave me the opportunity to analyze song lyrics and understand their deeper messages. I also loved how the class focused on music as a form of resistance—something I hadn’t considered before.”

They added, “… I learned a lot in this class. When [history] classes [typically] cover slavery, they often focus more on the institution itself rather than the experiences of enslaved people. This class was amazing in actually educating students about [not only] the tragedies they faced but also their resilience. Before this class, I didn’t know how frequent slave revolts were—I forget the exact number, but I learned that one in 10 slave ships experienced a revolt.”

Upcoming U.S. History Course with Joshua Perez

In spring 2025, Perez teaches his newest course, Black Voice and Empowerment, which examines how Black journalists, writers, and artists in the late 19th and 20th centuries used their voices as a form of resistance to challenge dominant systems of oppression. As with Slavery and Resistance, this course also encourages students to take the lead in their learning—whether driven by deep questions about the world around them, personal experiences, or a desire to explore new areas of study—while learning more on the connection between Black resistance histories, its literature and art, and the indelible impact of their collective efforts on society today. Read more in the Upper School Curriculum Guide.