10.11.19
Several years ago, the Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, gave a TED talk on “The Danger of a Single Story.” She warned of the danger of telling only one narrative about a people or a country, describing how a single narrative allows misunderstanding and stereotypes to take root.
Today, we begin a three-day weekend for our Fall Break, which includes Columbus Day. I think of my own elementary education and the single story I learned about Columbus. I memorized the poem, “In 1492,” and was taught to admire Columbus’s sense of adventure and bravery to voyage to unknown lands.
The native people Columbus encountered were always in the background of the pictures in my history books and the story my teachers told. It was not until I was a young adult that I learned about the rich lives indigenous people lived long before the arrival of Europeans and the harsh treatment they endured thereafter.
There is much discourse now about whether Columbus Day should be renamed or celebrated. Columbus Day was created in 1869 in recognition of Italian-American heritage. In 1937, it became a federal holiday. There are stories of many people, cultures, and lived experiences which shape this holiday: an adventurer who sought to find riches; self-sufficient people who found themselves enslaved; a discriminated-against immigrant population celebrating their heritage. There is no one story.
At FCS, we strive to help children find their voice, and we recognize theirs is not the only one that needs to be heard. A dispute on the playground leads to the exercise of conflict resolution, with students both voicing their perspectives and listening to each other. Creating space for multiple perspectives enables FCS students to think critically and understand the complexity of not just history, but the present and the future.
Located in College Park, MD, Friends Community School is a progressive Quaker K-8 day school, founded on the belief that every child is a valued member of our community. We offer a challenging curriculum imbued with strong values of equality, integrity, community, environmental stewardship, simplicity and peaceful conflict resolution, rooted in our Quaker heritage.
Friends Community School
5901 Westchester Park Drive
College Park, Maryland 20740
301-441-2100
5901 Westchester Park Drive
College Park, Maryland 20740
301-441-2100
