BEYOND BLACK  
 Racial justice advocates look to push the envelope,  
 BY XIMENA DEL CERRO 
 As Brooklyn’s Black community  
 INSIDE 
 Your entertainment 
 guide Page 35 
 Police Blotter ..........................8 
 Health ...................................... 17 
 Black History ......................... 21 
 Charter Schools .................. 27 
 Opinion ................................... 32 
 HOW TO REACH US 
 COURIER L 4     IFE, FEBRUARY 18-24, 2022 
 faces  different  challenges  
 and  reaches  new  
 milestones,  their  concerns  
 and needs change. As a new  
 Black  History  Month  begins, 
   some  experts  say  this  
 year’s  agenda  should  not  
 only  include  remembrance  
 of  the  celebration’s  origins  
 and isolated historical facts,  
 but also the root and context  
 of current issues. 
 Last  year,  Black  History  
 Month included the celebration  
 of Kamala Harrys being  
 appointed as  the  first  Black  
 female  vice  president  and  
 Reverend  Raphael  Warnock  
 as Georgia’s first Black Senator. 
  It also shined a light on  
 the  disproportionate  number  
 of  deaths  and  job  losses  
 among  Black  Americans  
 from COVID-19.  
 This  Black  History  
 Month,  the  inclusion  of  
 Critical  Race  Theory  and  
 broader  Black  history  in  
 school’s  curriculums,  pushing  
 back  on  restrictive  voting  
 legislations  and  closing  
 the wealth gap are priorities  
 for  advocates  and  community  
 leaders. 
 Awareness  of  the  history  
 of  Black  people  in  the  
 United States is, to this day,  
 a  contentious  subject  even  
 in  states  with  a  large  Black  
 population  like  New  York.  
 Social disparities that Black  
 communities suffer from are  
 rooted in history and awareness  
 is considered crucial by  
 many  to  achieve  racial  justice. 
 “In New York State alone,  
 we’ve been trying to pass the  
 Black  history  curriculum  
 bill  for  the past  six to seven  
 years and it  seems  to be the  
 only bill that they’re so adamant  
 in not getting out of the  
 Education Committee,”  said  
 A painting of George Floyd is held up during a celebration of former Minneapolis police offi cer Derek Chauvin’s  
 conviction.  File photo by Lloyd Mitchell 
 Anthony  Beckford,  president  
 of  Black  Lives  Matter  
 Brooklyn. 
 An  online  petition  
 launched three years ago by  
 Beckford  calls  on  the  State  
 Senate and the State Assembly  
 to pass  the bill.  To date,  
 the  petition  has  garnered  
 more  than  125,000  signatures. 
 “Schools  are  required  to  
 go  over  Rosa  Parks, Martin  
 Luther  King  and  a  couple  
 of  other biographies, but we  
 need  our  children  to  understand  
 what  is  going  on  today,” 
   he  said.  “They  need  
 to  understand  not  only  the  
 truth and ugliness of racism  
 and  slavery,  but  also  that  
 there have been Black scientists, 
   navigators,  kings  and  
 queens  and  learn  from very  
 positive  representations  of  
 them.” 
 Black  Lives  Matter  
 Brooklyn  and  other  organizations  
 will  hold  a  forum  
 on Feb. 21 with corporations  
 such  as  Target,  Walmart  
 and Google  to  discuss  these  
 companies’  promises  from  
 2020,  when  protests  in  the  
 wake of the police killing of  
 George Floyd were at a high,  
 on  Black  employees’  equity  
 improvement, guarantee livable  
 wages  and  cutting  bias  
 hiring practices. 
 “There  is  no  getting  
 tired,” said Beckford. “We’re  
 gonna  keep  addressing  the  
 issues and we’re gonna keep  
 on putting people who  truly  
 represent us in office.” 
 Last year, 19 states passed  
 34  laws  restricting  access  
 to  voting  and  more  than  
 440  bills  of  the  same nature  
 were introduced in 49 states.  
 More  than  100  will  carry  
 over  from  2021  —  and  even  
 more have been pre-filed for  
 the  2022  legislative  session  
 in different states. 
 “This month,  we  need  to  
 address  that  laws  resulting  
 in voter suppression are tied  
 together  with  systematic  
 racism,” said Courtney Bennett, 
   executive  director  of  
 One  Hundred  Black  Men  of  
 New  York,  an  organization  
 that  focuses  on  mentoring,  
 wealth-building  strategies  
 and  awareness  of  health  issues  
 affecting the Black community. 
  “These laws need to  
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