When Gui Luiz first learned that Morgan offered a class dedicated to the history of Black and Latinos, he was interested. “It was a new class that I heard about, and I want to try it out ” What he found in the course was an open space to talk about anything without fear of judgment. He found a place many students wish to find.

African American, Black & Latino studies is a history elective class offered here at Morgan that teaches students the struggles and perspectives that African-American, Blacks and Latinos  face in their lives. This course helps students learn and gain knowledge that other history classes might not focus much on.

Black & Latino studies started in 2019 after Connecticut passed a bill, the Public Act 19-12 that mandated schools to have this class starting in 2022. This curriculum was set up and created by actual people who are Black and Latino, who then give teachers the curriculum for their school.

Guilherme Luiz, who goes by Gui, is a junior who took Black & Latino last year with Mrs. Russell, a history teacher who has taught it for the last three years. 

“It sounded like a class that I would be interested in, so I tried it out,” said Luiz. Luiz liked that it was a relatively easy-going class. “I thought it was a pretty cool class because it wasn’t much work at the beginning,” Luiz explained. “And then there were also a lot of field trips and a lot of projects that makes the class pretty cool.” Luiz said as he remembered the many field trips he went to, one of them being at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven to see some of the historical arts from Black & Latino culture.

This year, Mrs. Russell and Mrs. Milici have taken on teaching the course. Whereas Mrs. Russell has been teaching this course for three of the four years it has been offered, this is Mrs. Milici’s first year co-teaching the course. Milici is an ESL teacher, but because several students in the class are not English speaking natives, she helps translate and guide them through the course. 

“I was really excited to get to teach this class,” Mrs. Russell said. “I love looking at history from different perspectives.” Mrs. Russell, along side Mrs. Milici, feel their goal is to help students challenge or debunk many of the stereotypes people may have about Black, African  and Latino people or culture.

“We all grow up learning stereotypes of Africa [and other cultures], whether we want to or not,” said Mrs Milici. “I knew that those were stereotypes, but I had never really studied the antidote to those stereotypes like this.”

The course, which was started four years ago at Morgan has run all four years. “It only has to run if enough students sign up,” said Mrs. Russell, “and luckily, here at Morgan, all four years we’ve had enough students to run it.” The course has since been required to be offered in every high school in CT by the school year of 2022-2023.

Mrs. Milici was hesitant to take over the class at first, acknowledging the challenge of teaching a class like this as a white teacher, “I thought, it’s black and Latino Studies, and there’s going to be two white women teaching the class. Does that make sense?” 

Mrs. Milici and Mrs. Russell discussed this concern at the start of the year, and used it to inform how they approached teaching the class,  “I’m not here to be ‘the expert on those subjects’ I’m here to just kind of guide them (the students) through the material.” said Russell.  

Despite this concern, the students don’t seem to mind –  in fact, they enjoy the class and how it is approached by Mrs. Russell and Milici. Aasiya Bajwa who is a senior and currently taking the class, has enjoyed her experience. 

“I’m very interested in history,” Bajwa said, “learning about African American and Hispanic history in the U.S was something I was very interested.” During class, whenever Mrs. Russell asks questions, Bajwa likes to answer and interact with new material she learns each day. 

“I feel like she makes it a very safe environment for everyone’s opinions to be heard,” Bajwa said, feeling safe whenever she speaks her mind out about the topic that is being discussed. 

The first half of the school year focuses more on African American and Blacks history, later in the second half, it focuses on Latino history. From project to topic, students will research and learn about many events from history, one of the most recent topic being The Amistad. A boat that was carrying slaves from Africa to be brought to Cuba, only for the ship to be overtaken by the slaves. A great lesson to teach students that nothing can stop you, even at the worst moments.

Black & Latino studies is a class that not many study here at Morgan may know about, but it’s a class that should be known more. It helps students develop critical thinking skills and pushes students to  be able to share their thoughts with others.

“I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes history, anyone who  wants to have a better understanding about economic impacts and just things that you know affect our country.” Luiz ended.

“Miss Russell’s the best teacher.” – Gui Luiz