Painting to Connect with Black History and Pride

At Friends of the Children-Chicago, one of the four outcomes that we focus on in the early years of our program is self-awareness which is centered on our children being able to identify their physical needs, emotions, interests, and cultural heritage.

Poshlyn was inspired and chose to focus on this outcome by doing a fun and educational activity that connected her kids with Black history and pride. She started the activity by introducing Megan* and Sabriya* to the Pan-African Flag and describing the significance of the colors, red for the bloodshed and the freedom of enslaved people, black for the pride and power of the people, and green for for the wealth and abundance from the motherland, Africa.

As Poshlyn described the significance, she had Megan and Sabriya paint the colors of the Pan-African Flag on a canvas. Then, they painted the silhouette of a Black girl over the flag. Megan connected the Black girl to her mom and decided to dedicate and give the painting to her mom. Sabriya connected the Black girl to herself and was so confident and independent when painting her art.

Both Megan and Sabriya really enjoyed the activity. They loved the opportunity to be creative and express themselves through painting. They also both loved using different brushes to show the texture in the Black girl’s hair. Poshlyn was so excited that each girl had a strong connection with the Black girl and her hair. It was important to Poshlyn that they saw themselves in the powerful image.