Black churches in Florida buck DeSantis: 'Our churches will teach our own history.'

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/08/desantis-banned-some-black-history-classes-these-churches-fought-back/70783000007/

The 30 or so people who logged on to hear about the trans-Atlantic slave trade Wednesday night was just what Pastor Kenneth Johnson had hoped for – a sign that his congregation in Fort Pierce, Florida, was interested in learning more about Black history.

The hour-long video class was the first of a series Friendship Missionary Baptist Church plans to host this fall.

“It wasn’t a sermon. It would have passed any muster as a legitimate class,” said Johnson. “We don’t need government approval to teach our history.”

Friendship Missionary is among the more than 200 mostly Black churches in Florida taking steps to teach Black history in part because of what faith leaders call the restricted and “watered-down’’ versions schools must teach under the state’s new policies. Instead, pastors equipped with a new Black history toolkit are teaching unfiltered lessons during Sunday school, Bible Study or as part of sermons.

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