Black ABCs project celebrates 50th anniversary

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the hugely influential Black ABCs project, child models for the educational posters are reminiscing about being part of so many urban classrooms.

Via University of Chicago Magazine:

First released to educators in 1970, the visual learning aid known as the Black ABCs was designed to help young students learn to read with portraiture and language that reflected them. As the Chicago Defender wrote that year, the 13˝ x 17˝ posters aimed to ensure that "Black children see themselves in the majority (as they are, in fact, in many areas and many schools) as important, capable, attractive, responsible, and with a long history of contributions to our country." Fifty years later, the Black ABCs remain a symbol of racial identity and pride, suffused with the aesthetic of the Black arts movement and a belief in empowerment through education.

Image: YouTube / Angel Idowu