FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Fort Myers says she's trying to teach Black culture and history through artistic expression because children are not learning them in school.
She teaches dance and storytelling to students at the Quality Life Center, and they put on performances to get the community involved.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report:
In 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the state's public colleges and universities, including specific curriculum content.
The governor’s Stop Woke Act prohibits schools from teaching about structural racism or using educational material from The 1619 Project. He’s also banned advanced-placementAfrican American history courses.
The bill prohibits DEI initiatives in public colleges and universities, viewing them as discriminatory practices.
Julissa says the history of Black people and other under-served communities have a duty to their specific groups and the world to know what is happening in politics but not forget "our experiences."
Multiple performances will speak to African American experiences during a showcase at the Quality Life Center on Friday, March 16th, at 6 PM.
She talks about the transatlantic slave trade and the dance she choreographed for her students to perform.
"That story, for me, kind of breaks down the African diaspora," says Julissa Jean-Bart. "We would rather jump ship with our entire family and all our faith and all our desires and all of our insides than to travel to a place that we don't know,."
Jean-Bart has been dancing since she was 13.
She says her goal is to use actual historical events to allow students to express themselves through song and dance.
She believes that new state standards on cultural curriculum bans decrease the awareness of group's contributions. So she says she knows how she can assist in preserving the culture in the way she loves.
"I think that I can contribute because not every kid wants to read nowadays, and not every kid wants to sit in a class and be taught these things," says Jean-Bart. "However, if we can give it to them in a manner in which they can comprehend, in a manner which is fun for them, inspiring for them, and they can get, like, wrapped up in that, I'm willing to do that."
A young girl named Te'ryah Curry is performing a poem at "The Experience. ""It's generally about African Americans and how strong we are," says Curry. I would say it's powerful."
Te'ryah Curry goes to Dunbar High School.
She says her friends still talk about cultural experiences at school, but she believes this conversation is filtered in the classroom.
"Because they're not allowed to, like, say a lot school is they try to soften it or sugar coat it," says Curry.
"I feel like this setting is more enriching than school, because Miss Keisha, last year, she held a show with us about Black or African American history, which taught me a lot more than I ever really learned in school,".
She says she is happy to have a space in her community that allows people to "learn, ask questions, and dissect information."
Jean-Bart says she wants students to know the sky is the limit.
"I want them to know that they can and will do whatever they want to do despite whatever is happening in the community," says Jean-Bart.
