African American Music Appreciation Month began in 1979 when, according to Pitchfork magazine, Kenny Gamble, a producer; Ed Wright, a DJ; and Dyana Williams, a media strategist; developed the idea to set aside a month dedicated to celebrating the impact of Black music.

Williams attended the first Black Music Month celebration, held in June 1979 at President Jimmy Carter’s White House. Over 20 years later, Williams again attended the White House celebration when President Bill Clinton officially recognized June as Black Music Month, according to Pitchfork. In 2009, President Barack Obama modernized the name, declaring it “African American Music Appreciation Month” and declaring the start of a summer celebration for all the Black “musicians, composers, singers, and songwriters [who] have made enormous contributions to our culture.”

Chicago composer and musician Angel Bat Dawid hopes people don’t equate Black music only with hip hop or R&B. “I am a Black person, so if I play music, it’s going to be Black music,” Dawid told Pitchfork. “If a Black person plays punk, rock, reggae, classical, experimental, avant-garde… guess what? It’s gonna be Black music.” Similarly, London-based DJ Nakeitha Delanancy hopes people go beyond the usual mega-celebrities in seeking out emerging Black artists. While everyone loves Beyoncé, there are thousands of talented people who are struggling to be heard. In 2020, Delanancy created an Instagram feed which evolved into the Black Artist Database, a platform which makes searching for Black artists, producers, and music labels simple. Support Black musicians all year by not only listening to, but also buying, their products.

The sex education taught in your local public school can vary widely based on where you live. Maybe they talk about proper contraception use. Maybe they explain enthusiastic consent. Maybe they tell students that abstinence is the best policy when it comes to sex.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, lawmakers in statehouses are responsible for deciding what should be included in sex-ed courses. This has resulted in widely different curriculums. These disparities only become more pronounced when it comes to teaching students about LGBTQ+ identities and sexualities. 

For many recent high school grads, LGBTQ+ sex education wasn’t something that was touched on in their health classes. Currently, only nine states and the District of Columbia include LGBTQ+- inclusive sex education in their curriculum, according GLSEN. LGBTQ+ students were more than 50% more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to report that the sex education offered in their schools was not useful, as also reported by GLSEN. The same report found that LGBTQ+ youth were significantly more likely to turn to the internet for information about sexuality, health and medical information, and information about HIV and STIs than their non-LGBTQ+ peers, in part because of a limited number of adults with whom they feel comfortable talking about their sexual health.

While sex education curriculums leaving out LGBTQ+ topics is already a significant issue,
depending on where you live, your state may actively prohibit teachers from discussing LGBTQ+
identities in a positive light. Seven states in the U.S. either prohibit sex educators from
discussing (including answering questions about) LGBTQ+ topics, according to GLSEN, or go so far as to mandate sex educators talk about these identities and relationships negatively. 

Failing to provide LGBTQ+ kids with proper sex education can cause significant damage to their
sexual health. LGBTQ+ kids face increased sexual health risks, in part due to a lack of
comprehensive sex education, according to the CDC. The more information young people are
given about safe sex and relationships, the better equipped they are to make healthy choices. 

Creating LGBTQ+- inclusive sex-ed curriculums can not only help students practice safer sex, it
can also help to foster a more inclusive environment in schools. According to a study from the
University of Pittsburgh, LGBTQ+ students who lived in districts with inclusive sex education
policies faced less bullying. Exposing students to various sexual orientations and gender
identities can help them to better understand their classmates. 

Although many schools may be falling short when it comes to providing adequate LGBTQ+ sex
ed, many organizations have dedicated themselves to filling in those gaps. Looking for
resources on LGBTQ+ sex ed? Here are a few to check out: 

• GLSEN Resources
• Scarleteen - sex ed for the real world
• Sex Etc

June is Alzheimer’s Disease and Brain Awareness Month.

Alzheimer’s disease was discovered by and named for Alois Alzheimer, a German doctor and psychiatrist of the early 20th century, according to the Alzheimer's Association. In 1906, Alzheimer identified the disease which today bears his name by studying the brain of a deceased patient in her 50s.

Alzheimer identified the features which still lead to a diagnosis today: amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Both are, in the simplest terms, proteins that have clumped in noxious ways, leading to interference with brain function, according to the National Institute on Aging. As these features increase, symptoms of memory loss, behavioral changes, and abnormal thinking processes intensify. According to the Alzheimer's Association, 60-80% of people who have dementia have Alzheimer’s disease. Less common forms of dementia include Lewy body dementia, Frontotemporal dementia, and Vascular dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is the only leading cause of death for which there is no prevention or cure; one in three seniors dies from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Quality of life, however, can be improved and symptom development can be slowed with treatment.

Currently, about one in nine U.S. adults age 65 and over have Alzheimer’s disease. The cost of caring for Alzheimer’s patients in 2021 is estimated at $355 billion, according to the Alzheimer's Association, not including unpaid caregiving by family members, which is estimated at an additional $257 billion. Approximately 2/3 of caregivers are women, with 1/3 of caregivers being daughters of the patient. Over 40% of caregivers have household incomes below $50,000 annually.

Race is a significant factor in how a person views Alzheimer’s disease. White Americans (48%) worry much more about developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who are Black (35%) or Native American (25%), according to the Alzheimer's Association. More than half of non-White Americans believe significant loss of memory or cognitive ability is a normal part of aging. Hispanic, Black and Native Americans are twice as likely as whites to say they would not see a doctor if experiencing thinking or memory problems. One in five Black and Hispanic Americans say they would feel insulted if a doctor suggested a cognitive assessment.

Black Americans are least likely (67%) to be interested in participating in clinical research trials to prevent or slow the progression of the disease, while white people are most likely (82%) to be interested. According to the Alzheimer's Association, the most common reason Black Americans cited for disinterest in clinical research was not wanting to feel like a “guinea pig.”

June 19 marks the anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States. Known as Juneteenth, this holiday has been celebrated in the U.S. for more than 150 years. This year, in honor of the holiday, The Lens is featuring a lesser-known abolitionist who helped bring down the Confederacy from the inside. While names like Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Tubman may have been brought up in your fifth-grade history class, one name you likely haven’t heard is Mary Bowser. 

Born into slavery sometime between 1839 and 1841, Mary Bowser was freed by Elizabeth Van Lew in 1843 and sent to the North to be educated, according to History.com. After Bowser finished her education, Van Lew sent her to Liberia to serve as a missionary. Bowser was unhappy in Liberia and returned to the U.S. only a few years later but was promptly arrested, likely due to a law that prohibited black Virginians who had been educated in a free state from ever returning, according to History.com. 

Following her release from jail, Bowser joined a network of Union spies led by Van Lew that would sneak assistance and information to Union soldiers. Bowser was hired to work as a servant in the house of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. No one paid much attention to Bowser as she dusted the shelves and swept the floors. Her position as a servant gave her access to Davis’s office and as she cleaned she would read over the plans and documents he kept laid out across his desk, according to History.com. Using what CBS News described as her photographic memory and Northern education, Bowser was able to sneak important information to the Union from right under President Davis’ nose. 

The work Bowser did was dangerous and she likely would have been executed had she been caught. But she was clever. As part of her many roles in the Confederate White House, Bowser saw to the mending of the First Lady’s dresses. The Washington Post reported Bowser would sew messages into the fabric of the dresses and bring them to a nearby seamstress who would then get the messages to Van Lew. 

The work of Van Lew and spies like Mary Bowser may have provided key information to Ulysses S. Grant, especially during the Battle of Richmond, The Washington Post reported. As the war drew to a close, Van Lew was even thanked personally by Grant and given a reward for her services to the Union. Bowser’s contributions went mostly unrecognized until 1900 when, in an article discussing Van Lew’s life, The Richmond and Manchester Evening Leader touched on the story of a clever maid who had worked from within the Confederate White House to aid the Union. A decade later, Annie Randolph Hall, Van Lew’s niece, would identify that maid as Bowser.

Less is known about Mary Bowser following the end of the Civil War. According to Freedmen’s Bureau documents, Bowser began working as a teacher to former slaves within days of the Confederacy’s defeat. There is also some evidence, according to Encyclopedia Virginia, that she traveled North and began giving speeches about her work during the war under various pseudonyms. The secretive nature of Bowser’s work in the Confederate White House coupled with the destruction of Van Lew’s records at the end of the Civil War mean that we may never know just how much Bowser did to bring down the Confederacy, according to CBS News. But her bravery and stealth undeniably make her an unsung hero and someone worth remembering this Juneteenth. 

It’s June, which means all across the country, people will be celebrating Pride Month. This month is a time to recognize the work of LGBTQ+ individuals and activists and continue to stand with them in the fight for equality.

The movement for LGBTQ+ rights and protections has been a long one and as we prepare to hang up our rainbow flags and march in the nearest Pride parade, it’s also important to think about the long history that got us here. While names like Harvey Milk or Marsha P. Johnson may be familiar to some, their stories, and the stories of hundreds of other LGBTQ+ activists, are often left out of the pages of our history books. 

Requirements for teaching LGBTQ+ history vary widely from state to state, according to TIME Magazine. As of 2020, US News reported California, New Jersey, Colorado, and Illinois are the only states to mandate that this history is included in curriculum. According to a 2016 study by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLESN), only one-fifth of students surveyed said they had learned about LGBT people, history, or events in their classes. Even for teachers who want to add LGBTQ+ history to their lesson plans, some states have strict anti-LGBT curriculum laws that limit how teachers can talk about certain sexual orientations and gender identities. Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas all have laws that prohibit “promoting homosexuality” when discussing LGBTQ+ people or topics. In Iowa, there are currently no laws that require LGBTQ+ history to be taught in public schools. 

How and if schools teach LGBTQ+ history matters. Teaching students about moments in queer history like the police raids at the Stonewall Inn can help students see history through a more diverse lens and understand the violence and persecution the LGBTQ+ community has faced for decades. According to GLSEN, students attending schools with inclusive curricula were more likely to report feelings of acceptance towards LGBTQ+ students and had lower rates of students missing school due to feeling unsafe. Fostering an accepting school environment is incredibly important to the educational and emotional well-being of LGBTQ+ students. According to a survey by the Trevor Project, when LGBTQ+ students had access to affirming spaces at school, their risk of attempting suicide decreased. A 2019 GLESN study found that about a third of LGBTQ+ students who considered dropping out said it was related to a hostile environment created by school policies and practices.

While seeing the passage of anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum laws can be discouraging, it’s important to remember that steps are being taken to teach this important part of American and world history. Since 2017, Utah, Arizona, and Alabama have lifted some restrictions on how LGBTQ+ curriculum is taught in schools. Just recently, Illinois became the fourth state to mandate this history be taught in classrooms. Resources for teaching students about different gender identities and sexualities have become more popular and accessible. Do you feel like your high school didn’t do enough to cover LGBTQ+ history? Check out these resources:

• GLSEN LGBTQ History
• Teaching LGBTQ History 
• GLAAD - films about LGBTQ history

For detailed information on current trainings, initiatives, or programs, visit icgov.org/SJREinitiatives, and scroll to Social Justice and Racial Equity Quarterly Updates.

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