"fashionably dressed in African attire herself, she would wrap Detroit’s children in colorful fabrics and accessories unique to African tribes so they could feel and see the beauty in themselves as well as the land from which their ancestors had come"
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| Catherine Blackwell |
Teaching about African history and culture wasn't merely a profession for Catherine Blackwell. It was a passion she turned into a lifelong mission, long before African history and culture became popular with the masses.
When Mrs. Blackwell began teaching in Detroit Public Schools in 1955, she sought to share her love of African art, history and culture with her students.
She was so disheartened when the children snickered or laughed at the notion of Africa, she became a one-woman warrior for African history and culture, often going school-to-school, armed with her own books, artwork and stories.
Over the years, Mrs. Blackwell would receive numerous awards for her work as an educator and human rights advocate, but the honor she cherished most came in 1992 when DPS named a school in her honor, the Catherine C. Blackwell Institute of International Studies, Commerce and Technology.
“Catherine Blackwell was such an asset, not only to all the children she taught and served, but also to this city, the nation and especially this museum,” said Juanita Moore, president of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which displayed an exhibit of her work in 2008. “Even at an advanced age, she’d come out here and spend hours talking to people and walking them through the museum. She’d come out here, walking with a beautiful African cane, staying for hours, still sharing, still teaching. We definitely adored her and will miss her. But her contributions and the lessons she taught will live on forever.”
Mrs. Blackwell, a Detroit teacher and revered storyteller, began traveling to Africa in 1960, determined to collect musical instruments, art and other artifacts that would infuse pride in her schoolchildren and adults as well. She eventually started a travel company that specialized in tours of Africa. She made more than 65 trips to 41 countries in Africa during her lifetime.
Frequently fashionably dressed in African attire herself, she would wrap Detroit’s children in colorful fabrics and accessories unique to African tribes so they could feel and see the beauty in themselves as well as the land from which their ancestors had come. She brought along musical instruments that she encouraged them to play and artwork that they admired. Known for her gift of gab, if the items she brought along didn't win the students over, her captivating true and tall tales certainly did.
“I want people to see the skills and talents and creativity of Africa,” Mrs. Blackwell once told the Detroit Free Press, one of several newspapers to write about her over the years. “I want it to give a picture of Africa that is accurate. Africa is not Tarzan and all that old stuff.”
Mrs. Blackwell was a frequent visitor to the school that bore her name always carrying what staff called a “bag of culture.” She thrilled children with her storytelling, said Wilma Taylor-Costen, who was a teacher at the school when it opened and went on to become principal.
“She wasn’t someone who we named a school after and we never saw her again,” said Taylor-Costen, who is now an assistant superintendent in the district. “She was an integral part of our lives and what we did as a school. She touched all of our lives.”
Through her travels and gifts to her, she amassed one of the nation’s largest collections of African art. Never one to keep such treasures to herself, she donated numerous works from her collection to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Wright Museum, and Howard University, among other places.
Collections of her work have been exhibited at Oakland University and the Wright Museum.
Audley (Kano) Smith described Mrs. Blackwell as a mother figure to him. Although she had no biological children, she and her late husband often took in exchange students from Africa who lived at their home.
Mrs. Blackwell’s desire as an educator was to put African and African-American history into a proper context for Detroit children, said Smith.
“She made it her goal to make sure that the Detroit public school system added African, African-American studies to its curriculum so that young black students would have a healthier appreciation from whence they came,” Smith said.
Gov. William Milliken appointed Mrs. Blackwell to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission in 1973. She served eight terms, and was elected chairperson in 1975 and 1981.
Mrs. Blackwell retired from DPS in 1994 after nearly 40 years, but she never stopped teaching, ever ready to share her knowledge about Africa.
Mrs. Blackwell was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. Other honors include: the Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Award from the Detroit Public Library, the Sojourner Truth Award from the Detroit Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, the Outstanding Women in Education Award from the Women’s Lawyers Association, and the Alain Locke Award from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Mrs. Blackwell, 94, died at Sinai Grace Hospital of heart failure but her impact will live forever in the heart of those she taught.
(Culled from: Detroit Free Press)
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