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Dear Dr. Dr.Goldson,

Edward Burroughs III
Vice-Chairman

301-952-6239
edward2.burroughs@pgcps.org

` I am writing to request that the Academic Achievement Committee and the CEO
examine our current kindergarten to 12th grade curriculum; identify deficiencies and
inaccuracies in the curriculum; and embed Authentic and Unadulterated Black and
Brown History throughout the PGCPS curriculum and determine the viability of
adding a Black and Brown History course as a graduation requirement; for the
purpose of providing truthful, culturally inclusive education on the topic of history of
Black and Brown people in the Prince George’s County, in Maryland, in United
States, and throughout the world to best provide a quality education for the students
of the Prince George’s County School System.
Prince George’s County is the most affluent majority African-American community
in the nation. Our school district is composed of over 80% students of color. As a
school system, we have a moral and ethical responsibility to teach accurate, authentic,
and unadulterated Black and Brown history.
School District curricula across our nation have served as extensions of institutional
and systemic racism by perpetuating inaccurate information. These actions glorify the
historical actions of the American government that were rooted in white supremacy
such as invoking “state’s rights” to defend the Confederacy, claiming that the
American system of slavery ended in 1865, or omitting the genocide of indigenous
nations by European settlers and governmental policy. This system of education does
not represent the true historical legacy of Black and Brown people, leading to the
erasure of authentic Black and Brown history in our schools and an assault on the
identity of Black and Brown students and educators. For example, the dedicated
focus on Martin Luther King’s nonviolence and erasure of his struggles against
poverty, imperialism, and housing injustices. The erasure of Malcolm X’s
contributions to the Black freedom struggle in both the United States and the world at
large. The absence of the role of Black women, Black LGBTQ+ individuals, and the
omission of Indigenous, Chicano, and Asian American history and many more from
the Civil Rights Movements and other activism throughout American history. In
addition, the notion that Martin Luther King was popular before his assassination;
and, perhaps most importantly, the omission of the grave dangers that our ancestors
faced while fighting for the most basic of human and civil rights in our nation.

MISSION STATEMENT
To provide a great education that empowers all students and contributes to thriving communities.
Prince George’s County Public Schools

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Our history must not be reduced to a handful of prominent African American leaders
and sanitized moments in history highlighted only during the month of February, and
we be truthful to the accounts of American history.
American History courses and American society itself has perpetuated an infinite
loop of negative stories, television shows, and movies that unfairly stereotype
Africans, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and indigenous Americans. Those
images have inaccurately depicted white individuals as superior and depicted
Africans, African Americans, and all people of color as inferior as a means to further
justify, rationalize, and perpetuate a culture of white supremacy. These ideals are
harmful to the education of our youth and a threat to their identity and well-being.
Prince George’s County Public Schools has several school buildings named after
racist slave owners, such as Thomas Johnson Middle School and Gabriel DuVal
Senior High School, who upheld and maintained the inhuman and cruel system of
chattel slavery in our county, our state, and our nation. Schools named after
individuals that built their wealth and prominence by oppressing African Americans;
have majority Black and Brown students walking into them today. The Lansdale
Sasscer building in which we meet is named after a staunch segregationist who
opposed civil and human rights for Black people and came from a family of former
slave owners in Upper Marlboro. The NFL team that is based within our county bears
that name of genocidal slur for our indigenous brothers and sisters. The names
bestowed upon our buildings of governance and education have deep meaning and
must be updated to reflect those who are represented and educated within them.
Prince George’s County’s history itself is filled with a rich legacy of Black
Excellence, and we have living history with us in our community. Our students must
understand how people such as, Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry (Alpha Phi
Alpha Fraternity, Inc), helped build the Black middle class of our region, created jobs
and opportunities for Black citizens, and birthed the Black mecca of excellence that is
Prince George's County. Our students must also know that large portions of Bowie
started as a plantation. Now, in 2020, has its first black mayor in Timothy Adams (
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.), In addition, that the current Chief and Administrative
Judge of the 7th Judicial Circuit in Maryland, Sheila Tillerson Adams (Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Inc.), started off as the first black woman judge in the county's
history. Other stories such as, Delegate Arthur King was the first Black Delegate
elected outside of Baltimore City and was a prominent member of the Prince
George’s County NAACP. Our local legacy of Black excellence includes, but is not
limited to, all-time NBA talent Kevin Durant, legendary DeMatha coach Morgan
Wooten, and Wayne Curry, the first Black County Executive in American history.

MISSION STATEMENT
To provide a great education that empowers all students and contributes to thriving communities.
Prince George’s County Public Schools

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Our students must learn how Prince George’s County has transformed itself from a
rural white enclave that voted for Alabama segregationist George Wallace in 1972
into the wealthiest Black majority county in the nation and a bedrock of support for
Jesse Jackson in 1984 & 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Our state was
the birthplace of Black freedom fighters Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and
Gloria Richardson. The first Black woman elected to the State Senate in our nation,
Verda Freeman-Welcome, was a Marylander. Baltimore Congress of Racial Equality
Chairman Walter P. Carter organized desegregation demonstrations from Baltimore
to Ocean City. The first Black Congressman from Maryland, Parren Mitchell, was a
founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the first Black graduate of
the University of Maryland, College Park. The numerous Black inventors whom
invented necessities such as the air conditioner and the refrigerator. The Black
Americans, who bravely fought in World War II, made scientific advancements,
lectured in institutions of knowledge, and otherwise contributed greatly to the
advancement of culture, quality of life, and improvement of American society.
Our students must know that Black people have governed, and governed well, from
the dawn of Reconstruction following the Civil War, to the mayoral offices of Harold
Washington in Chicago and Marion Barry in DC, to the congressional offices of
Representatives Shirley Chisholm, Adam Clayton Powell, John Conyers, Barbara
Lee, and Ilhan Omar. Black freedom fighters such as Angela Davis, Kwame Ture,
Malcolm X, Shirley Chisholm, Adam Clayton Powell, Ella Baker, James Baldwin,
Dorothy Height, Fanny Lou Hamer, and countless others are essential characters in
the story of our history, as are the stories of Brown freedom fighters such as Dolores
Huerta and Cesar Chavez. The African continent, the place of origin for all people
and a recent area of emigration for many members of our community, holds a rich
legacy as well. In spite of several hundred years of colonialism, invasion, and a
sustained assault by European influence, African nations fought for their collective
independence and achieved it. As descendants of Africans, the stories of Kwame
Nkrumah of Ghana, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Nelson and Winnie Mandela
of South Africa, and Patrice Lumumba of the Congo hold great relevance for our
youth and our community.
Central, South American, and Caribbean nations, where many of our community
members hail from, have a strong history of producing artists, writers, scientists,
musicians, and more figures of inspiration in spite of colonization and domination by
the European powers. The stories of Simon Bolivar of Venezuela, Fidel Castro of
Cuba, and Toussaint Louverture of Haiti hold great relevance for our youth. These
stories of triumph in spite of systemic racism and oppression will instill hope and
raise the self-esteem of an entire generation, just as an accurate account of the truth
will make our students culturally competent and conscious of the rich legacy of their
ancestors. These stories are essential for our youth to understand their identity and
history.
MISSION STATEMENT
To provide a great education that empowers all students and contributes to thriving communities.
Prince George’s County Public Schools

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Teaching real authentic Black and Brown history will help contextualize contemporary events
such as the historic Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act of 2002 (Thornton Commission)
that led the way for the Kirwan Commission. Understanding the history and relevance of the
HBCU lawsuit filed to benefit four state universities in Maryland and recent updates in voting
rights for Marylanders will help our students appreciate the tangible sacrifices of the generations
before them and help provide a roadmap for their current struggles in our society. Understanding
the history of their ancestors and how important history is to understand the ongoing events of
the world will serve direct educational and mental benefit to our youth
We understand that our Black and Brown youth will never rise to their fullest potential until they
know their origins in the world and the society in which they live, and we know they come from
a rich legacy. One of the gravest casualties of the system of white supremacy is to make Black
and Brown people believe they are truly inferior through an intricate system of indoctrination
beginning with our schools, a lie designed to maintain systems of colonialism and oppression.
Proper historical analysis will begin to undo the damage of Eurocentric education, which omits
essential narratives while trumpeting untrue propaganda, and begin to heal the mental well-being
of Black and Brown youth. Black and Brown youth must see themselves in our curriculum and
PGCPS should serve as this nation's model for culturally sustaining pedagogy. This truth telling
is particularly important while our nation is governed by a President who has repeatedly attacked
the very dignity and humanity of Black and Brown people, denigrated the quality of the nations
that our community members hail from, insulted the largest City in our state, while still
accepting support from white supremacists.
I am recommending that the Board of Education allocates resources to partner with local HBCUs
such as Howard University, Morgan State University, or Bowie State University to aid current
classroom based educators in the curriculum writing process.
Sincerely,

Edward Burroughs III
Vice Chairman, District 8
Prince George’s County Public Schools

MISSION STATEMENT
To provide a great education that empowers all students and contributes to thriving communities.
Prince George’s County Public Schools