Celebrating Black Excellence

Actress Cicely Tyson, writer/activist James Baldwin, Dance Theatre of Harlem founder, Arthur Mitchell and entertainer/activist Harry Belafonte.

An Institutional Rationale 

for Close Examination of the Successes and Achievements of Black People Across Our World

Students across our city spend kindergarten through grade eight examining our world and the people who have contributed to it.  For the most part, our history books and courses of study have focused on the achievements and successes of white male Europeans, European people and Western civilizations.  For the most part, the inclusion of other cultures has typically begun with stories of European control or subjugation of nations and kingdoms in Asia, Africa and the Americas (along with their indigenous people). The histories of continents and their people are beautiful, complex and storied.  And they start long before European interaction with them.  After nine years of relatively Eurocentric study, Gotham Professional Arts Academy is committed to helping us balance our understanding of the world and those who have contributed to what makes it great.

From Jacob Lawrence to Kehinde Wiley. From Ida B. Wells to Tamika Mallory. From Shirley Chisholm to Kamala Harris. Black people have overcome nearly insurmountable challenges- enslavement, economic disenfranchisement, voter suppression and other systemic racism. Amidst these obstacles, Black creativity, Black success, Black academia, and Black activism have continued to thrive. We choose to highlight and celebrate Black Excellence. We acknowledge and respect those who rise above challenges in an effort to change and inspire society.  

As we highlight the achievements and successes of Black people, acknowledging that the vast majority of our students are young people of color, we hope to inspire the use of this model as a catalyst for further study of marginalized people all over the world.