How to Interpret Black History

Learn how to accurately interpret topics related to Black history, including key historical events, terminology, and some BASL signs.

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Black History

Course curriculum

1. How to Navigate This Course
2. About April Jackson
3. How to Contact Your Facilitator
4. How to Get RID CEU Credit (for interpreters)
5. How to Get Certificate of Completion
1. Transatlantic Slave Trade
2. What Was the Transatlantic Slave Trade?
3. The Three-Part Trade System
4. The Middle Passage
5. Arrival in the Americas
1. Underground Railroad
2. Slavery and the Desire to Escape
3. What Was the Underground Railroad?
4. Key People
5. How Escapes Worked
6. The Dangers
1. Juneteenth (1865)
2. The End of the Civil War
3. What Happened in Texas
4. The Meaning of Juneteenth
1. Reconstruction (1865–1877)
2. The South After the War
3. New Laws and Amendments
4. Black Political Participation
5. Backlash and Violence
6. The End of Reconstruction
1. Montgomery Bus Boycott
2. Segregation on Buses
3. Rosa Parks
4. The Boycott Begins
5. Martin Luther King Jr.
6. The Result
1. Birmingham Campaign
2. Why Birmingham?
3. Nonviolent Protests
4. Children’s Marches
5. Why It Mattered
1. Selma and Voting Rights Act (1965)
2. Voting Barriers
3. The Selma Marches
4. National Shock
5. The Voting Rights Act
1. Assassination of MLK Jr. (1968)
2. MLK in the Late 1960s
3. Why He Was in Memphis
4. What Happened
1. African Diaspora
2. Back-to-Africa Movement
3. Segregation vs. desegregation
4. Police violence and state violence
5. Black Lives Matter Movement
6. Black Power Movement
7. Mass incarceration
8. Voting rights
9. Protest
10. Organizing
11. Systemic racism
12. Marginalized
13. Equity vs. equality
14. Uprising vs riot
15. Coalition
16. Solidarity
17. Ally vs accomplice
18. Privilege
1. Disclaimer
2. Car
3. Weird
4. Ice cream
5. Banana
6. Comb
7. Used
8. Peanut butter
9. Cheese
10. Cereal
11. Beautiful
1. Langston Hughes — Who He Was
2. Langston Hughes — What He Did
3. Langston Hughes — Why It Matters
1. George Washington Carver — Who He Was
2. George Washington Carver — What He Did
3. George Washington Carver — Why It Matters
1. Katherine Johnson
2. Katherine Johnson — Who She Was
3. Katherine Johnson — What She Did
4. Katherine Johnson — Why It Matters
1. Jesse Owens
2. Jesse Owens — Who He Was
3. Jesse Owens — What He Did
4. Jesse Owens — Why It Matters
1. Muhammad Ali
2. Muhammad Ali — Who He Was
3. Muhammad Ali — What He Did
4. Muhammad Ali — Why It Matters
1. Preparing for the Final Exam
2. Final Exam
3. Next Step

About this course

Free
96 lessons
0.5 hours of video content

About April Jackson-Woodard

April Jackson-Woodard

Deaf interpreter & trainer

April Jackson-Woodard is a Deaf interpreter who also provides training to ASL interpreters in various places across the U.S. & Canada. As a sixth-generation Black Deaf family member, April is passionate about educating people related to Black ASL (BASL) as well as interpreting in various contexts.

Jackson-Woodard earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and minor in Fine Arts specializing in Theatre and Production at Gallaudet University in 2012. She is featured as a storyteller for two well-known storybook apps ("The Baobab" and "The Blue Lobster") published by the Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) Science Center at Gallaudet University.

Jackson-Woodard specializes in the interpretations of Black American Sign Language (BASL), as well as platform/conference, medical, legal, Tactile/ProTactile, International Sign and theatre settings - locally, nationally and internationally.

She is a member in good standing with the following professional organizations: National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA), DC Area Black Deaf Advocates (DCABDA), Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), Potomac Chapter Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (PCRID), and the National Alliance of Black Interpreters and DC (NAOBI-DC).

During her special moments, April loves to exercise, travel, socialize and spend time with her gorgeous two Deaf children.

FAQ

What do you expect me to do in this course?

This course is entirely self-paced. You will watch video lessons and take a final exam. You are not required to interact with the instructor or other students. But if you wish, you may post questions or comments in the community page, and I will do my best to respond to any questions within 72 hours on weekdays.
For how long will I be able to access this course?

After purchasing this course, you will have access to it for as long as this web platform is used. It is guaranteed that this course will be offered through December 31, 2026. After that date, the instructor may decide to retire this course. If that's the case, there will be an announcement posted in the Signplaying community page, and you will still be able to access the course for one more month after the announcement.
Does this course offer RID CEU credit?

This course offers 0.1 Professional Studies (PS) Power, Privilege and Oppression (PPO) RID CEU credit at the Some Content Knowledge Level. To obtain the RID CEU, you will have to complete the entire course and pass the Final Exam with a minimum score of 80%. (If you fail the Final Exam, you can retake it for as many times as you need.) Then, you will get a course completion email with a link to the course evaluation. In the course evaluation, you don't need to answer all the questions, but you will need to submit your full name (as recorded in the RID system) and your RID member number. After you have submitted that course evaluation form with these two required information, I will work with the CMP sponsor (Interpretek) to process your CEU within several weeks.
Does this course offer a Certificate of Completion?

Yes. The course provides specific instructions for how you can get your Certificate of Completion.
Where does my money go when I pay for this course?

100% of your payment (after taxes) for this course goes directly to April Jackson-Woodard.
Does this course have English voiceover?

This course has SOME videos with English voiceover. The voice interpreting was done by Jenese Portee.

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