Black History Month

February is the month of Valentines, right? Um, not quite! It is also: Black History Month! This month, we all made fantastic presentations regarding someone who inspired us. We learned more about compassion and empathy while also understanding the importance of diversity and social justice. We learned the importance of allies and remembering that being a bystander to any form of discrimination is not okay! 

Along with our presentations, we designed some quilt art. As we learned, these quilts all had messages. Below we will explain a bit about the quilt chosen, why it inspired us and why it was picked!

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27 thoughts on “Black History Month

  1. brodie1 says:

    The quilt i picked is the Log Cabin I picked the Log Cabin because it looked really cool, and it reminded me of that my family owns a cabin in Mayne Island. It also reminded me of the outdoors and all the deer and seals and other animals on Mayne Island. I picked the Log Cabin because it gave me a big flashback , and its also really easy to make and it still looks good. The quilts meaning means to take cover or find shelter, it reminded me of when i needed to take cover with rohan or find shelter with rohan, because Lyiam was going to tackle us. Those are the reasons why i picked the Log Cabin.

  2. paanini1 says:

    I chose to use the crossroads quilt. It means several roads to freedom. i don’t really know how it inspired me but it did. i was also looking for something i could do without screwing up so many tries that i would get angry and destroy some things. nut the truth is i did screw up like 10000 times but still i guess i am super lucky i didn’t destroy anything. After i finally succeeded in making the quilt i liked the fact that eve though it looked really easy it was actually SUPER difficult. Looks can deceive truths i have learned this lesson now because of this project(thanks ms panesar) 🙂

  3. jordan55 says:

    my quilt mean, draw on the ground indicating it was necessary to seek shelter or that a person is safe to speak with. i chose this quilt because this quilt is the best one i think

  4. bosco3 says:

    The Meaning of my quilt is a animal on a mountain. It see’s a trial of a bear paw. It lead to food and water. I pick this design because it lead to food and water, that saved the black American from torch er and danger. It also made me pick this because the black American could escape from torch er and go to freedom in Canada. Now this is how I got inspired from the bear paw quilt. It got the black American a better life. It also stop them from getting force to be a slave or else die from the white American. Itv also inspire me cause,

  5. daniel169 says:

    Hellow! It me Daniel. My quilt’s meaning is changing clothes or be dressed with clothes that will make you of higher society. I chose Bow tie (or Hourglass) because I like to disguise myself sometimes if I really have to to spy on people or to hide in other clothes so my friends won’t recognise me. (Trust me it is very fun!) My quilt inspired me because it is very interesting how you have to change clothes to evade capture from the slave hunters. It also inspired me because if you have better clothes, even though they are a slave, if you have better clothes they won’t think that they are slaves! (clothes=life! Literally!) Another fact that inspired me was the people who spent thousands of dollars on clothes for the slaves and are guaranteed jail if they are caught, the clothes they spent thousands of dollars on clothes and it isn’t even for the buyer, but the slaves!

  6. matthew1 says:

    Lately, we have made freedom quilt drawings on poster board. I have chosen the monkey wrench. The reason why I chose this quilt is because it meant to gather tools, and not only that that. It also told to gather mental and spiritual tools, which is very interesting to me. I wondered how slaves could find the tools. Back in the time, a black man asking for knives and wrenches would be suspicious. I also chose it because it is very simple, but easily distinguished. It has only triangles and squares, but it is not uninteresting. Sort of like a less-is-more thing. There is no wavy lines or complex patterns. Those are pretty much the main reason why I chose the monkey wrench. Although the word “monkey” is what caught my eye. Those are the reasons why I chose the monkey wrench.

  7. marcus31 says:

    my quilt means’ follow the mountain trail out of sight then follow the real bears trail and it will lead you to food and water’. I choose this quilt because it is showing that although following the mountain trail could be a exhausting hike but it will pay off since you will have food and water when you get to your destination. the food and water will be a boost to help you on the way down the mountain. Also the fact that it resembles a animal really makes sense because animals are a great deal of our world and I also really like animals(especially cats).this quilt inspired me because there are lots of different messages like ‘work hard for big reward’ and ‘animals will give you food and water so we should respect them. I was also inspired because I like animals and a bear is an animal if you didn’t know. ALL DONE THX FOR LISENING.

  8. bosco3 says:

    The Meaning of my quilt is a animal on a mountain. It see’s a trial of a bear paw. It lead to food and water. I pick this design because it lead to food and water, that saved the black American from torch er and danger. It also made me pick this because the black American could escape from torch er and go to freedom in Canada. Now this is how I got inspired from the bear paw quilt. It got the black American a better life. It also stop them from getting force to be a slave or else die from the white American. It also inspire me cause,they had to wait for more than one day but for me I just need to wait for about a few hour’s to get some where far. I can’t just imagine being in a cell and doing things that could kill me. I should be thankful for what i have now

  9. Benjamin says:

    I chose the Wagon Wheel/ Carpenter’s wheel because it has a meaning of packing up things that are necessary for survival, using a wagon, and loading things on a wagon. They say that the wagon even has a hidden compartment to conceal the escapees, and will soon get the trip to freedom. The quilt design was mathematically designed because it is exactly for a 8×8 square grid, and is easily figured out from the others because it has a smaller but complicated design. The quilt inspired me because it looks outstanding from the other and you can have two designs to choose from. It used more than two colours and I likes the way that it was so symmetrical. It has a connection to me because of packing up, and connecting to me going to other places with luggage.

  10. isabella16 says:

    My quilt is Rose Wreath and it’s meaning is a symbol that indicated someone had died on the journey. I picked this quilt code design because thought it was nice that people left rose wreaths on the graves of people who died on that dangerous journey. And i also love the idea of leaving a rose wreath for someone who died. I was inspired because i liked how people cared when people died because they cared so much about those people they left rose wreaths for them in their graves. And if they didn’t care they would just put the people who died in their graves and leave to continue their journey. I also was inspired by the Rose Wreath quilt code design because it shows that when people were escaping they helped each other until they escaped or died and they left rose wreaths to acknowledge them and remember them for their help and courage to escape and go on a dangerous journey to stop being a slave so they can have their freedom. 🙂

  11. eric55 says:

    My quilt’s meaning is a signal that involved broken crockery at some future landmark. I chose this design because slaves used broken crockery to leave trails for other slaves to follow. My quilt inspired me because it was one of the freedom quilts for slaves. These quilts helped slaves by directing them to got from America to Canada.

  12. jessie3 says:

    i chose the flying geese quilt. The flying geese quilt is a signal to follow the migrating geese in the spring time. Most of the slaves escaped during the spring time. While the slaves are travelling, the flying geese quilt is used as a sign to tell the escapees that there will be things like water, food, and shelter at the place. the quilt maker had to be flexible with this pattern because as it could be used in any quilt. it could also be used as a compass with some of the other quilt patterns. I picked this design because you can find some of the basics for human survival. so to me this quilt is like the “life quilt.” The quilt inspired me because Ii wonder why they have to sneak around and constantly watch their backs because at any second a person could find them out and report them. If the white people treated them right and equal then they wouldn’t need to escape and always be afraid to do something wrong because they would be punished. the times back then were very unfair. Also, I would say maybe the black did something to make the whites mistreat them. But in this case, in all the presentations that i have heard have not said anything about that. So my conclusion is that i guess that white people just thought that they are the perfect skin colour and that everyone else is just bad. Hope this helped you learn something! Bye! 🙂 😀

  13. michael49 says:

    There were multiple quilt designs in front of me. Though only one can be chosen. It was a challenge that I faced to only pick one (maybe not to you but it was one to me) the one that I picked was the North Star quilt. The North Star quilt either means. A: follow the North Star in order to get to the land, Canada. Or, B: follow the drinking gourd. Which means follow the big dipper. (A constellation) which will lead them to follow it in order to find the North Star which will lead them to Canada. I picked this design because I wanted a quilt design that’s not too hard but looks pretty cool. I also picked it because when reading its meaning. It was really interesting. This quilt inspired me because of how smart the “black people” were. I was really impressed of how the even know these things. So those are my reasons for picking this quilt.

  14. selina16 says:

    The quilt I chose is the rose wreath. The rose wreath means on the journey of escaping the torture in America, someone have sadly died. Using the beautiful rose wreath to remember and tell the story of the person/people who died, makes people remember them better and be more careful about their own journey. There is another reason that I chose to draw the rose wreath. The rose wreath reminds me of all the people who died on their journey. They tried their best to live a better life, but they failed sadly. This is mostly the reason I chose to draw the rose wreath. I want to draw the best rose wreath I can to remember the people who did their best to live. The fact that they can’t live anymore makes me think of if they didn’t star the racism, then none of this will happen , then everybody can live a normal life. If they didn’t start the racism, then Martin King JR wouldn’t have died. Because they Started the racism, I want to draw the rose wreath and let them rest in peace.

  15. lily6 says:

    hello! me lily. oh! and Lillian told me to mention her name too. The quilt that Lillian and I chose was the rose wreath. The rose wreath represents that someone died on the journey. Lillian and I picked the design because it takes a long time to draw out the circle for the wreath and add the roses on. But the it varies when it comes to roses. they vary by size and colour.Lillian and I also had fun when I was picking out which colour pastels to use. The rose wreath quilt design inspired me because when I see this quilt I think of people that have died in the time when there was slavery. They died because they were a different skin colour!!!!!!!! like what? It is not fair! so I drew the rose wreath so that when I look at it I can think of people that died on the journey when there was slavery.bye! says me and Lillian

  16. eunbin2 says:

    my quilt is the north star. I chose it because it leads the slaves to beautiful and amazing Canada. It also represents the Drinking gourd (the big Dipper). The North Star was the guiding light because it always points to the north.  It was an important navigational tool for the ship owners who took the slaves from Cleveland or Detroit to Canada. The North Star is the last block in the Underground Railroad Sampler quilt.  The quilt top was finished into a light-weight quilt, raffled off for the benefit of the Edwards Historical Association and won by an appreciative teacher at Edwards-Knox Central School, Chris Backus, who plans to use it in her classroom. i got that data from a website

  17. annie25 says:

    The quilt I chose is Drunkard Path. I chose Drunkard Path because when I see this design it makes me feel exaggerated, wild and dramatic. It makes me feel this way because all the squiggly lines makes me also want to start squiggling around to. I also chose this quilt because I am pretty sure no one else drew it, I say this because I like being different I do not like doing the same as thing as everyone else, it just takes the fun out of everything. My quilts meaning is “a warning signal to take a zigzag route, to avoid slave hunters and their hounds or dogs. This quilt inspired me because sometimes in life when things do not work out in life we have to take another route and have a new beginning. I am not sure how I thought that but it just seems right, and that’s just life. I think that this quilt that I chose is very important. Because without it slaves wouldn’t know where to go or where might be dangerous. Without this quilt you could easily get caught by slave hunters. I think that drunkard path is one of the most important design.

  18. winona2 says:

    The symbol I made was the Bear’s paw it means to follow a bear’s trail which would lead to food and water and to follow a mountain trail out of view. I picked the bear’s paw because it did not look so hard and did not look so easy so somewhere in the middle. The quilt inspired me because it was so fun to make and I was surprisingly not rushing my work ( I usually rush my work in art projects)and in the end it did not look that bad.

  19. isabel2 says:

    I chose the quilt design because it is really pretty and I think it means a lotto the slaves. It inspired me because people have died on the journey and I think that is touching. It inspired me also because the slaves worked so hard and some of them even died. I hope that this wreath that I chose inspires others that also chose the rose wreath. My quilts meaning is it is a symbol that indicated that someone has died on the journey. It was an African tradition to leave to leave floral wreaths on the graves of the deceased. I think that is really good. It is kind of like leaving poppies on the graves of the soldiers that have died on Remembrance day.

  20. jhanine1 says:

    Rose wreath is a symbol that means that someone had died on the journey.And it was African tradition
    to leave floral wreaths on the graves.

    The reason why I chose the rose wreath is because I think that it is the one that looks outstanding
    the most.I also chose this symbol because I think that it has a very deep meaning since it is about how people passed away,I love the idea of the rose wreath quilt because it is like a thank you gift since they fought fir their privileges and their rights.This inspired me to always treat everyone fairly and to always fight for what is right .It also inspired me because people sacrificed their lives just to prove that we should all be treated equally!And i also think that a lot of people also got inspired because of this quilt, and that is why i chose the Rose Wreath quilt!

    – Jhanine

  21. naomi19 says:

    The quilt I chose was the rose of wreath quilt. The rose of wreath means that someone passed away on The journey to Canada. I chose the rose of wreath because it is a very nice design and I like how the flowers and the leaves go together and the whole image makes a really meaningful picture. I also like the rose of wreath because the meaning and the picture makes sense because when someone dies at their funeral the bring flowers and remember them. I chose this design because it is really beautiful and I am not at really good at so I thought I should take the challenge and draw a hard picture. This also inspired me because we are learning about black history month and this picture makes so much sense because it is really meaningful and it makes me feel sad about the people who died so I thought that I would show some respect by drawing the rose of wreath to remember those people that had to go through hardship and be scared that someone could catch them and kill them! the black people had to face the hard stuff and I never new that it would be that hard just to go to U.S.A to have freedom and to not be suffering by working so hard they had no rest.

  22. the amazing joshua says:

    Da reason I chose ‘flying geese’ for my social study/art project is; that I was interested by the fact that the people who were escaping from USA to Canada relied on migrating geese. the geese could lead the escapers to Canada or to resourceful places.it made me wonder: “what would happen if the geese go the wrong way?” But it turns out that birds that migrate never go the wrong way. the triangles represents geese flying in a V-formation. the person who makes the quilts have to be very accurate in order for the slaves to find safety. Another example of a quilt that relies on animals is ‘Bear Paws it tells the slaves to follow paw tracks. That is the reason I drew the ‘Flying Geese.’ Also I like the patterns. By: JESH copyright 2018

  23. sebby1 says:

    The quilts meaning is: A signal to gather all tools required for the fleeing slaves journey, meaning the physical tools, as well as the mental and spiritual ones. The quilt I choose is the monkey wrench. I choose this because its colours was so beautiful and that it had so much detail. The colours on the quilt were blue red and blonde. I like how the shapes on the monkey wrench were placed. The shapes on the quilt were triangles and squares. I enjoyed colouring this quilt and I hope I will be able to make it some day using a sewing machine. 🙂

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