Black history month is a time dedicated to studying the accomplishments of African American men and women who have made strides in our culture and in society. School teachers have to be especially creative when celebrating this month being that there’s so much information to cram into the shortest month of the year. Eight year teaching veteran Kimberly Tatuem, who’s a History and American Government educator for Baltimore Public Schools took her creativity to the next level when she started a viral trend of decorating her classroom’s door into a black woman with an enormous 3 dimensional curly afro. Kimberly allowed her creative energy to take charge as she used strips of black construction paper to create faux 3-D curls that covered the outside of her classroom door and extended onto the walls of the hallway. When you opened the door the fro’s curls didn’t tear they seamlessly separated… *pretty cool*
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Tatuem said her principal announced a school wide competition of a black history month door decorating contest. Her inspiration was drawn from her competitive spirit coupled with creating a way to help raise the self esteem of the female student population at her school.
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“Our principal announced that we were having a door decorating contest for Black History Month. I am a competitive person so I really wanted to do my best so that my door could win. Plus, I hate to lose and I am a little bit extra (LOL). We are also working hard to raise the self-esteem of our female population.”
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After the competition was announced Kimberly thought about ways to make her door stand out; and that’s what she did literally by creating 3 dimensional hair.
“I figured that everyone would be doing flat door cover decorations, and I wanted my door to stand out. My husband always has supported my art so he suggested I think outside of the box. So, I thought, what can I put on it to make it look three-dimensional, and then I thought about her hair.”
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Once Tatuem’s creative juices went to work her door became a viral meme. The door shows an intricate creation of a painting of a black girl, wearing a kente cloth patterned choker, a v-neck shirt adorned with African American men and women who’ve contributed to the advancement of the black culture here in American and abroad. Her enormous afro extends beyond the door but around the wall of the door frame. It almost resembles a tree with her fro’s curls being the leaves. I’m going to leave it up to you to figure out who won this competition.
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Tatuem says she can’t take all of the credit because her students definitely helped her roll up and tape countless 3-D faux curls for competition. “My students were amazed and proud. They helped a lot as they were the ones who rolled all of her hair. When I came into school the next day after the post went viral and was shared on sites such as The Shade Room, Black Wall Street, Power 105.1 and Motown Records, as well as liked by a number of celebrities, my students were so excited and proud. I saw in them a renewed sense of pride in themselves, their abilities, their city, and their school. It became much more than a contest because after that I wasn’t concerned about the prize because their reaction was reward enough.”
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Even though the girl is no one specifically she’s been told she resembles Amara LaNegra and others. “The girl is not anyone specifically but I have been told that she resembles Bozoma Saint John and Amara la Negra. But it is a representation of all black women who have achieved greatness and those who will make outstanding achievements in the future.”
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Her creation going viral was definitely a shock her for she didn’t expect it. “I was definitely shocked. I just posted it to be funny because in my original post I said “When you have to decorate your door for Black History month and the best door wins a prize.” I was excited to see that it went viral and inspired others. The comments were enough to bring a person to tears. Things such as I wish this was my school and I wish my daughter could walk through a door like this at her school and so on. It was also encouraging for me being that I drive 100 plus miles a day to come teach them, because I truly care about my students. Like most teachers some days I feel like I want to give up and I feel underappreciated, so it lifted my spirits too!”
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Talk about feeling appreciated; Tatuem’s viral video has over 1.7 million views on The Shade Room’s instagram page. XONecole featured Kimberly’s work in a short video interview via instagram. It’s safe to say that world was amazed, intrigued, and impacted by her creativity.
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Since her door has gone viral, teachers everywhere have been recreating her original design, some giving the girl 2 afro puffs or decorating multiple doors at a time. Tatuem’s design definitely hit a spark of creativity nationally and this Baltimore based school teacher with a passion for teaching started a trend among educators everywhere.
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Tatuem hopes this spark of interest helps to bring additional resources to the Baltimore Public School system because due to budget cuts teachers are subjected to spend money from their personal budget in order to fund classroom expenses. “I hope that students of color or of underrepresented populations can accept and feel good in their own skin. I want them to be proud of who they are, where they come from and what they can be. I teach in a school that supports the teaching of Black History all year. I also fortunately teach in a district that encourages teachers to teach outside of the box and allows teachers to have creative freedom. I was upset by some of the comments stating that there were some schools who were not celebrating BHM and that they were unable to do things like this at their schools. I hope that Baltimore City Public schools can get some recognition for the positive things that its teachers do but more importantly what their students do. I hope that my creativity will encourage businesses to partner with our school because, due to budget cuts we are in need of supplies. We have many teachers who of course are spending their own money and teaching classes with outdated textbooks. I would also hope that maybe even celebrities could possibly come visit the kids and keep them encouraged.”
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I just have one question: What curl pattern is her hair? Just kidding ! Find out how you can donate to the Baltimore Public School system by contacting Kimberly through her instagram account here @Ktatuem
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Monica A Hadley
21.02.2018 at 20:11This is amazing . I wish this kind of wokeness was around when I was growing up . The true definition of #black excellence letting our little blk girls and little black boys know we are to be celebrated embracing our uniqueness in all our splendors .Thank you @urbangirlmag thus article is truly amazing ✊🏾