Iris Haq Lukolyo, 10, penned an essay about the experience that went viral (Heather Haq; iStock; Lily illustration) Julianne McShane
Feb. 23, 2021
One day last September, when 10-year-old Iris Haq Lukolyo logged on to Zoom school, her social studies teacher told the class that they would spend the day learning about the roles of the Founding Fathers in building America.
But Iris a fifth-grader at Glenn York Elementary School in Pearland, Tex. was puzzled: She didn’t know how her class could have a conversation about the origins of America without talking about the contributions of enslaved Black people, whose unpaid labor was integral to shaping the United States as a leading global economy.