The truth shall set you free: we all need to brush up on African-American history.I grew up in a nearly all-white New Jersey suburb but gained respect for African-Americans and their culture through the actions of my parents and a few teachers. In seventh grade social studies we not only read "Uncle Tom's Cabin Uncle Tom’s Cabin highly effective, sentimental Abolitionist novel. [Am. Lit.: Jameson, 513] See : Antislavery " but also produced an 8mm movie based on the novel. My high school music classes focused on the study and performance of many African-American jazz masters, and my parents always had African-American friends with whom we socialized so·cial·ize v. so·cial·ized, so·cial·iz·ing, so·cial·iz·es v.tr. 1. To place under government or group ownership or control. 2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable. . An African-American woman even sang gospel songs at my bar mitzvah. I watched "Roots" with my family like millions of Americans. Majoring in jazz and playing in Latin bands enhanced my multicultural perspectives. However, it was not until I took a required college course on racism and sexism that I appreciated the depth of the void in my education. Watching the remarkable PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, documentary "Eyes on the Prize Eyes on the Prize is a 14-hour documentary series about the American Civil Rights Movement that aired in two parts. Part one, six hours long, originally aired on PBS in early 1987 as Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965). " countless times introduced me to American heroes from my lifetime such as Medgar Evers, A. Philip Randolph Asa Philip Randolph (April 15 1889 – May 16 1979) was a prominent twentieth century African-American civil rights leader and founder of the first black labor union in the United States. Early Years Randolph was born in Crescent City, Florida. , Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer (born Fannie Lou Townsend on October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader. She was instrumental in organizing Mississippi's "Freedom Summer" for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , James Meredith, John Lewis and Robert Moses. Listening to Benny Goodman, Michael Shwerner and James Chaney, Malcolm X Malcolm X, 1925–65, militant black leader in the United States, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, b. Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb. He was introduced to the Black Muslims while serving a prison term and became a Muslim minister upon his release in 1952. and the Little Rock Nine speaking in their own words left me feeling guilty about how little I knew about the real struggle for equality in this nation. I was furious about how school had denied me access to recent history and lied by omission and commission. I was taught as little about Dr. King as my children were about the Watergate scandal, the Camp David accords Camp David accords, popular name for the historic peace accords forged in 1978 between Israel and Egypt at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Md. The official agreement was signed on Mar. 26, 1979, in Washington, D.C. or Iran-Contra. Yet each of these topics influences our current events. I've since read W.E.B. DuBois and Dr. King. I own a set of the "Eyes on the Prize" videos. I've traveled to the King Center, Central High School, Ole Miss, the Lorraine Motel, as well as South Africa's Soweto and Robben Island. This is all part of my continuing education and makes me a better educator. Serving on a recent panel discussion with Robert Moses about improving education in Harlem remains one of the highlights of my career. Required Reading An educator's obligation to be informed and speak truthfully with students is brought into focus in Herbert Kohl's stunning book, "She Would Not Be Moved: How We Tell the Story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a mass protest by African American citizens in the city of Montgomery, Alabama, against Segregation policies on the city's public buses. It was nine years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would change the nation forever. " (New Press, 2007). Kohl exposes the usual story "Rosa's feet were tired and would not give up her seat and the world came together to end segregation" as a fable that robs all children of their history, diminishes the struggle of those who fought to make America live up to the ideals of its constitution, and continues to oppress op·press tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny. 2. minority children. Line by line he dissects the half-truths and distortions in this cartoon version of Rosa Parks' story and helps teachers find ways of sharing the historical truth about Mrs. Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the vicious destruction caused by segregation. Half of the book helps educators teach complex social issues. Space does not allow me to retell re·tell tr.v. re·told , re·tell·ing, re·tells 1. To relate or tell again or in a different form. 2. To count again. Verb 1. the true story of how segregation long tormented the residents of Montgomery, or how Mrs. Parks was secretary of the NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. and had been thrown off of segregated buses for twelve years, or how Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, a tenured ten·ured adj. Having tenure: tenured civil servants; tenured faculty. Adj. 1. tenured English professor and organizer of the boycott, had been expelled from a bus six years earlier. The story of tired feet and the Kumbaya told to school children fails to mention the fact that African-Americans were dependent on the bus system yet endured hardship by boycotting it for 381 days. Or that "Negroes" were never allowed to sit at the front of the bus, only in the "colored" section several rows back, and even then they could be expelled if a white passenger simply requested their seat. The civil rights struggle of the late 20th century is just one topic in the vast multicultural history of our nation and the world. Since February is Black History Month, we need to use this opportunity to learn more of our history and share it with colleagues. Perhaps begin by reading Dr. King's entire "Dream" speech, and not just the happy paragraph found in textbooks. Our students and country will be richer for it. RESOURCES Herbert Kohl recommends the following books about Rosa Parks for school use: A Dream of Freedom by Diane McWhorter (Scholastic Non-fiction), 2004 Rosa Parks, My Story by Rosa Parks, with Jim Haskins (Puffin Books), 1999 Rosa Parks: The Movement Organizes by Kai Friese--part of a nine-volume series, The History of the Civil Rights Movement, edited by Eldom Morris (Silver Burdett), 1990 Gary Stager's favorite resources include: Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement--7 DVDs, including study guides (PBS), 2006 For elementary students: Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine (Putnam Juvenile), 2000 Oh, Freedom/by Casey King and Linda Barrett Osborne (Knopf Books for Young Readers), 1997 We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), 2001 For middle-high school students: The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley, by Attallah Shabazz (foreword), Alex Haley (interviewer), Malcolm X (primary contributor), Ballantine, 1987 Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary By any means necessary is a translation of a phrase coined by the French intellectual Jean Paul Sartre in his play Dirty Hands. I was not the one to invent lies: they were created in a society divided by class and each of us inherited lies when we were born. by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic), 1994 Martin Luther King by Marshall Frady (Penguin Lives), 2002 Rosa Parks by Douglas Brinkley (Penguin Lives), 2005 For teachers: The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle by Clayborne Carson, et al. (Penguin), 1991 For learning more on your own: The Children by David Halberstam (Ballantine), 1999 Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching by Alana Murray and Deborah Menkart (Teaching for Change), 2004 Hear DA senior editor Gary Stager speak at the following conferences: February 7-8, 2007 Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA TCEA Texas Computer Education Association TCEA Transportation Concurrency Exception Area TCEA Texas Community Education Association TCEA Texas College English Association TCEA Training Center for Experimental Aerodynamics (NATO) ) Austin, TX www.tcea.org March 1-3 2007 Computer-Using Educators (CUE) Palm Springs, CA www.cue.org March 5, 2007 Anytime Anywhere Learning (AALF) Northern NJ/NYC area www.aallf.org March 7. 2007 Anytime Anywhere Learning (AALF) North Carolina www.aalf.org March 9, 2007 Anytime Anywhere Learning (AALF) Wichita, KS www.aalf.org March 13, 2007 New Jersey Educational Computing Cooperative Conference (NJECC) Montclair, NJ www.njecc.org March 15-17 2007 Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, or ASCD, is a membership-based nonprofit organization founded in 1943. It has more than 175,000 members in 135 countries, including superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and (ASCD ASCD Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD Association of Service & Computer Dealers International ASCD American Society of Computer Dealers ASCD All Source Correlated Database ASCD Advanced Software Concepts Department ASCD Asset Status Card ) Anaheim, CA www.ascd.org March 28. 2007 Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) San Francisco, CA www.cosn.org April 4-6, 2007 Eduventures: Rethinking K-12 Education Conference Boston, MA www.eduventures.com Gary S. Stager, gary@stager.org, is senior editor of DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION and editor of The Pulse: Education's Place for Debate (www.districtadministration.com/ pulse). |
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