Description of learners

<> African American learn better when there is harmony, cooperation, affect and socialization.
<> They prefer to learn visually.
<> Evidence shows (Myers-Brigg type indicator test) that African American are more spontaneous, flexible, and open minded than European American.
<> They prefer to learn collectively and communicate freely in the classroom.
<> African American learn better when there is no reward system.
<> They prefer active learning, using physical activity and personal relationships.
<> They are more subjective learners.

Box Office Films

American Gangster
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.


Glory Road
40 years ago, Don Haskins went on the recruiting trail to find the best talent in the land, black or white. 7 blacks and 5 whites made up the legendary 1965-66 Texas Western Miners. They were mocked and ridiculed for their showboating and flaunting of black players on the court. Yet, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, Haskins and his Miners came together as a team united to reach the National Championship game against powerhouse Kentucky.

8 Mile
This film is about a white rapper but gives a good look into Detroit gangs, the black underground of Detroit, and other social characteristics of modern day black (African American) culture. 


Death at a funeral
Aaron's father's funeral is today at the family home, and everything goes wrong: the funeral home delivers the wrong body; a cousin gives her fiancé a Valium from her brother's apartment, not knowing her brother is dealing drugs - it's LSD and the fiancé arrives at the funeral wildly stoned; Aaron's younger brother, Ryan, a successful writer, flies in from New York broke but arrogant; one uncle is angry over his daughter's choice of boyfriends, and the other is cranky and coarse. Add an ovulating wife, a jealous ex-boyfriend, and a short stranger who wants a word with Aaron - what could he want? Would another death solve Aaron's problems? And what about the eulogy?





ROOTS 
A saga of African-American life, based on Alex Haley's family history. Kunta Kinte is abducted from his African village, sold into slavery, and taken to America. He makes several escape attempts until he is finally caught and maimed. He marries Bell, his plantation's cook, and they have a daughter, Kizzy, who is eventually sold away from them. Kizzy has a son by her new master, and the boy grows up to become Chicken George, a legendary cock fighter who leads his family into freedom. Throughout the series, the family observes notable events in U.S. history, such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings, and emancipation.


Remember the Titans
- This movie is about a football team which is desegregated so that black players and white players play together. They struggle to be able to play together as a team because of the difference in race. This clip is a turning moment in the fill in which Coach Boone gives a speech that urges the teammates to realize that they should not be fighting amongst themselves because of race. The quality is not great but the words are what are important to this clip.

African American Art - Edmonia Lewis

"Edmonia Lewis has inspired generations of minority artists for over 130 years, even as the mainstream art world resisted recognizing the achievements of women and African Americans. She boldly breached barriers of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and class around the time of the Civil War and Reconstruction, an era when prejudices against these minorities were particularly virulent." 

"She became the first African American sculptor to celebrate Emancipation with The Freed Woman and Her Child and the immortal Forever Free.  She created figures from Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha, popular cherubs, copies of classics, and religious works that readily sold. She created a famous bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, also sculpting Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, Horace Greeley, John Brown, Senator Charles Sumner, Bishop B. W. Arnett,  John Cardinal McCloskey, and many others."

"She loved America, but she could not live in a society that cast her unfairly. Slighted by a few Americans even in Rome, she plotted her victorious return to the United States.Advertising Hagar in the Chicago Tribune, Lewis became the first African-American artist to link her race and name with artistic achievement. She shocked and mortified those who claimed African Americans lacked the capacity for intelligence and fine art by standing next to her works and explaining them for days on end. She was the first important female sculptor to take her work to California. At the 1876 Centennial exposition, she stunned the world with her sensational Death of Cleopatra, assuring her right to a place in history.

Edmonia Lewis was endowed not only with special gifts as an artist. Her shrewdness, creativity, perseverance, and passion enabled her to find support against all odds and ever press her case"  

[Taken from http://www.edmonialewis.com/]

Two Samples of Her work 

 "Death of Cleopatra" 1876

"This work was exhibited in the Women's Pavilion at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 with 600 other sculptures by various other artists, and caused a sensation due to the realistic portrayal of Cleopatra. The statue shows female power and vulnerability (power in the fact that Cleopatra was a femme fatale, and vulnerability in the fact that she is dead.) Lewis may be making reference to how Cleopatra was thwarted in her attempts for power, but in suicide she has control. Lewis was quoted by William Wells Brown in "The Rising Son" (1874): 'I have a strong sympathy for all women who have struggled and suffered' " [Taken from http://www.uiowa.edu/~boosf/galleries/afampainting.htm] 

 

Forever Free

About the Poet Langston Hughes

"He is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in montage of a dream deferred.

His life and work were influential in the shaping of what came to be known as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen, Hughes identified fiercely his personal experience with that of the common experiences of the American Negro. He wanted to tell their stories that reflected their dignity, humor, suffering, and language." 

[Taken from http://www.nathanielturner.com/langstonhughesbio.htm] 

Poems

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America.  [Taken from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-too/]  Harlem   What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? [ Taken from http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=640 ]

Picture of Book Report and brief description

This kid Greg (Slam) can dominate on the basketball court.  He's got all the skills in the bag.  One thing he needs to improve his skills on are his grades.  What makes it worse is that the teachers are shoving all his troubles in his face.

Cass and Jemmie are the main characters of this story. Cass be-friends African American Jemmie. As the two strengthen their friendship they fight the opposition of raciest parents as well as other challenges. The book is a great read for students grade 5-8.


Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Cassie's family faces a real challenge: to hold on to land in the South during the Depression. Her father works away from home and her mother works and runs the family farm. This is an excellent story of a black family's struggles to remain independent and proud against all obstacles.

Description of Learners from African American culture

Pieces of Art

Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated, young men who enlisted to become America's first black military airmen, at a time when there were many people who thought that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage, and patriotism. Each one possessed a strong desire to serve the United States of America to the best of his ability.

Picture Books-fiction/non-fiction

"Amazing Grace" by Mary Hoffman

Teaching Strategies

It is very important to use a variety of teaching methods.  One method for teaching African Americans or students of a different ethnicity could be to keep them actively involved in the classroom.  Set up activities for them to do in groups.  However, avoid segregating students by cultural groups and letting students wander into their own groups.  Try to mix up the groups so that there is a mixture of different ethnicities.  Also, try to make sure everyone in the group is participating in one way so that no one feels left out.     

Major Historical Events

The Lewis and Clark expedition was a very interesting trip for the two men.  On their journey they faced quite a few challenges and even made a new friend named Sacajawea who they had to say goodbye to after she led them further on their expedition.  Lewis and Clark also made friends with a few Indian tribes that they ran into on their journey.  Conditions weren't always in their favor but they managed to stay sheltered and survive during the toughest of times.

Jackie Robinson broke through the racial barrier of baseball in 1947. By breaking the color barrier in baseball, the nation's preeminent sport, he courageously challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and the South.

Rosa Parks is another African American hero. During the time when segregation was a way of life in America and people with dark colored skin were not given the rights which white individuals enjoyed, she made a stand. Buses were segregated, whites in the front and blacks in the back. When there were not enough seats, a black person had to give up their seat to a white person. Rosa Parks decided that she did not want to sit in the back of the bus or give up her seat to a white person and she ended up going to jail for it. This was a break through for African Americans in that they realized they could peacefully stand up to their oppressors.

Martin Luther King Junior was another influential African American. He spoke out on the issues of segregation and discrimination. He led many marches and gave many speeches that supported a peaceful end to segregation. He was a martyr for the African American cause after he was shot and killed outside his motel room. 

Other important people and events which influenced African American life are as follows:

• Brown vs. Board of Education - end to segregation in education
• Harriet Tubman - led many slaves to freedom using the underground railroad
• Emancipation Proclamation - given by Abraham Lincoln which freed the slaves
• The Civil War - put a final end to slavery
• Nat Turner's Rebellion -  Slave rebellion
• Barack Obama - first black president of the United States
• Thurgood Marshall - first Supreme Court Justice of the United States
• William Lloyd Garrison - published the Liborator which advocated an end to all slavery
• Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution is ratified - prohibits slavery
• Fifteenth Amendment to the constitution is ratified - gives blacks the right to vote
• NAACP - committee which presses for end to segregation and more rights for blacks

African American songs

Akon-Beautiful


African American music has evolved completely. Its roots come from the slavery era when slaves would sing songs to pass the time in the fields. This music included titles such as Sing Low Sweet Chariot. These types of songs gave rise to negro spirituals. The next form of music which has its roots in African American culture was blues and Jazz. Some famous African American blues and jazz artists were Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Nat King Cole. African American music has since evolved in many different Directions. Hip Hop, R&B, and Rap are rooted in African American culture. Some of the more famous African American artists of today include 50 cent, Snoop Dog, Jay-Z, Beyonce, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Rhianna, Chris Brown, Lil John, Lupe Fiasco, Wiz Khalifa, Kanye West, Xzibit, and Kid Cudi. The African American musical community has many negative connotations behind it which have been reinforced by song lyrics and more explicitly, the murder of black rappers Notorious B.I.G and Tupac. Gang violence, derogatory lyrics dealing with women, sex, drugs, and alcohol have given some of these rappers poor reputations but the talent they display in there rhythm and poetic lyrics is undeniably amazing. (other famous African American singers who did not fit into the Hip Hop category include Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and the list goes on and on)






Some of the lyrics in these songs are explicit but the song shows what modern day African American music is like. They give good examples of negative lyrics but also show the talent of these musicians. None of the actions,words, or expressions used in these songs are condoned by the individuals who created this blog.

Pursuit of Happiness - Kid Kudi ft. MGMT

All of the Lights - Kanye West ft. Rhianna, Kid Cudi

Young, Wild, and Free - Wiz Khalifa ft. Snoop Dog

The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco

African American Poems

The Teacher

Lord, who am I to teach the way
To little children day by day,
So prone myself to go astray?

I teach them KNOWLEDGE, but I know
How faint they flicker and how low
The candles of my knowledge glow.

I teach them POWER to will and do,
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness through and through.
I teach them LOVE for all mankind
And all God's creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.

Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee.

Written by Leslie Pinckney Hill (1880-1960)