Teaching Black History Is About Exploring Black Humanity, Culture & Traditions, UB Education Expert Says

While lawmakers across the country take aim at how Black history is taught in schools – from dictating language (like avoiding words such as “diversity”) and banning books – educators are walking a tightrope trying to stay on top of it all, while still giving their students a complete picture of American and Black histories.

Black history is not just simply about racial history, says LaGarrett King, Ph.D., founder and director of the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education in the University at Buffalo’s Graduate School of Education. Black history and racial history are linked, salient concepts of Black history emerge through racial history. But, King said, “Black history is more than that. It is about exploring Black humanity, culture and traditions.”

A recent EdWeek Research Center survey reveals that a slight majority of educators are committed to finding ways to teach Black history, regardless of their state’s mandates and other obstacles. Still, teachers cited time constraints and lack of state requirements as challenges to teaching Black history. The political climate doesn’t help, either. King said that issues are limited when it comes to teaching Black history.

“Those topics usually center on slavery, reconstruction, and the civil rights movement,” he said.

State Mandates Lack Substance

According to King, there are currently only 12 states that have Black history mandates. Perhaps more surprising than this number is the weakness of their implementation.

“We have found that many of the mandates are superficial with no authority or accountability,” King explained.

So, what can be done to offset the anti-Black history rhetoric and loose implementation of mandates? This is where the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education plays a crucial and proactive role. The center hosts an annual Teaching Black History conference, which convenes hundreds of teachers from across the country to learn about best curricular and instructional practices surrounding Black history education.

"We host expert speakers and entertainment, but the stars of the conference are our teachers," King said. The 2023 conference takes place July 19-20 at UB. The theme is, “The Sounds of Blackness, Hip Hop Turns 50.”

The center is also working to create a microcredential in teaching Black history.

“The most important person in this endeavor is the teacher,” King said. “Most of these states do not provide education around Black history education. The microcredential is supposed to fill that void.”

‘It’s OK to Not See the US as Perfect’

King’s mission is to advocate for Black history and racial literacy education. The center seeks to help teachers and other educational entities expand opportunities to learn about crucial concepts related to Black history and race – concepts lawmakers are fiercely trying to suppress.

“When you truly teach through Black history or expose how systemic racism has influenced a racialized community, that narrative becomes messy. We are a historically immature society and seemingly cannot handle complexity and nuance,” King said. “We should be able to understand that everything is not Black and white. There is a lot of gray, and it is OK to not see the U.S. as perfect. I think students will appreciate that more.”

King said students are more intelligent than certain lawmakers think they are.

“My children have picked up on many complex things happening in the world, including racism and injustice,” he said.

The way King sees it, power and control are what’s really driving these new (and ongoing) attempts to limit exposure to a Black history education.

“It is about attempting to control students' thinking and their exposure. By doing that, we are putting all our children at a disadvantage, and we continue to hurt our so-called democracy,” King said. “We should not think about the curriculum as just a curriculum – we should be thinking of it in terms of a citizenship education.”

King added, “We do not live in a monocultural or monolingual world, so these children who will become decision-makers in the near future need to understand a society that not only includes persons that look like them. If we can teach about all folks, our country will become a better place.”

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Tennessee Becomes New Front In Battle For American Democracy

Members of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators hold a news conference outside the state Capitol Friday, April 7, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. the day after two of its members were expelled from the state Legislature. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

BY TRAVIS LOLLER, ADRIAN SAINZ AND GARY FIELDS

NASHVILLE, TENN. (AP) — Tennessee has become a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy after Republicans expelled two Black lawmakers from the state Legislature for their part in a protest urging passage of gun-control measures.

In separate votes on Thursday, the GOP supermajority expelled Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, a move leaving about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the Tennessee House.

Kevin Webb, a 53-year-old teacher from Pearson’s district, said removing him “for such a small infraction” is “classic America.”

“There’s been bias against Black individuals in this country for 500 years,” Webb said. “What makes us think that it’s going to stop all of a sudden?”

Pearson and Jones were expelled in retaliation for their role in the protest, which unfolded in the aftermath of a school shooting in Nashville that killed six people, including three young students. A third Democrat was spared expulsion by a one-vote margin.


The removal of the lawmakers, who were only recently elected, reflects a trend in dozens of states where Republicans are trying to make it harder to cast ballots and challenging the integrity of the election process.

At least 177 bills restricting voting or creating systems that can intimidate voters or permit partisan interference were filed or introduced in dozens of states so far this year, according to the Brennan Center.

“It represents a really slow erosion of our democracy,” said Neha Patel, co-executive director of the State Innovation Exchange, a strategy center for state legislators working toward progressive policies.

Patel called the expulsions “the third prong of a long-range strategy.” She said it was once “unprecedented” for states to make it harder for people to vote, but the practice has become “commonplace.”

It’s also become common for the GOP to challenge the electoral process and raise questions about election integrity. The next question is whether states with Republican supermajorities will follow Tennessee’s lead in expelling opponents with different points of view, she said.

Fred Wertheimer, founder and president of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan organization advocating for better government, said expulsions have generally been reserved for lawmakers involved in criminal activity.

Voters losing their chosen representatives for doing their jobs is “unheard of,” Wertheimer said. He has not learned of any similar action in other states, “but this stuff travels.”

The action in Tennessee drew outcries from a range of groups.

National Urban League President Marc Morial said the issue was about race, but “it’s not only about race. It’s about basic American values.”

Referring to the right to vote, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, he said, “It appears as though the Tennessee Legislature needs a refresher on the American Constitution.”

The president of the Congressional Black Caucus, Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, called for the Tennessee lawmakers to be returned to their seats and for Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into potential violations of the Voting Rights Act.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said the civil rights organization was prepared to take legal action “to ensure that this heinous attempt to silence the voice of the people is addressed in a court of law.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton pushed back against criticism that he was leaving thousands of Tennesseans without representation and taking away their voice.

“There are consequences for actions,” he said. “Those members took away the voice of this chamber for 45 minutes when they were on the House floor leading the protest and disrupting the business that we’re doing.”

The trio’s participation in the demonstration lasted only a few minutes. It was Sexton who called for a recess to meet with lawmakers.

Webb questioned why Jones and Pearson would be expelled while Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, was not.

Clayton Cardwell, who lives in Jones’ district in Nashville, said in a telephone interview that the protest in favor of stricter gun laws last week was “the right thing to do.”

“I was hoping that the entire House would join in,” he said. When the retired teacher was getting his master’s degree in special education, Cardwell remembers being told that teaching was the safest occupation you could have. “Now I think it is one of the most dangerous.”

Cardwell, who is white, also questioned the motives behind the expulsions: “We’ve just got a lot of old white men there who are prejudiced.”

Nashville attorney Chris Wood was so concerned about the possible expulsion of his representative that he went to the Capitol on Thursday to watch the proceedings.

“It was appalling,” he said. “It was an abuse of power.”

Wood has three children in public schools and called it “unbelievable and immoral” that the Republican majority would refuse to even consider gun restrictions.

No issue could be more important to the community “than ending gun violence and letting our kids come home at the end of the day,” he said. “This is the only country in the world where this happens.”

Wood expects Jones and Pearson to be back soon. They could be reappointed to the House by county commissions in their districts and run again in a special election.

Andrea Wiley, a lifelong Tennessee resident who lives and works in Pearson’s district, said she was embarrassed for the state.

“It’s really hard to be from here and see us in the national news at this level,” she said. “It is really scary to me that I don’t have a voice in Nashville that’s representing me, my community, my neighborhood.”

Tamala Johnson said she and her family voted for Pearson and she agreed with him about changing gun laws.

“I don’t think he should have been expelled for voicing his opinion,” Johnson said.

The vote to expel “makes me feel like we don’t have a word,” she said. “You threw him out just because he’s fighting to improve gun laws. … There’s no trust.”

____

Sainz reported from Memphis, Tennessee. Fields reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, and Hilary Powell in Richmond, Virginia, also contributed to this report.

Democrats Favor More Access To Capital For Black Businesses

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democratic presidential candidate, speaks at a candidate forum on Saturday, June 15, 2019, in Charleston, S.C., sponsored by the Black Economic Alliance. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

BY MEG KINNARD

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Four Democrats vying for their party’s presidential nomination honed in on the economic concerns of the black community during a forum Saturday in South Carolina, a state where nonwhite voters will play a major role in next year’s primary election.

Appearing on stage one at a time, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke all stressed the need to increase access to capital for black business owners as part of a broader effort to address wealth inequality.

Warren expounded on what she’s called her tax on “ultra-millionaires,” which she says would fund her education proposals, including student debt cancellation for many and additional funding for historically black colleges and universities.

“It’s about building opportunity,” Warren said at the forum sponsored by the Black Economic Alliance, noting that she feels her plan would be met with support even from some Republicans. “They understand that this economy is badly broken.”

Warren opened her remarks in Charleston with a moment of remembrance for the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting, four years ago this weekend, in which nine black churchgoers were killed during Bible study.

Buttigieg focused on increasing the number of federal government contracts awarded to black-owned businesses, saying this would provide a major boost.

Asked what he would do to increase his outreach to black voters — an area where Buttigieg has acknowledged he has work to do — he said he’s making an effort to get to know them.

“We have to have an authentic encounter with people,” Buttigieg said, noting that events like the forum were a piece of that agenda.

O’Rourke said he would push for more affordable housing options, giving a nod to Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin’s efforts in the state capital.

“We’re going to complement extraordinary local leadership with federal resources and funding,” he said.

The last to address the group and the only black candidate at the forum, Booker said he wants as president to address inequalities in all sectors of America, although “poverty is disproportionately impacting communities of color.”

Noting, as he often does, that he lives in a low-income community himself, Booker said he’s more in tune with people struggling with issues like skyrocketing rents.

“This isn’t just about African American communities,” Booker said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont sent videos outlining some of their plans for addressing economic issues pertinent to the black community.

Before the forum, O’Rourke, Booker and Buttigieg spent time with striking McDonald’s workers in the Charleston area who want the company to allow its employees to organize. A $15 national minimum wage has become a popular Democratic campaign promise, but the party itself is split over putting it in place.

Ahead of the candidates’ appearances, Tony Coles, co-chairman of the Black Economic Alliance, said the group chose South Carolina because of its prominent position on the presidential primary calendar. The state, where the majority of Democratic primary voters are non-white, holds the first balloting with a largely black electorate.

In the 2018 midterms, Coles said, the alliance spent $3.8 million on efforts to increase black voter registration and turnout.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

Nigerian Jungle Blues and Friday Cartoons

Fund athletics now or forget it, Coach Ariyo:
“In Nigeria, it is all about football, forgetting that there are other sports that can equally bring glory to the country. If we want to get the right result, we must have to fund athletics right from the grass roots." MORE @ VANGUARD


SOURCE: SUN NEWS ONLINE


SOURCE: NIGER-DELTA STANDARD


SOURCE: PUNCH


SOURCE: GUARDIAN


SOURCE: BLACK NEWS

Nigerian Jungle Blues and Sunday Cartoons

Since last November when Yar’Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment, Tanimu’s influence has grown enough to have drowned that of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, to whom the President did not officially hand over. Tanimu has been effectively assisted by Turai, Yar’Adua’s wife; Yusuf Tilde, Yar’Adua’s Chief Security Officer; and Sayyadi Abba Ruma, Agriculture Minister; Abba Aji, Special Adviser to Yar’Adua on National Assembly Matters; Yayale Ahmed, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Michael Aondoakaa, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Tanimu, Turai, Tilde and Abba Ruma are reckoned to be the only government functionaries who have been in touch with Yar’Adua since the President left Nigeria. The Chief Economic Adviser’s portfolio has greatly expanded–unofficially–to include speaking on behalf of the President and government. <<< MORE @ THE NEWS >>>


Yar'Adua's men map out fresh plan: The camp composing, but not limited to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN); Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Abba Ruma; and Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu; has been having series of meetings and consultations aimed at neutralising the lockjam created by President Yar’Adua’s long absence from the country and his non-formal handing over to the vice president. <<< MORE @ VANGUARD


SOURCE: SUN NEWS ONLINE


SOUIRCE: NIGER DELTA STANDARD


SOURCE: GUARDIAN


SOURCE: BLACK NEWS

Nigerian Jungle Blues and Cartoons

ABUJA—A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, declared that Vice President Jonathan Goodluck is empowered by the 1999 Constitution to exercise, in the absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, all the powers vested in him, including signing of sensitive documents, so far such powers are delegated to him. The presiding high court judge, Justice Dan Abutu made the pronouncement while interpreting the meanings and intendments of sections 5(1) and 148 (1) of the 1999 constitution in a suit brought by a lawyer, Mr. Christopher Onwuekwe. Onwuekwe, in his suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/10/2010, had requested the high court to declare that in the absence of President Yar’Adua who is receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia, the Vice President, by virtue of the provisions of Section 5(1) and 148 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, could exercise all the powers vested in the President in the interest of peace, order and good governance pending when his boss, Yar’Adua, would resume office. He sued the Attorney General of the Federation and the Executive Council of the Federation. MORE @ VANGUARD



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