Introduction (Second Draft)

Most people believe that African American history begins with slavery.  In actuality, African American history began way before Africans were brought to America in chains and shackles; And contrary to the horrific poverty, famine, and disease afflicting many African nations today, the existence of great African Kingdoms, rich in cultural and educational institutions is strangely left out of primary and secondary school curriculums. In America, the many years of a discriminatory and racist educational system, has resulted in the cultural deprivation and loss of identification of African Americans to their African ancestry. One can agree that, if the only information you are provided about your people and culture is slavery, and that they were uncivilized savages with inferior intelligence, it could foster a negative self-esteem towards oneself and their African ancestry. This opinion can be argued that cultural education has an impact on ones self-esteem and as a result can affect the academic performance of African American youths in the public school system.  

 African American cultural history is important, because it provides African American students with a positive association about themselves and the culture in which they came from. Without this knowledge, they are only left with the negative, racist ideals about African American people, which were used as a dehumanizing mechanism to rid them of any pride or cultural identity. Therefore, one can draw a connection between the cultural deprivation of African American students with the increasing low academic performance rate in public schools, because of the current curriculum it promotes doesn’t take into consideration the history of the people it is meant teach.

For instance, this is especially true when one considers the huge drop-out rate of African American youths in the public school system.  According to the U. S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, “Today’s report confirms that our nation faces a dropout crisis. When 25 percent of our students – and almost 40 percent of our black and Hispanic students – fail to graduate high school on time, we know that too many of our schools are failing to offer their students a world-class education”.  This quote from the Secretary of Education clearly demonstrates that there is a problem with the current educational system that is responsible for providing all children with an education that meets their fundamental learning needs, so that they will be able to contribute to society (National Black Education Agenda).

Annotated Bibliography

• “African-Centered Education.” www.blackeducationnow.org. National Black Education Agenda, n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.   

This webpage provides information on the need for African centered curriculum that promotes educational excellence, in order to help achieve the true liberation of African Americans. On this page, you will see the goals, mission statement, and objectives of this organization to bring more awarness toward the need of African centered curriculum in urban schools.

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   Dixon, Leon., Hynes, Gerald. , Nelson, Carolyn. “The Black Perspective On American History.”www.duboislc.org. W.E.B  Dubois Learning Center, n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.

This website provides useful information on the Black perspective on American history as well as an historical overview on “The African Americans: Search for truth and Knowledge.” The goal of this website is to raise the performance level of underserved communities through Educational Services and Applied State of the Art Technology. 

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   From the Palace to the Plantation to Glory. Dir. Soji Oyinsan, 2008. Film. Prestige Production Inc. 2008.DVD. Viewed 29 Sept. 2010

From Palace to Plantation to Glory, a DVD video documentary that discusses the misrepresented African American history in school curriculums. It begins with the history of African-Americans from royalty and nobility. It is the extensive research works of professors of African and African-American history and the reminiscences of elders over the age of 100 who knew the nobility and the royalty of African-American ancestors.

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  Nasir, Na’ilah., McLaughlin, Milbrey W., Jones, Amina. “What does It Mean to Be African American?: Constructions of Race and Academic Identity in an Urban Public High School.” American Educational Research Journal 46 (Mar. 2009) 73-114. Print.

This article explores the variation in the meanings of racial identity for African American students in a predominantly African American urban high school. They draw on both survey data and observational data to examine the nature of racial identity meanings for African American students, their relation to academic engagement and achievement, and how they were fostered by the school context.

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  Tyler, Kenneth, Uqdah, Aesha L., Dillihunt, Monica L., etal. “Cultural Discontinuity: Toward a Qualitative Investigation of a Major Hypothesis inn Education.” Educational Researcher 37 (2008): 280-288. Print.

In this article educational researchers suggest that the academic challenges faced by many ethnic minority students are linked to perceived cultural discontinuity between students’ home and school based experiences.

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   “Interview with Dr. Adelaide L. Sanford.”  The Inner Beat Network. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y31J-UsRKy4, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.

Dr. Adelaide Sanford is an Afrocentric educator who has impacted the lives of many students on every level of New York City’s school system, through her work in shaping educational policy. She is on the board of Regents which is the body that determines qualifications for teachers in the State of New York. She argues that in spite of the efforts of the Board of Regents, there have been bureaucratic stalling’s and blockages in the attempt to raise the self-esteem of African American children and their parents. In this interview Dr. Adelaide talks about the need for African centered education in urban schools.