Undoing Oppression from Slavery, Racism, Sexism and Privilege: Educating Our Way to Literacy Sylvia Bailey July 2005

Staff Development Workshop Primary Audience –Southfield High School Staff, Southfield, Michigan –Student population 1,650 98% African American –Teacher population % White 40% Black

Secondary Audience  More than 400 Oakland (MI) Writing Project Teachers (County ISD) –County 28 school districts (pop.1.2M) range is from urban to suburban to rural approximately 210,000 students (about one- tenth of our state’s school age population) Extremely diverse in terms of race, culture, language, and socio-economic status (50 different home languages spoken Minority student population in the county is 22% (minority populations tend to be concentrated in only 3 of the 28 districts—Southfield, Oak Park and Pontiac –Pontiac nearly 13,000 students –64% African American –11% Latino –5% Asian

Objective Integrating African American Literature and Culture across the Curriculum to Increase Literacy

Rationale -Teachers  Increase the understanding of AA history/culture the more effective our teaching  Unaware of the impact slavery and oppression has on our students  Learn from prior knowledge and experiences of others  Achieve greater insight into text  Construct relevant connections to the past and students’ lives today

Impact on Students  Enhance engagement in learning by showing the relevance of AA history and culture on their lives  Increased literacy in order to successfully compete in the global marketplace

Workshop Structure  Frequency –Six collaborative Mondays  Time –2:30-4:00 pm  Location –MC 2  Workshop Size –Maximum 30  Assignments –Required Reading –Lesson Plans

Pre-Reading  Session 1 –Introduction: Woodson, Carter, The Mis-Education of the Negro  Session 2- History: Slavery and Oppression: Bennett, Lerone, Before The Mayflower  Session 3- Language: Delpit, Lisa, Other People’s Children  Session 4 -Cultural Stereotypes: Color Complex, by Kathy Russell (Book excerpt) ?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00I#reader-link ?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00I#reader-link Colbert, Jessie, African American Women in Film (article) html  Session 5- Lesson Plans: Kunjufu, Jawanza, Black Students-Middle Class Teachers  Session 6- Activism/Radicalism: Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Workshop Agenda-Month 1 (90 minutes)  Introduction –Rationale: Why the need to talk –Overview of Workshops –Deconstruct Workshop Title –Activity-Jump Street Odyssey –Assignment: Read The Mis-Education of the Negro

Deconstructing The Title  Undoing Oppression from Slavery, Racism, Sexism and Privilege: Educating Our Way to Literacy  Discussion: –What do these terms mean to us? Oppression Slavery Racism Sexism Privilege

Activity: Essence of Your Being I. Who am I? How do you identify yourself? (Racially/culturally/ linguistically/ socio-economically/religiously/ sexually/etc.) II. Where did you grow up? Describe the neighborhood, relationships your parent or family had in the community. III. Where did you attend school? Describe the environment, the teachers, support staff, the building and neighboring environment. How did you feel about school? IV. Describe a place or time when you felt comfortable with those around you. Describe a place or time when you felt different from those around you. Focus on the feelings you experienced at that time. IV. As a teacher who are you today? Who are your students? ( Racially/culturally/ linguistically/ socio-economically/religiously/ sexually/etc.) What issues do you face currently in your classroom/school/community?

Workshop Agenda-Month 2 (90 minutes) History: Slavery/Oppression/Privilege  Activity –view first minutes of Crash  Discussion of Readings and Film –Why do students need an in-depth appreciation and understanding of African American History –Why is it necessary to discuss oppression? –Can power and privilege be used responsibly? –Having looked at examples of white privilege, how can I help my students deal with it? –How is oppression related to student behavior, achievement and expectations ?  Assignment – Read: Delpit, Lisa, The Skin We Speak Baldwin, James, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”

Workshop Agenda-Month 3 (90 minutes)  Discussion –Language –Prose –Poetry –Song –Signifying  Assignment- Read: –McIntosh, Peggy “Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack:White Privilege” (Handout) –Color Complex by Kathy Russell (Book)

Workshop Agenda-Month 4 (90 minutes)  Racism/Stereotypes –Activity-View Video The Color of Fear –Discussion of video and readings –Harmful Effects of Racism  Assignment –Design a lesson plan that integrates African American Culture/History/Literature into a unit of study –Use resource lists –Bring enough copies for the group

Workshop Agenda-Month 5 (90 minutes)  Response groups: Lesson plans  Activity- Identifying Famous African Americans (Contest)  Assignment: Read: Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Workshop Agenda-Month 6 (90 minutes  Radicalism/Activism –What can we as teachers do? –How can we help our students to think … about their identity? about their own values?  Activity- View PBS video- Dr. King’s, I Have a Dream  Discussion –“It is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person.”

Resources-Bibliographies (Handouts)  Teaching Africa and African American Roots  An Annotated Bibliography Teaching Slavery Differently:The Black Radical Tradition  A Brief Bibliography on Black Vernacular English  Delaney Group Reading List

Books Delpit, Lisa, The Skin We Speak and Other People’s Children Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Kunjufu, Jawanza, Black Students-Middle Class Teachers Morrison, Toni, The Black Book

Articles/Essays-Handouts  Baldwin, James, “A Talk to Teachers”  Baldwin, James, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”  Bell, Lee Anne, “Theoretical Foundations for Social Justice Education”  Cutter, Martha J., “Dismantling ‘The Master’s House’”  Edelman, Marian Wright, “A Closer Look: the Costs of Child Poverty in America”

More Articles/Essays-Handouts  Hughes, Langston, “The Future of Black America”  Jefferson, Thomas, “Notes on the State of Virginia, 1987)  McIntosh, Peggy, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”  Moses, Robert P. and Charles Cobb Chapter 1: Algebra and Civil Rights and Chapter 3: Standin’ at the Crossroads Wideman, John, The Black Writer and the Magic of the Word

Resources-Websites  D&un=doc&v=1&q=%22African%20American%22%20Mathem atician (African American Mathemeticians) D&un=doc&v=1&q=%22African%20American%22%20Mathem atician  (Slave Trade and Slave Lives)  (Black Thought and Culture)  bert.html (African American Women in Film-Stereotypes) bert.html  kimage.htm (Race Relations-Stereotypes) kimage.htm  (Myths, Stereotypes, and Realities of Black Women)