2. Motivating African American Males to Excel in the Classroom and Beyond Principal Baruti Kafele

3. What do you think?  He who cannot dance will say, “The drum is bad.”  After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.  Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

4. Why? 1.Why does he appear to be disinterested in school? 2.Why does he appear to lack focus in class? 3.Why is he under-performing? 4.Why does he exhibit at-risk behaviors? 5.Why doesn ’ t he seem to care?

13. Two Questions Relative to Meeting the Classroom Needs of Your Black Male Students 1.What do I know about him as it relates to me? 2.What do I know about me as it relates to him?

14. What do I know about him as it relates to me? (The teacher’s relationship with his/her Black male students) 1.What do I know about keeping him inspired about learning and motivated to excel? 2.What do I know about his learning style? 3.What do I know about his goals and aspirations? 4.What do I know about his needs and interests? 5.What do I know about his experiences and realities? 6.What do I know about his challenges, obstacles and distractions? 7.What do I know about his peers? 8.What do I know about his neighborhood? 9.What do I know about his parents? 10.What do I know about his history and culture?

15. What do I know about me as it relates to him? (The teacher’s attitude toward his/her Black male students) 1.Do I see myself as the number one determinant of his success or failure? 2.Do I have a passion for my role as his teacher? 3.Do I have a purpose for teaching him? 4.Do I treat teaching him as a mission? 5.Do I have a vision for what I expect him to achieve? 6.Do I set incremental and long-range goals for him to achieve? 7.Do I plan each day thoroughly toward his success? 8.Do I have high expectations and standards for him and believe that he will reach them? 9.Do I see myself as a role model for him and therefore always conduct myself as a professional? 10.Do I conduct daily self-reflections and self-assessments of my practice of motivating, educating and empowering him?

16. IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD Village Crisis Family Crisis “Self Crisis”

17. MANIFESTATIONS OF A “SELF CRISIS”  Self-Image - How do I see myself?  Self-Esteem - How do I feel about myself?  Self-Discipline - Am I in control of myself?  Self-Respect - Do I bring honor to myself?  Self-Actualization - How am I maximizing my potential?

19. EVIDENCE OF A “SELF CRISIS” Symptoms vs. Problems

20. CAUSE OF A “SELF CRISIS” Self-Identity

21. Who am I?

22. How Did It Go From This…

23. …And This…

24. …To This?

25. This Must Be Their Reality…

26. …To Prevent This From Becoming Their Destiny!

27. Self-Identity - Who am I? As it relates to their self-identity, how would your Black males answer the following questions?  Who are you?  What are you?  Why are you?  What is your purpose?  What is your vision?

28. What have you read in this area lately? Educators of Black males must expose themselves to literature and professional development that specifically addresses the learning, cultural and social-emotional needs of their Black male learners.

29. Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys Vol. II - 1986 You cannot teach a child you do not love. You cannot teach a child you do not respect. You cannot teach a child you do not understand.

30. Dr. Alfred Tatum Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males - 2005 For Black adolescent males, in order to offset resistance that occurs because of cultural differences and to help develop their identities, it is essential to establish culturally responsive instructional practices and infuse the curriculum with culturally relevant materials.

31. Dr. Amos N. Wilson Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children - 1991 For the Black man to be in the position he is today, he has to be out of his mind….and one of the major instruments for putting people out of their minds is education.

32. Dr. Asa G. Hilliard, III The Reawakening of the African Mind - 1997 We do not know who we are, cannot explain how we got here, and have no sense of our destiny beyond mere survival.

33. Dr. Na’im Akbar Know Thy Self - 1998 The major premise of effective education must be ‘self-knowledge.’ In order to achieve the goals of identity and empowerment, the educational process must be one that educes the awareness of who we are.

34. ADDRESSING THE “SELF CRISIS” Classroom instruction and learning must be culturally responsive.

35. 1.All male empowerment assemblies / meetings with Black male guest speakers (POWER MONDAYS) 2.All male empowerment classroom meetings with Black male guest speakers 3.Small group sessions led by Black men 4.One-to-one mentoring with a Black male mentor 5.Opportunities to meet and spend time with Black male college students 6.Opportunities to meet and spend time with successful Black men in their work environment 7.Opportunities to meet and spend time with Black men in political leadership 8.Dress for Success Days 9.Male retreats 10.Father - son programs 11.Male study groups 12.Rites of Passage Programs DEVELOPING A “YOUNG MEN’S EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM” IN YOUR SCHOOL

36. A CLOSER LOOK AT “POWER MONDAYS” 1.What does a young men’s empowerment meeting look like? 2.There are not many male teachers in our school. What can we do? 3.How will we go about bringing men into our school to speak at our empowerment meetings? 4.What kind of follow up will we have for the speakers to engage in? 5.Will the meetings be comprised of single grade levels or will grade levels be combined? 6.If combined, what would be the most appropriate combinations? 7.How frequently will the meetings occur? 8.What would be the duration of the meetings? 9.Would the meetings be held in the morning, afternoon or both? 10.What do the girls do during the male empowerment meetings? 11.Which staff members should be involved? 12.What topics will be discussed? 13.What are some of the activities that we’d engage our students in? 14.What are the goals of the male empowerment meetings? 15.How would we measure the success of the program? 16.What are the possibilities of partnering with corporations, businesses and other agencies?

37. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Lewis Latimer  Carbon Filament (contained in light bulbs)  Electric Lamp  Wrote first book on electric lighting  Wrote blueprints for the first telephone

38. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Granville T. Woods  Electric Railway System (Third Rail)  Induction Telegraph System (Railroad)  Automatic Air Brake

39. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Jan Matzeliger  Automatic Shoe Lasting Machine

40. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Norbert Rillieux  Sugar Refiner (Evaporating Pan)

41. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Frederick M. Jones  Refrigeration Unit for trucks and trains  Ticket Dispensing Machine  Portable X-Ray Machine

42. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Elijah McCoy  Automatic Lubrication for Machines

43. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Garrett A. Morgan  Automatic Traffic Signal  Gas Mask

44. HISTORICAL BLACK MALE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS (An example of history not commonly taught) Dr. Mark Dean (contemporary)  3 of the original nine patents of the PC

45. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER DURING LESSON PLANNING 1.Are my lessons culturally responsive? 2.Do my lessons take into consideration all of the learners in my classroom? 3.Have I read enough in this area toward making my lessons culturally responsive for all of the learners in my classroom?

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