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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• 120
• 60% 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) http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0385471610/ref=sib_dp_pop_ex/103-9060415-3977415?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00I#reader-linkColbert, Jessie, African American Women in Film (article) http://www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapposto01/173/colbert.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 BeingI. 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 20-30 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 CrossroadsWideman, John, The Black Writer and the Magic of the Word
Resources-Websites
http://search.msn.com/results.asp?FORM=sCPN&RS=CHECKED&un=doc&v=1&q=%22African%20American%22%20Mathematician (African American Mathemeticians)
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/search.html (Slave Trade and Slave Lives)
http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/bltclive/index.html (Black Thought and Culture)
http://www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapposto01/173/colbert.html (African American Women in Film-Stereotypes)
http://racerelations.about.com/od/stereotypesmentalmodels/a/blackimage.htm (Race Relations-Stereotypes)
http://jab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/40/2/146 (Myths, Stereotypes, and Realities of Black Women)