The Secrets For Motivating Educating And Lifting The Spirit Of African American Males

Unlike the media would have you believe, most black males find great value in education. They want to believe that they have a special gift and that they can make a difference in the world. The problem is that they have ill feelings about how society has deprived them of the most qualified teachers and the best ways to be engaged in their own education. As a consequence of repeatedly being marginalized, criticized, and put down by society and teachers, they do not feel motivated to attend school or to produce outstanding academic work. The Secrets for Motivating, Educating, and Lifting the Spirit of African American Males contains essays that center on how to help educators and parents to equip young black males with the drive necessary to craft fulfilling lives for themselves so they dont slip through the cracks in the educational system. Historically, we are still dealing with what happens to the image of Black people in the minds of white people. A book like this helps to make certain that the information teachers provide to all studentsregardless of their racewill help them understand that the history of this country has made generation after generation of black students see themselves as academically and socially inferior to white people. Most importantly, its the teachersnot just black teachers, but all teachers who have to understand the power they have to change the mindset of society. Changing how society thinks about Black people, particularly Black males, is a task teachers can truly accomplish because they have the power to create lesson plans that challenge how students think about each other. For such lessons are important for changing the attitudes and beliefs of the entire community in which we live. REVEREND C.T. VIVIAN, A Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, Author, Educator, and a Close Friend of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This book provides a fresh perspective for understanding the problems associated with the education of Black males. As a minister, I have not encountered a project that gathers the collective wisdom of a group of over 20 Black male educators who are dedicated to helping the world save young Black males. When all their ideas come together, they are bound to create a storm of new thinking about how all of us can work together. As a spiritual leader, my role is to help young Black males understand that the same God that was in Dr. King is the same God that is in them. This is a difficult lesson for some Black males who have been brainwashed to see themselves as having no say about the outcome of their lives. This book will help us, including those in the ministry, to reevaluate the thinking patterns of our boys so that we can better prepare them for the critical thinking that is required for life in the 21st century. REVEREND ROBERT KILGORE, Assistant Pastor at Hillside International Truth Center, Atlanta, GA

Dr. Heather I.H. Washington Dos Santos is a loving wife and mother of five young children who has served as a public urban school teacher and administrator for more than two decades. She has dedicated her life to studies that have served to further both her knowledge base and skillset as it relates to advocacy and public service for underrepresented and minority youth in the public school sector. As a champion for “at risk” youth in schools, Heather has worked tirelessly to remove institutional barriers that serve to detach underrepresented youth from their educational programs; thrusting them into our nation’s juvenile justice system as part of the school-to-prison pipeline. With a specific focus on the study of African American males in our nation’s schools, Heather vows to be a catalyst for change as part of her zealous pursuit of justice and equity in practice for African American males across the country.

One of the most vexing problems confronting educators today is the chronic achievement gap between black male students and their peers. In this inspiring and thought-provoking book, veteran educator Baruti K. Kafele offers a blueprint for lifting black males up and ensuring their success in the classroom and beyond. Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life offers proven strategies for getting black male students in middle school and high school to value learning, improve their grades, and maintain high standards for themselves. The author shows how simple but powerful measures to instill self-worth in young black males can not only raise these students' achievement, but also profoundly alter their lives for the better. This book will help you to help students * Reverse the destructive effects of negative influences, whether among peers or in the popular culture; * Surmount adverse conditions at home or in their communities; * Participate in mentorship programs with successful black male adults; and * Take pride in their heritage by learning about great figures and achievements in black history. Whether your school is urban or rural, all-black or mixed, you'll find this book to be an insightful resource that addresses the root causes of low achievement among young black males and offers a clear path to overcoming them.

The Nonnegotiable: Educating African-American Male Students K-12 will highlight several salient points that were stimulated from NCLB, better known as the No Child Left Behind Act. The book presents several alarming problems. One problem is the dropout rate. Research indicates 53 percent of African-American males nationwide drop out of school. Research indicates African-American high school students are notably falling behind their Caucasian counterparts in graduation rates, dropout rates, literacy rates, and college preparedness rates. According to the Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, African-American and Hispanic twelfth-grade students read at approximately the same level as Caucasian eighth-grade students. The National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that 88 percent of African-American eighth graders read below grade level, compared to 62 percent of Caucasian eighth graders. The goal of the book is to afford each reader the opportunity to cultivate their educational outlook on African-American males and provide their schools with effective, culturally responsive reform. The overarching goal for this book is to bring enlightenment to a dark cloud that hovers over the success or lack of success of the African-American male student.

Documents the success stories of Detroit's Malcolm X Academy.

Rempson takes issue with those who lay the plight of African Americans on racism, not seeing it, today, as a major obstacle to black progress. Rather, he traces the origin back to what he terms the African American Garden of Eden. In it, W. E. B. Dubois outlasted Booker T. Washington and fathered a tradition which Rempson argues has produced a victim identity and an emphasis on the system rather than the self. Only black males offer a way out, he declares, because it is entirely “our black males who are keeping us down and curtailing our progress,” in contrast to black females, who “are doing OK.” They are plagued by what Rempson calls the African American Male School Adaptability Crisis (AMSAC). Their academic performance ranks at the bottom, alone, below black female students and below white, Asian, and Hispanic male students. In large urban areas, their high school dropout rate is 59 percent and, nationally, they lag behind in college attendance and graduation rates. The outcome, Rempson argues, is dysfunctionality and the existence of hedonistic norms which hinder family and community stability. But while black males are the problem, Rempson contends, it is nevertheless only they who can solve it because research and experience show that it takes males to bring up and change other males. Though intended for everyone, he therefore writes his book to his fellow advantaged black males and makes a passionate plea for them to step up and, with the help of black females and of the nation, take the lead. As their guide, he has formulated eight propositions. Arrived at through an examination of impressively extensive data from numerous sources and disciplines, they are a marked departure from the customary. Most strikingly, delicate matters, such as those which pertain to intelligence quotient (IQ) and culture, are openly confronted and dealt with. But, Rempson writes, “unless confronted, we will not solve our problems.” “Nor,” he continues, “can we solve them unless we cut the umbilical cord to white America. We have no right to expect it to be our savior; nor are we justified in perceiving it as our oppressor.” Forcefully and finely written, Rempson’s book is a singular and courageous contribution. Alone, his eight propositions make it a worthy read.

Engage in exploratory discussion on African American male achievement. Why do some students return to school year after year excited and engaged? Why do other students dread school, have negative feelings toward school, or feel unequipped by the challenge or demands of school? Educating African American Males offers multiple perspectives on this topic from top scholars in the field of urban education. Contributions in this book represent the proceedings from a conference co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and Howard University and devoted to African American male achievement. This exciting new resource brings this important discussion to the field and offers unique perspectives covering sociological, emotional, economic, pedagogical, and cognitive realms. Educating African American Males makes bold strides in moving away from low test scores, high dropout and expulsion rates, and high disciplinary problems, and toward the constructive aim of achieving high-quality education for all students.

This book continues, extends, and advances the research and conversations introduced in Black Sons to Mothers. With chapters commissioned by the Alphas in the Academy Committee (AAC) of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, this volume reflects the fraternity's unshakable commitment to improving the contexts and outcomes of African American males in educational settings.