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Principal
Kafele's “Must Read” Books for
Educators
of African American Children
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PRINCIPAL
KAFELE'S COMMENTARY
To all
educators (building level, central office level and
consultants) who are responsible for the education of
African American children, you have chosen a very noble
profession in which to work. At the core of your practice
must be reading. It doesn’t matter if your personal library
is comprised of over 10,000 books in the field of
education. If your personal library is not well stocked
with books specifically written for educating African
American children, your library is virtually worthless to
your practice. If you are going to successfully educate
African American children, you must read, study and apply
culturally relevant, culturally appropriate and culturally
responsive reading material that addresses the specific
needs of African American learners. Anything less amounts
to what Dr. Carter G. Woodson said many years ago -
MISEDUCATION! Although it may not be possible to read all
of the books listed below, it is incumbent upon all of us to
read, study and apply as many as we can. The continued
application of generic methodology for African American
children will continue to produce the dismal and
disappointing results that we see reflected in current state
and national achievement data.
The
biggest challenge will be obtaining many, if not most of
these books. Mainstream bookstores typically either do not
or will not carry titles of this nature. Their rationale is
that there is no demand for them. It doesn’t take a wise
man to figure out that there can’t be a demand for something
that you don’t know exists! If the mainstream bookstores
were to stock these books on their shelves, educators would
be provided with the opportunity of learning of their
existence and thereby the opportunity of making their own
purchasing decision. I refer to the existing reality as the
“deprivation of information.” The book industry, which we
can refer to as the “information industry” is unfortunately
reflective of many aspects of our society relative to
unequal exposure and unequal opportunity. The way to
correct this is by you, the reader of this commentary
demanding that mainstream bookstores stock the shelves in
their education sections with not only books that are
written by non-African American writers, scholars and
educators, but providing equal exposure to the works of
African American writers, scholars and educators as well.
Once educators of African American children are armed with a
broader spectrum of research materials for raising the
achievement levels of their African American students, then
we will see African American children begin to make the
breakthroughs in all walks of life that we know they are
capable of making.
If the
books you are looking for are not available in your local
bookstore, you should be able to obtain them on the internet
by simply typing the authors’ names in an internet search
engine.
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African History
1.
Black Man of the Nile - Yosef ben-Jochannan
2.
Introduction to African Civilizations - John G. Jackson
3.
The
African Origins of Civilization - Cheik Anta Diop
4.
The
Cultural Unity of Black Africa - Cheik Anta Diop
5.
Stolen Legacy - George G. M. James
6.
Destruction of Black Civilization - Chancellor Williams
7.
World’s Great Men of Color, Vols. I and II - J. A. Rogers
8.
Sex
and Race, Vols. I-III - J. A. Rogers
9.
Nile
Valley Contributions to Civilization - Anthony T. Browder
10.
Nile Valley
Civilizations - Ivan Van Sertima
African American
History
1.
Before the Mayflower - Lerone Bennett, Jr.
2.
From
Slavery to Freedom - John Hope Franklin
3.
Notes For An African World Revolution - John Henrik Clarke
4.
African American History: A Journey to Liberation - Molefi K. Asante
5.
How
Europe Underdeveloped Africa - Walter Rodney
6.
They
Came Before Columbus - Ivan Van Sertima
7.
Blacks in Science - Ivan Van Sertima
8.
Black Inventors of America - McKinley Burt, Jr.
9.
Great Negroes: Past and Present - Russell Adams
10.
Introduction to Black Studies - Maulana Karenga
11.
What
They Never Told You in History Class - Kush
12.
The
Black Holocaust for Beginners - Sam Anderson
13.
Peculiar Institution - Kenneth Stampp
14.
Africa’s Gift to America - J. A. Rogers
15.
Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey - Amy Jacques Garvey
16.
Marcus Garvey, Hero - Tony Martin
17.
Marcus Garvey and the Vision of Africa - John Henrik Clarke
18.
Up
From Slavery - Booker T. Washington
19.
Life
and Times of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass
20.
Harriet Tubman - Ann Petry
21.
Autobiography of W. E. B. DuBois
22.
Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley
23.
Malcolm X Speaks - George Brietman
24.
Malcolm X, The Man and His Times - John Henrik Clarke
25.
King, A Biography - David Lewis
African American
Education
1.
Miseducation of the Negro - Carter G. Woodson
2.
Afrocentricity - Molefi Kete Asante
3.
Black Students Guide to Positive Education - Zak Kondo
4.
Issues in African American Education - Walter Gill
5.
For
the Children - Madeline Cartwright
6.
Africa Counts - Claudia Zaslavsky
7.
SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind - Asa G. Hilliard III
8.
Maroons Within Us - Asa G. Hilliard III
9.
Young, Gifted and Black - Asa G. Hilliard III, Theresa Perry, Claude
Steele
10.
Infusion of African and African American Content in the School
Curriculum - Asa G. Hilliard III,
Lucretia Payton-Stewart,
Larry Obadele Williams
11.
The
Failure of Public Education in the Black Community - Anyim Palmer
12.
The
Crisis and Challenge of Black Mis-Education in America - Gyasi A.
Foluke
13.
African-Centered Schooling in Theory and Practice - Diane S. Pollard
14.
The
Education of Black People - W.E.B. DuBois and Herbert Aptheker
15.
Going to School: the African American Experience - Kofi Lomotey
16.
Nationbuilding: Theory and practice in Afrikan-centered education -
Kwame Agyei Akoto
17.
Too
Much Schooling, Too Little Education - Mwalimu J. Shujaa
18.
Sailing Against the Wind: African Americans and Women in U.S.
Education - Kofi Lometey
19.
Educating Our Black Children: New Directions and Radical Approaches
- Richard Majors
20.
Unbank the Fire: Visions for the Education of African American
Children - Janice E. Hale
21.
The
White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America,
1865-1954 - William H. Watkins
22.
Improving Schools for African American Students: A Reader for
Educational Leaders - Sheryl Denbo
23.
Yurugu: An African-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought
and Behavior - Marimba Ani
24.
African-Centered Pedagogy:Developing Schools of Achievement for
African American Children - Peter C. Murrell, Jr.
25.
Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students - Donna Y.
Ford
26.
Center Shift: An African-Centered Approach for the Multi-Cultural
Curriculum - Joan D. Ratteray
27.
Why
Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria - Beverly
Daniel Tatum
28.
Learning to Survive: Black Youth Look for Education and Hope -
Atron A. Gentry
29.
A
Black Parent’s Handbook to Educating Your Children (Outside of the
Classroom) - Baruti K. Kafele
Teaching African
American Children
1.
A
Handbook for Teachers of African American Children - Baruti K.
Kafele
2.
A
Talk With Jawanza - Jawanza Kunjufu
3.
Black Students/Middle Class Teachers - Jawanza Kunjufu
4.
Black Children - Janice Hale
5.
Learning While Black - Janice Hale
6.
Marva Collins Way - Marva Collins
7.
Ordinary Children/Extraordinary Teachers - Marva Collins
8.
I
Choose To Stay - Salome Thomas-El
9.
Black Teachers on Teaching - Michele Foster
10.
From
Rage to Hope: Strategies for Reclaiming Black and Hispanic Students
- Crystal Kuykendall
11.
African-Centered Interdisciplinary Multi Level Hands-On Science -
Bernida Thompson
12.
Positive Afrikan Images for Children (Social Studies Curriculum) -
Red Sea Press
13.
African American Children: A Self-Empowering Approach to Modifying
Behavior Problems and Preventing Academic
Failure - Carolyn M. Tucker
14.
Heritage - Joyce Jarrett
15.
How
to Teach Math to Black Students - Shahid Muhammad
16.
Motivating / Inspiring African American Children
17.
Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children - Amos N. Wilson
18.
Developing Positive Self-Images and Discipline in Black Children -
Jawanza Kunjufu
19.
To
Be Popular or Smart: The Black Peer Group - Jawanza Kunjufu
20.
Motivating and Preparing Black Youth for Success - Jawanza Kunjufu
21.
Harvesting New Generations: The Positive Development of Black Youth
- Useni E. Perkins
22.
Doing It My Way: Decision-Making for College Students – Matt
Stevens
23.
Doing It My Way: A Decision-Making Workbook for Today’s Youth –
Matt Stevens
24.
Other People's Children: Cultural Conflicts in the Classroom - Lisa
Delpit
25.
Culturally Responsive Teaching - Geneva Gay
26.
The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children -
Gloria Ladson-Billings
Connecting With
African American Males
1.
Meeting the Classroom Needs of the African American Male Learner
(forthcoming in 2009) - Baruti K. Kafele
2.
Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, Vols. I-IV -
Jawanza Kunjufu
3.
Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education - Jawanza Kunjufu
4.
Raising Black Boys – Jawanza Kunjufu
5.
State of Emergency: We Must Save African American Males – Jawanza
Kunjufu
6.
Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the Achievement
Gap - Alfred W.Tatum
7.
Bringing the Black Boy to Manhood: The Hare Plan - Nathan and Julia
Hare
8.
Educating African American Males: Detroit’s Malcolm X Academy
Solution - Clifford Watson & Geneva Smitherman
9.
Educating African American Males: Voices From the Field – Edited by
Olatokunbo S. Fashola
10.
Educating Black Males: Critical Lessons in Schooling, Community and
Power – Ronnie Hopkins
11.
Coming of Age - Paul Hill
12.
African American Males in School and Society - Vernon C. Polite
13.
Practical Application of Social Learning Theories in Educating Young
African American Males - George R. Taylor
14.
Curriculum Strategies: Social Skills Intervention for Young African
Males - George R. Taylor
15.
Kill
Them Before They Grow: The Misdiagnosis of African American Boys in
America’s Classrooms - Michael Porter
16.
The
Trouble with Black Boys - Pedro A. Noguera
17.
Wake
Up Young Black Males – Steve Johnson
18.
“Yo,
Little Brother...”: Basic Rules of Survival for Young African
American Males - Anthony Davis & Jeffrey Jackson
19.
The
Warrior Method – Raymond A. Winbush
20.
Bad
Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity – Ann
Arnett Ferguson
21.
Letters to a Young Brother – Hill Harper
22.
Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American
Males – Hrabowski, III; Maton & Greif
23.
Young, Black and Male in America: An Endangered Species – Edited by
Jewelle Taylor Gibbs
24.
The
Estrangement of Black Male Youth From a Teacher’s Perspective –
Jerald McNair
25.
Empowering African American Males – Michael Wynn
26.
Teaching, Parenting and Mentoring Successful Black Males – Michael
Wynn
27.
African Centered Rites of Passage and Education - Lathardus Goggins
II
Psychology
1.
Developmental Psychology of the Black Child - Amos N. Wilson
2.
Chains and Images of Psychological Slavery - Na’im Akbar
3.
African-Centered Psychology: Cultural Focusing for Multi-Cultural
Competence - Daudi Ajani Ya Azibo
4.
Post
Traumatic Slavery Disorder – Omar Reid, Sekou Mims, Larry
Higginbottom
5.
Post
Traumatic Slave Syndrome – Joy DeGruy Leary |
