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Recommended Resources
“I’m always looking for new materials related to students’ cultural heritage. As a consultant to urban educators, my goal is to continually increase my knowledge of the cultural background of urban students and to bring interesting and quality information, materials and ideas to teachers and others for their own study and for use with their students.”
Augusta Mann
Resources for the Study of African and African American History and Culture (An abbreviated list)
This web page will describe various kinds of resources that may be of interest to urban educators. The first of these lists features some excellent resources that can be used in the study of Africa and African American history and culture. Watch for additional lists to be posted.
The study of students’ history and culture is ongoing in successful urban teachers’ classrooms. The ninth Supportive Practice of the Touching the Spirit framework for teaching African American students encourages teachers to study and then include in-depth study and performance of African and African American culture in their curricula.
Successful urban teachers know the importance of students knowing the history and culture of their ethnic group as well as that of other people. They extend the African American Touching the Spirit principles by engaging students of all ethnicities in the study of their particular history and culture and the culture of others. This beginning list of resources consists of mainly African and African American references. Later lists will include references to resources that feature the history and culture of other ethnic groups.
Videotapes, Pictorial Books and Magazines
Videotape
Kirikou and the Sorceress
ArtMattan Productions
535 cathedral Parkway #14B New York NY 10025-2064
(212) 749-6020
www.Kirikou.net
Kirikou is an engaging, award-winning animated feature film based on a West African folktale.
Synopsis
A tiny voice is heard from inside the womb of a pregnant woman: “Mother, give birth to me!” “A child who can speak from his mother’s womb can give birth to himself”, replies the mother. And so a little boy is born, cuts his own umbilical cord and declares: “My name is Kirikou”.
The tiny Kirikou is born into an African village upon which a sorceress called Karaba has cast a terrible spell: the spring has dried up, the villagers are being blackmailed, the men of the village have either been kidnapped or have mysteriously disappeared. “She eats them!”, the superstitious villagers declare.
Karaba is a stunning and cruel woman, surrounded by fearless and servile fetishes. But no sooner has Kirikou delivered himself from his mother’s womb than he wants to rid the village of Karaba’s curse and understand the cause of her wickedness. His adventure-filled voyage leads Kirikou to the Forbidden Mountain, where the Wise Man of the Mountain, who knows of Karaba and her secrets, awaits him.
This videotape can be used to meet the goals related to the study of literature with students of all ages. Reading skills such as character development, cause and effect, effective use of dialogue to convey emotions, main idea, sequencing etc. can be discussed, taught and practiced. The use of visual media allows for those students who have not yet mastered reading skills to fully participate in discussions of the literature studied and demonstrate their thinking skills as a valuable person within the larger group of students.
Pictorial Books
One More River to Cross
An African American Photograph Album
Walter Dean Myers
Excellent pictorial record of African American life in photographs. Poetic narrative throughout. Won awards in various competitions related to teen age and young adult books. Can be used in the study of history and African American cultural themes such as resilience. Can be used to provide interest in writing, historical analysis and other social studies skills.
Publisher: Browndeer Press, Harcourt Brace and Company
15 East 26th. Street New York, NY 10010
ISBN 0-15-202021-7
All grades
African Americans: A Self Portrait
Excellent photographs of men, women and families engaged in many different activities.
Edited by Eric Easter, D. Michael Cheers and Dudley M. Brooks
Little Brown and company
ISBN 0-316-10981-9
All Grades
The African Americans
Edited by Charles M. Collins and David Cohen
Viking Studio Books
ISBN 0-670-84982-0
Excellent collection of photographs of contemporary well-known and little-known African American women, men and families.
Blurbs are provided for each of the photographs as well as short informational texts with major historical facts. It is excellent for a survey of the leadership of African American people in all areas of American life.
All Grades
Ivan Van Sertima
The titles below are an excellent scholarly series of books edited by Ivan Van Sertima. Some are out of print, but many of them can still be found in stores and on stands of community black booksellers and also in some mainstream bookstores. They are “cutting-edge”, African resources and include many interesting drawings and photographs. Middle School-Adults.
- Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern
ISBN 0-87855-941-8
- Egypt: Child of Africa
ISBN 1-56000-792-3
- Great Black Leaders: Ancient and Modern
ISBN0-88738-739-X
- Great African Thinkers
ISBN 0-88738-680-6
- Golden Age of the Moor
ISBN 1-56000-581-5
The Kingdoms of Africa
A series of books by Philip Koslow
Chelsea House Publishers
Some of the titles:
- Songhay: The Empire Builders
- Benin: Lords of the River
- Dahomey: the Warrior Kings
- Ancient Ghana: the Land of Gold
These books are each about 62 pages. They include a number of maps and original drawings/engravings of African life from the 17th –19th centuries. There are many photographs-color and black and white of African “art”. Although they are excellent resources for the study of African history, as with any history book, educators should carefully read the text and not rely on these as their only source of information as some of the information could be viewed as slanted and possibly inaccurate.
Middle Grades -Adult
Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization
Anthony T. Browder Vol. 1
The Institute of Karmic Guidance, Inc.
ISBN 0-924944-03-X
There is also a Study Guide companion book
Excellent resource with many illustrations .
Middle School-Adult
African American History:
A Journey of Liberation
Revised Edition 2001
Excellent African Centered history textbook for high school students and adults. Many interesting illustrations.
The Peoples Publishing Group
1- 800 822-1080
ISBN 1-56256-601-6
High School-Adult
The Civil rights Movement:
A Photographic history, 1954-1968
Steven Kasher
Abbeville Press
ISBN 1-55859-271-7
This is a wonderful pictorial record of a period that was one of the most courageous and inspiring demonstrations of spirit and humanism in the history of the world. There is substantial text along with abundant photographs.
Elementary School-Adult
Magazines
Johnson Publications
Jet
Ebony
On newsstands and by subscription.
Many Pictorial articles and summaries about African Americans in all walks of life. Often there are African American historical articles in Ebony by writer and editor Lerone Bennett and others.
Educators need to be cautious when using Jet in the classroom as a few of the articles or pictures may not be appropriate for young children. Both magazines are rich sources for information on African Americans in many different occupations.
Upper Elementary-Adult
Black Enterprise Magazine
Many of our students’ vision of themselves as adults are limited due to their lack of knowledge of opportunities for meaningful work that they would enjoy outside of entertainment and athletics. This magazine is an excellent source for students to continually learn about occupations and young community conscious men and women owning their own businesses. It can be used to help students understand the extremely broad scope of African Americans in the world of work. There are many articles about young people in their 20’s and 30’s. Many references to the importance of support for ones community.
Middle School-Adult
Black Issues Book Review
10520 Warwick Avenue, suite B-8
Fairfax, VA 22030-3136
Bibookreview.com
In addition to the book reviews, there are interesting articles related to African and African American culture. Many pictures are featured such as the striking and colorful pictures from the book: Walls of Heritage: Walls of Pride—a book of pictures and text about the many different African American painted walls in communities all over the country.
Upper Elementary-Adult
American Legacy
The Magazine of African American History and Culture
Excellent source for articles and pictures.
www.Americanlegacymagazine.com
Recent issue had pictorial articles on African American cowboys and on the first black reporter on a major newspaper.
Upper Elementary-Adult
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