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.

This thought-provoking book from award-winning educator Baruti K. Kafele offers proven strategies that teachers and administrators can use to motivate and engage black male students at the middle and high school levels.

This practical book examines how teaching media in high school English and social studies classrooms can address major challenges in our educational system. The authors argue that, in addition to providing underserved youth with access to 21st century learning technologies, critical media education will help improve academic literacy achievement in city schools. Critical Media Pedagogy presents first-hand accounts of teachers who are successfully incorporating critical media education into standards-based lessons and units. The book begins with an analysis of how media have been conceptualized and studied; it identifies the various ways that youth are practicing media, as well as how these practices are constantly increasing in sophistication. Finally, it offers concrete examples of how to develop a rigorous, standards-based content area curriculum that embraces new media practices and features media production.

The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.

This History explores innovations in African American autobiography since its inception, examining the literary and cultural history of Black self-representation amid life writing studies. By analyzing the different forms of autobiography, including pictorial and personal essays, editorials, oral histories, testimonials, diaries, personal and open letters, and even poetry performance media of autobiographies, this book extends the definition of African American autobiography, revealing how people of African descent have created and defined the Black self in diverse print cultures and literary genres since their arrival in the Americas. It illustrates ways African Americans use life writing and autobiography to address personal and collective Black experiences of identity, family, memory, fulfillment, racism and white supremacy. Individual chapters examine scrapbooks as a source of self-documentation, African American autobiography for children, readings of African American persona poems, mixed-race life writing after the Civil Rights Movement, and autobiographies by African American LGBTQ writers.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Scholars examine the activist efforts of Black Americans in Memphis in a series of essays ranging from the Reconstruction era to the twenty-first century. In An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee, eminent and rising scholars present a multidisciplinary examination of African American activism in Memphis from the dawn of emancipation to the twenty-first century. Together, they investigate episodes such as the 1940 “Reign of Terror” when Black Memphians experienced a prolonged campaign of harassment, mass arrests, and violence at the hands of police. They also examine topics including the relationship between the labor and civil rights movements, the fight for economic advancement in Black communities, and the impact of music on the city’s culture. Covering subjects as diverse as politics, sports, music, activism, and religion, An Unseen Light illuminates Memphis’s place in the long history of the struggle for African American freedom and human dignity. Praise for Unseen Light “From the aftermath of the post-Civil War race massacre to continuous violence, murder, and bitter confrontations into the twenty-first century, contributors illuminate An Unseen Light on those Black Memphians forging lives nonetheless, through negotiation, protest, music, accommodation, prayer, faith and sometimes sheer stubbornness . . . . Scholars intellectually and personally invested in the city as a site of family and community, and career, bring an unequivocal depth of understanding and richness about place and belonging that textures the pages with life, from the church pews, the music studios, or the myriad of social or political organizations, to the land itself, adding more layers to underscore how black lives have mattered in the historical grassroots building of the nation. This is thoughtful and beautiful work.” —Françoise Hamlin, author of Crossroads at Clarksdale: The Black Freedom Struggle After World War II “This rich collection covers a broad range of topics pertaining to the African American freedom struggle in Memphis, Tennessee. One of its greatest strengths is the breadth of the essays, which span a long period from the end of the Civil War to the twenty-first century. An Unseen Light is a valuable addition to civil rights scholarship.” —Cynthia Griggs Fleming, author of Yes We Did?: From King's Dream to Obama's Promise “The collection did an excellent job in explaining the inner workings of Memphis . . . . The works highlighted the past actions, organizing and insurgency which created the dynamics of racism, classism, social, and political power seen in modern Memphis. I recommend this collection to those interested in the shaping of a large southern city. I also recommend to new and lifelong Memphians to provide a blueprint of the historical legacy of Memphis and how this legacy continues to impact the lives of African Americans.” —Tennessee Libraries