Undoing Oppression from Slavery, Racism, Sexism and Privilege:

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• Undoing Oppression from Slavery, Racism, Sexism
  and Privilege
• Educating Our Way to Literacy
• Sylvia Bailey
• July 2005

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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

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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 states 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 districtsSouthfield, Oak Park
  and Pontiac
• Pontiac
• nearly 13,000 students
• 64 African American
• 11 Latino
• 5 Asian

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Objective

• Integrating African American Literature and
  Culture across the Curriculum to Increase Literacy

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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

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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

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Workshop Structure

• Frequency
• Six collaborative Mondays
• Time
• 230-400 pm
• Location
• MC 2
• Workshop Size
• Maximum 30
• Assignments
• Required Reading
• Lesson Plans

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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
  Peoples Children
• Session 4 -Cultural Stereotypes
• Color Complex, by Kathy Russell (Book excerpt)
  http//www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0385471610/refsib
  _dp_pop_ex/103-9060415-3977415?5FencodingUTF8p
  S00Ireader-link
• Colbert, Jessie, African American Women in Film
  (article)
• http//www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapp
  osto01/173/colbert.html
• Session 5- Lesson Plans Kunjufu, Jawanza, Black
  Students-Middle Class Teachers
• Session 6- Activism/Radicalism Freire, Paulo,
  Pedagogy of the Oppressed

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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

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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

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Activity Essence of Your Being

• Who am I?
• How do you identify yourself? (Racially/culturall
  y/ linguistically/ socio-economically/religiously/
  sexually/etc.)
• 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?
• 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.
• 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?
•  

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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 Isnt a
  Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?

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Workshop Agenda-Month 3 (90 minutes)

• Discussion Language
• Prose
• Poetry
• Song
• Signifying
• Assignment- Read
• McIntosh, Peggy Unpacking The Invisible
  KnapsackWhite Privilege (Handout)
• Color Complex by Kathy Russell (Book)

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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

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Workshop Agenda-Month 5 (90 minutes)

• Response groups Lesson plans
• Activity- Identifying Famous African Americans
  (Contest)
• Assignment
• Read Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

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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. Kings, I Have a
  Dream
• Discussion
• It is your responsibility to change society if
  you think of yourself as an educated person.

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Resources-Bibliographies (Handouts)

• Teaching Africa and African American Roots
• An Annotated Bibliography Teaching Slavery
  DifferentlyThe Black Radical Tradition
• A Brief Bibliography on Black Vernacular English
• Delaney Group Reading List

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Books

• Delpit, Lisa, The Skin We Speak and Other
  Peoples Children
• Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
• Kunjufu, Jawanza, Black Students-Middle Class
  Teachers
• Morrison, Toni, The Black Book

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Articles/Essays-Handouts

• Baldwin, James, A Talk to Teachers
• Baldwin, James, If Black English Isnt a
  Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?
• Bell, Lee Anne, Theoretical Foundations for
  Social Justice Education
• Cutter, Martha J., Dismantling The Masters
  House
• Edelman, Marian Wright, A Closer Look the Costs
  of Child Poverty in America

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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

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Resources-Websites

• http//search.msn.com/results.asp?FORMsCPNRSCHE
  CKEDundocv1q22African20American2220Mathe
  matician (African American Mathemeticians)
• http//hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/search.h
  tml (Slave Trade and Slave Lives)
• http//www.alexanderstreet2.com/bltclive/index.htm
  l (Black Thought and Culture)
•  http//www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapp
  osto01/173/colbert.html (African American Women
  in Film-Stereotypes)
• http//racerelations.about.com/od/stereotypesmenta
  lmodels/a/blackimage.htm (Race Relations-Stereotyp
  es)
• http//jab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/40/2/146
  (Myths, Stereotypes, and Realities of Black
  Women)