We Be Lovin’ Black Children

"Black parents can no longer settle for ‘the Talk’ as a defense for our children. They need information, strategies, and tactics for ensuring Black children survive AND thrive in an increasingly hostile world. We Be Lovin’ Black Children is the corrective our families need to raise the mentally, emotionally, socially, and culturally healthy children we need to ensure the legacies left over the millennia and throughout the world."

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Professor Emerita and the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, past President of the American Educational Research Association (AERA)

"The title, We Be Lovin’ Black Children, establishes its premise. ‘Be Lovin’ connotes an immediacy, a now-ness, a persistence that is culturally based and applicable to today’s enigmatic conditions. Give every new African and African American mother a copy of We Be Lovin’ Black Children and the intricate, complex maze through which she must meander in her quest for emotional freedom is diminished. We Be Lovin’ Black Children means we have been, are now, and will be lovin’ and minimizing the barriers that separate us. It is explicit and replete with examples of the how. With the wisdom of loving scholars and teachers, the chains of oppression are weakened and eventually severed."

Dr. Adelaide L. Sanford, Vice-Chancellor Emerita, New York State Board of Regents

"As educational systems consistently demonstrate anti-Blackness through their policies and practices, this book shows readers what it means to be pro-Black and consequently pro-Black children. By tearing down divisive barriers and unnecessary borders, the book exemplifies what is possible in a global movement dedicated to Blackness in the fight for racial justice! This book teaches as it troubles racial injustices everywhere!"

Dr. H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education, Vanderbilt University

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction—We Be Lovin’ Black Children

PART I—BLACK FOLKS IN THE UNITED STATES

Chapter 1
Open Love Letter to Black Families and Communities
Kamania Wynter-Hoyte and Gloria Swindler Boutte

Chapter 2
Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud: Beauty, Brilliance, and Belonging in Our Homes, Classrooms, and Communities
Jarvais Jackson, Saudah Collins, Janice Baines, and Valente’ Gibson

Chapter 3
Great Rising: Activities to Inspire Black Teens and Youth
Shaquetta Moultrie, Antoinette Gibson, and Julia Dawson

Chapter 4
Preparing Black Children to Identify and Confront Racism in Books, Media, and Other Texts: Critical Questions
Meir Muller

Chapter 5
Each One, Teach One: Reflections and Lessons on Mentoring Young Men of Color
Ricardo Neal and Kindel Nash

Chapter 6
We Be Family
Kayla Hostetler and Jamon Dubose

Chapter 7
The Crown on Your Head: Teaching African Diaspora Literacy Through Hair
Shayla Calhoun and Joy Howard

Chapter 8
Teaching Our Children About Blackness in the World
Lasana D. Kazembe, Leslie K. Etienne, and Tambra O. Jackson

PART II—BLACK FOLKS ALL OVER THE WORLD

Chapter 9
African Diaspora Literacy in Jamaica and the Wider Caribbean
Clement T. M. Lambert

Chapter 10
Lessons From Africa
Asangha Muki, Samuel Ntewusu, Moepeola Omoegun, and Berte Van Wyk

Chapter 11
Resources
LaGarrett J. King, Gloria Swindler Boutte, Joyce E. King, and George L. Johnson

Appendix A: Dimensions of African American Culture

Appendix B: Ten Principles for Black Education and Socialization

About the Authors

Index

NOTE: Table of Contents subject to change up until publication date.

Gloria Swindler Boutte

Dr. Gloria Swindler Boutte is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. For more than three decades, Dr. Boutte’s scholarship, teaching, and service have focused on equity pedagogies. She is the author/editor of four books: African Diaspora Literacy: The Heart of Transformation in K-12 Schools and Teacher Education (2019 AESA Critics Choice Award); Educating African American Students: And how are the children; Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People From Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds; and Multicultural Education: Raising Consciousness. She has received millions of dollars in grants and has more than 90 publications. Dr. Boutte has presented nationally and internationally on equity issues and has received prestigious Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Specialist awards. Dr. Boutte is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Education and Equity of African American Students (CEEAAS). She has presented and/or served as a visiting scholar internationally in every continent except Antarctica. Dr. Boutte and Dr. George Lee Johnson, Jr. are the authors of the Drs. Diaspora curriculum.

Joyce Elaine King

Joyce Elaine King holds the Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership at Georgia State University and affiliated faculty status in the African American Studies Department. Her publications focus on Black Studies curriculum theorizing and Black education research and policy. She is a past president of the American Educational Research Association.

George Lee Johnson, Jr.

Dr. George Lee Johnson, Jr. is a Professor and Academic Program Coordinator of Special Education at South Carolina State University. For more than two decades, Dr. Johnson’s scholarship, teaching and service has focused on equity pedagogies, teaching for social justice and critical race theory in education with an emphasis on culturally and linguistically diverse students. He has taught and presented nationally and internationally on special education, diversity, and disproportionality, community, and equity issues. Dr. Johnson has numerous publications and received $300,000 in grants and has presented his work in Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, England, Botswana, South Africa, and Sierra Leone.

LaGarrett J. King

LaGarrett J. King is an Associate Professor of Social Studies Education in the Department of Learning and Instruction in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Dr. King earned his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. A former teacher in Texas and Georgia, his research broadly examines how Black history and race is taught and learned in schools and society.