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

Gloria Swindler Boutte

Dr. Gloria Swindler Boutte is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. She is the author/editor of eight books: (1) Pro-Blackness in Early Childhood Education: Diversifying Curriculum and Pedagogy in K-3 Classrooms; (2) Revolutionary Love: Nurturing the Brilliance of Young Black Children; (3) Educating African American Students: And How Are the Children (2nd edition); (4) We Be Lovin’ Black Children: Becoming Learning to Be Literate About the African Diaspora (2022 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award); (5) African Diaspora Literacy: The Heart of Transformation in K-12 Schools and Teacher Education (2019 AESA Critics Choice Award); (6) Educating African American Students: And How Are the Children; (7) Resounding Voices: School Experiences of People From Diverse Ethnic Backgrounds; and (8) Multicultural Education: Raising Consciousness.
     She has more than 100 publications and presents nationally and internationally. She has received prestigious awards such as the Fulbright Scholar; Fulbright Specialist; National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Outstanding Educator in the English Language Arts—Elementary Section; an AERA Division K Legacy Award; AERA 2022-23 Fellow Award; and an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Social Justice in Education Award. She was the founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Education and Equity of African American Students (CEEAAS). She has served as a Visiting Scholar and presented her work internationally on every continent except for Antarctica. She has led/co-led Fulbright Hays Groups projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Barbados. She has been a Visiting Scholar in Australia (twice), South Africa, Jamaica, Guyana, and Colombia. She has traveled to nine countries in Africa (at least one country in each region) and lived in Nigeria for a year and taught at the University of Uyo as a Fulbright Scholar.

Joyce Elaine King

Dr. Joyce E. King holds the Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership at Georgia State University (GSU) in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. She holds affiliated faculty status in the Department of African American Studies, the Women’s and Gender Studies Institute, the Partnership for Urban Health Research, and the Urban Studies Institute. Her publications in the Harvard Educational Review, the Journal of Negro Education, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and the Journal of African American History focus on a transformative role for culture in curriculum and urban teacher effectiveness, morally engaged, community-mediated inquiry and Black education research and policy. Her most recent book is Heritage Knowledge in the Curriculum: Retrieving an African Episteme (with E. Swartz). Dr. King is past president of the American Educational Research Association, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Food and Development Policy (FoodFirst.org), a member of the National African American Reparations Commission and a recipient of the Stanford University School of Education Alumni Excellence Award (2018). A recent essay, “To Create a More Perfect Union, We the People Need Reparations to Heal Our Wounded Souls,” is published on the American Civil Liberties Union website: https://www.aclu.org/issues/create-more-perfect-union-we-people-need-reparations-heal-our-wounded-souls

George Lee Johnson, Jr.

Dr. George L. Johnson is 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 has received $300,000 in grants. He has presented his work in Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, England, Botswana, South Africa, and Sierra Leone. He is the co-author (with Gloria Boutte) of Drs. Diaspora Curriculum-a curriculum that teaches P-12 students about African and African American history.

LaGarrett J. King

Dr. LaGarrett J. King is a Professor and Founding Director for the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education at the University at Buffalo. With over 60 publications, Dr. King is a sought after speaker and leader in Black history education. He is a former classroom teacher who researches the teaching and learning of Black history in schools and society, teacher education and professional development, and the history of Black education.