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This is to certify that the
dissertation entitled

SBA (TEACHING, WISDOM, AND STUDY): THE
EXPLORATION OF THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN
AMERICAN YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED AN
AFRICAN CENTERED SCHOOL

presented by

JOYCE HAFEEZA PIERT

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for the

DOCTORAL degree in EDUCATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION

 

 

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Date

MSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record.

To AVOID FINES return on or before date due.
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ALIH

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SBA (TEACHING, WISDOM, AND STUDY): AN EXPLORATION OF THE
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED
AN AFRICAN CENTERED SCHOOL.

By

Joyce Hafeeza Piert

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Educational Administration

2006

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ABSTRACT
SBA (TEACHING, WISDOM, AND STUDY): AN EXPLORATION OF THE
EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED
AN AFRICAN CENTERED SCHOOL
By

Joyce Hafeeza Piert

At various points within the history of America’s public education, the nation has
attempted to educate an increasingly diverse student population. It has been argued that
almost since its inception, the nation’s educational model has been utilized as a vehicle
for sorting and maintaining a social structure of inequity (Carnoy, 1974; Bernstein, 1977;
Giroux; 1983). Certainly not immune to this undergirding ideology, African Americans
have engaged in an on-going struggle with the paternalistic European American
perceptions of what constitutes an appropriate education for African people in America.
This tension fireled the desire for agency and self-determination among African
American communities and contributed to the rise of Black Nationalist and Pan
Africanist ideology during the 19th and 20th centuries. Throughout historical moments
within this nation, these ideologies have Shaped the African American community’s
response to the un-kept promises of the American educational system.

In recent times, American public schools have demonstrated a clear inability to
equitably instruct Afiican American students. This inability has manifested in poor
academic performance in public schools and this inability has fueled alarm within the
African American community, which has contributed to dissatisfaction and fi'ustration
with the public schools. Consequently African American parents have sought viable

alternatives for successfirlly educating African American students as manifested in the

African-centered educational movement. But what is an African centered education? In
the body of literature that has accumulated, an African centered education has been
defined in various ways, as a history supplement of Afiican centered facts, as a
curriculum immersion, and as a complete cultural and curriculum immersion within
schools. Also, researchers have examined the implementation of this educational model
in various settings, both private and public; and researchers have examined the academic
outcomes of this implementation. However, there is a paucity of data on the experiences
of young people who have experienced this educational model. In this study, the
researcher explored the experiences of African American young people who have
attended an African centered school. The findings of the study revealed that the
educational experiences of these African American young people aligned substantially

with the intended outcomes Of the school’s philosophy and purpose.

 

Copyright by
JOYCE HAFEEZA PIERT
2006

Dedicated to the Creator

«who purposed me for this task and sustained me through it

And to the ancestors who have come before me and prepared the way
For such a time as this

Also to my father, Oscar Mitchell (1932-2000)

And

To my mother, Deolar Aubrey

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It helps to bring the spirits of other people into your life.
It gives you many more eyes to see and helps overcome limitations.
--Sobongu Some

I give praise to the Creator for this educational journey and acknowledge the
ancestors who have prepared the way before me for this task. I acknowledge the spirits
of Afrikan people throughout the Diaspora.

I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Christopher Dunbar, J r., my
dissertation committee chairperson, who was a constant inspiration throughout the
dissertation process. I also express my gratitude for the encouragement of the members
of my dissertation committee, Reitumese Mabokela, Susan Printy, and Francisco
Villarruel.

My deepest gratitude goes to my best friend, Linda Frye, who endured my
frustrations and doubts. She always provided me with words of encouragement and she
added much needed humor to my life. Special thanks to Kefentse Chike, a friend who
came into my life to stretch and challenge my thinking. Thanks and gratitude to Carl
Robinson, a colleague who took the time to invest in my dissertation journey by reading
my work and assisting in the refinement of my thinking on my research topic.

Thanks to my doctoral cohort and special thanks to Elizabeth Murakami-
Ramalho, Benita Barnes, and Matthew Militello, colleagues who were models of the

dissertation process and what it entailed and demonstrated how to progress through it

with dignity. Also thanks to James Smith, Alex Bowers, Patrick Halladay, and Carol

vi

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Baker. Special thanks to Resche Hines, a colleague who pressed me to stay on course as
we approached the end of this journey.

I am grateful for the support of my brothers Barry Mitchell and Gary Mitchell. I
extend special gratitude to my mother Deolar Aubrey for being a vessel used by the
Creator to nurture and love me into my purpose. I am indebted to the support of my
children Shahied and Rashida Aquil, as well as their father, my friend, Kenneth Aquil. I
am also gratefirl in advance to my nieces and nephews who will accept the baton to

continue the race towards the liberation of African people.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

Page

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER I l
Introspection ................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction and Overview 4
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................ 7
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................... 9
Significance of this study ............................................................................................ 9
Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 10
DEFINITION OF TERMS ............................................................................................. I 5
OVER VIEW OF THE CIMPTERS ............................................................................... 1 7
CHAPTER II 19
Literature Review .......................................................................................................... I 9
Roots of the Afrikan centered Educational Movement ................................................. 19
What is an Afrikan centered Curriculum? .................................................................... 24
What is Afiikan centered Pedagogy? ............................................................................ 26
Afiikan centered Educational Model ............................................................................ 30
Contemporary options in Afrikan centered education .................................................. 32
Independent Black Institutions ([81) ......................................................................... 33

A fi'ikan centered Charter Schools ............................................................................. 36

A fiikan centered Traditional Public Schools ............................................................ 38
Current Empirical Findings of an Afrikan centered Education .................................... 40
CHAPTER III 51
Design and Methodolog» .............................................................................................. 51
Overview ................................................................................................................... 51
Research Design ........................................................................................................ 51

Site and Subject Selection ......................................................................................... 55
Sampling ................................................................................................................... 55
Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 57
Narratives. ........................................................................................................... 58
Procedure .............................................................................................................. 58

Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 59
Verisimilitude ........................................................................................................... 60

The Role of the Researcher ....................................................................................... 60
Limitations of this Study ........................................................................................... 61

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Context of the School .................................................................................................... 62
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 62
The Setting ............................................................................................................ 62
The F aizah Shule - Background ............................................................................ 64
Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy - Background .......................................... 65
Meeting the Founder of Faizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy ......... 66
Struggles: The tool of perfection ........................................................................... 67
The Guiding Principles for the educational experience ....................................... 68
A Typical Day at the Shule ............................................................................................ 73
A Typical Day at the Shule ....................................................................................... 73
CHAPTER V 80
Case Studies .................................................................................................................. 80
Mama Mariama, which means “a gift of God ” in West Africa ............................ 81
Kamau, which means “quiet warrior” in Swahili ................................................ 84
Heimis, a name he chose for himself .................................................................... 86
Mama Nefertiti, which is Egyptian for “the beautiful one has arrived. ” ............. 87
Naimah, a name she chose for herself .................................................................. 89
Mama Busara, which means “wisdom " in Swahili .............................................. 90
A sma, which is Swahili for “higher, more exalted” ............................................. 94
Mama Ayo, which means “joy” in Yoruba ........................................................... 95
Nina, which means “mother” in Swahili. ............................................................. 99
Baba Shombay - He who walks like a lion ......................................................... 100
Mumbi, which means “creator, mother of the universe ” in Kikuyu ................... 103
Adofo, which means “courageous warrior ” in Akan ......................................... 104
CHAPTER VI .................................................................................... 108
Findings ...................................................................................................................... I 08
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 108
Educational Experiences Grounded in Nation building .......................................... 110
Nationbuilding ................................................................................................... I 14
Family and Community ...................................................................................... I I 4
Educational Experiences for developing their Cultural Knowledge and Identity .. 117
Cultural Proficiency ............................................................................................ 11 7
Positive Self-Concept ......................................................................................... 122
Expectations for Greatness. ............................................................................... 126
Higher Order Thinking. ..................................................................................... 130
Educational experience that cultivated the principles of self-advocacy ................. 132
Activism. ............................................................................................................. 133
Student Agency ................................................................................................... 1 3 6
Educational experience that developed their personhood ....................................... 139
Spirituality .......................................................................................................... 13 9
Rites-of-Passage ................................................................................................. 142
Life Values ......................................................................................................... 148

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Not all had a great experience ................................................................................. 156

 

In summary ............................................................................................................. 163
CHAPTER VII .................................................................................... 167
Discussion and Recommendations .............................................................................. I 6 7
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 167
The Afrikan Centered Educational Experience ...................................................... 167
Challenges and Tensions of the Afrikan Centered Educational Experience .......... 170
How is this Educational Experience Manifested? .................................................. 174
Concerns that Arose from the Afiikan Centered Educational Experience ............. 176
Diflerent home culture. ....................................................................................... 177
All That Afrikan Stuff. ........................................................................................ 1 79
Can these Educational Benefits be attained in Public Schools? ............................. 181
Maybe .................................................................................................................. 181
Maybe Not .......................................................................................................... 183
Recommendations ................................................................................................... 1 85
Future Research ...................................................................................................... 188
Retrospection .............................................................................................................. 16 7
APPENDICES 194
APPENDIX A .............................................................................................................. 195
APPROVAL LETTER FROM THE UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON
RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS ................................................ 195
APPENDIX B .............................................................................................................. I97
CONSENT FORM .................................................................................................. 197
APPENDIX C .............................................................................................................. 200
INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS .................................................................................. 200
Protocol Questions for Afiican American students who attended an Afiican-
centered school .................................................................................................... 201
Protocol Questions for the parents of African American young people who
attended an African-centered school. .................................................................. 202
Protocol Questions for African American Administrator at the African-centered
school .................................................................................................................. 203
REFERENCES 204

 

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
1.1 Assumptions that Guide Afrocentric Research and Theory ......................... 12
2.1 Characteristics of the Studies on Afrikan centered education outcomes ........... 43
5.1 Participant, parent, graduation year and gender ....................................... 80

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CHAPTER I
Introspection

The Afrocentric research paradigm that I chose to employ in this study requires
that the researcher undergoes introspection before entering into the research process.
Similar to other research paradigms, the Afrocentric research paradigm requires the
researcher to examine his/her philosophical stance which encompasses assumptions,
biases, and beliefs concerning the phenomenon under study prior to engaging in the
research process. The objective of this introspection is “to ascertain what obstacles exist
to an Afrocentric method in the researcher’s own mind” (Asante, 1990, p. 27). Through
this process the researcher increases the likelihood that the research undertaken will be
reliable and trustworthy.

I grew up during the turbulent sixties, a period when the issues of social injustice
and inequalities were constantly in the news and on the forefi'ont of everyone’s mind.
When I reflect back, I realize that in pre-puberty l was groomed in the struggle for social
justice for Afiican American people. At the age of twelve, I became a member of the
Black Muslims. The Black Muslims was an African-American organization perceived by
European Americans as threatening and militant, while perceived by African Americans
as nationalist and self-determining. The Black Muslims operated independent schools
and businesses in Afiican American communities throughout the United States. In fact, at
the age of seventeen, I became a teacher in one of the schools in central Michigan. The
school endured for five years but experienced financial difficulties and closed down.

My experience as a teacher in that school had a tremendous impact upon my
philosophy regarding the responsibility of African American people in providing

education for their own children. Malcolm X, a former minister of the Black Muslim

 

 

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movement once stated concerning the American education for Afiican American people

that “it is insanity to expect the oppressor to provide a liberating education to those they

oppress. It is as insane as expecting the Germans to provide a liberating education to the
Jews” (Malcolm X, 1996).

Years later, the struggle to get my own children through the American public
school system was the vehicle that moved me towards this research. My son had to
continue an additional year in school to graduate, and my daughter dropped out of school,
eventually completing a GED. My children were raised in a middle-class setting, and
both, their father and I were attending college during their childhood and adolescence.
Education was promoted as the key to success, and our cultural values within the home
were closely aligned with the values of the school. Yet, I could not convince my children
that the education they received in the public schools was valuable to their future. They
were rejecting the education of the public schools. When I looked around, I found so
many of my African American neighbors, fiiends, and relatives in the same predicament
with their children. What was going on? Why didn’t these young people see the value in
education?

As I attempted to navigate my children through the educational system, I became
a volunteer parent at their school. In this capacity, I encountered some very uncaring
teachers and administrators and realized that my children were not the only ones falling
through the cracks. At this point, I decided to quit my job as a Maintenance supervisor
with General Motors and complete my degree in Secondary Education.

While pursuing my undergraduate degree, a fiiend and I developed and
coordinated a four-week summer program for urban children in grades 5 through 12.

This program offered courses in Language Arts, Mathematics, and African American

 

 

 

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History. We were able to secure volunteer teachers for the program from the local
university. Our program continued for five years. Student enrollment progressed from
approximately 50 students to over 100 students and had a waiting list by the fifth year.
We discovered that our students responded positively to the smaller class size, caring
teachers, and instructions in African American history from an Afrocentric worldview.
Many of our students demonstrated academic achievement by becoming honor roll
students when they returned to public school.

Prior experiences with education, the summer program, the African centered
curriculum movement, along with the charter school movement, nurtured the desire to
create schools that would address the issues of African American children. Research on
the issues of Afiican American student achievement has attributed their school failure to
cultural deficiency (e.g., lacking the cultural values needed to be successful in school)
(Valentine, 1971) or cultural incongruence (e.g., having cultural values that do not align
with the culture of the teachers and the school) (King, 1994). When examining the
problem of the academic achievement of African American students from a Eurocentric
worldview, I may draw these or similar conclusions. The problem is that the “minority”
culture is unable to attain to the “dominant” culture’s standards and norms. However, I
propose looking at this problem from an Afrocentric worldview, which suggests that the
public school system is culturally deficient for students of color or culturally incongruent
from their students of color. I return to the statement that I heard in my earlier years by

Malcolm X . . . . Perhaps he was on to something.

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Introduction and Overview

What purposes do Americans ascribe to schooling? Americans believe that
schooling is the means to offer all children an equal opportunity to achieve economic
success (Ballantine, 1997; Carnoy, 1974). According to the many theorists in the
Sociology of Education (Ballantine, 1997; Mulkey, 1993; Bennett, 1990), the outcomes
for schooling in America’s public educational system are varied and overlapping but can
be delineated as follows: 1) to provide students with the opportunity for intellectual
acquisition of knowledge, 2) to produce future citizens for participation within society, 3)
to prepare a labor force, and 4) to transmit the social and moral values for the
perpetuation of American society. Some theorists have posited that education in America
serves as a system of social and economic reproduction (Carnoy, 1974; Bernstein, 1977;
Giroux; 1983). According to these theorists, schools do not promote “democracy, social
mobility, and equality . . . they see the school as a mechanism that reproduces the values
of the dominant social group” (Mulkey, 1993).

At different historical moments, Americans, as a whole, espoused one of the
aforementioned purposes for education more intently than others, but for many in the
Afiikanl American community, the purpose of education has always been understood as
the key to upward mobility for their children. Historically, the Afrikan American
community has diligently struggled to ensure that their children were provided
educational opportunities. After the Civil War, this diligence manifested in the form of
sacrifices and determination to create schools which would teach their children to read

and write. This desire for schooling, which would pave the path for participation within

 

' The spelling of Afrika with a “k” represents the spelling in the Kiswahili language and is adopted from
usage by the Council of Independent Black Institutions (C181) and this researcher chose to use this spelling
of Afrika except when used in quotes throughout the rest of this document.

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the American society with all the rights and privileges of first class citizenry, was in
conflict with the interests of the capitalist elite of both the North and the South. The
result of this conflict was a dual system of public education, particularly in the South,
which was legitimated by law as separate but equal (Anderson, 1988). Separate but equal
translated into dilapidated buildings, poor funding, and poorly qualified teachers for the
Afiikan American community (DuBois, 1935).

For almost fifty years Afiikan Americans endured this disparate but legal system
of public education for their children. In 1954, the Brown versus Board of Education
decision declared that this dual system of education was, in fact, separate and unequal.
This decision gave hOpe to the Afrikan American community that their children would
receive a quality education and have opportunity to fully participate in acquiring the
American dream through upward mobility. Today, fifty years later, Afrikan American
parents are still frustrated with the inequitable education that the majority of their
children are receiving within the American educational system. This frustration and
disillusion with the public educational system has been the impetus for seeking
alternative educational options for their children. One option that has emerged within the
last several decades has been the adoption of an Afrikan centered educational model
within public schools as an alternative means of educating Afrikan American children.
What is an Afrikan centered educational model? An Afrikan centered educational model
is one that provides students of Afiikan descent with an education that deconstructs the
hegemonic influences of this society, promotes a positive self-concept, and acknowledges
their cultural heritage (Asante, 1991; Ladson-Billings, 2000).

Theorists of an Afrikan centered educational model argue that this educational

model will produce Afrikan American young people who demonstrate cultural awareness

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and positive self-concept (Asante, 1991; Akoto, 1992; Ladson-Billings, 2000). Also,
they will develop “the intellectual, moral, and emotional skills for accomplishing a
productive and affirming life in this society” (Giddings, 2001, p. 463), as well as work to
advance cultural pluralism with a focus on justice and equality (Akoto, 1992). However,
some proponents assert that the fundamental purpose for an Afiikan centered education is
nationbuilding (Akoto, 1992; Lomotey, 1992). According to Akoto (1992),
“Nationbuilding is the conscious and focused application of our [Afrikan] people’s
collective resources, energies, and knowledge to the task of liberating and developing the
psychic and physical space that we identify as ours” (p. 3).

When theories supporting the purposes of an Afiikan centered educational model
are contrasted with theories supporting the educational model of the traditional public
school, there were obvious points of convergence and divergence. Both models intend to
provide students with the opportunity to acquire intellectual knowledge, develop
cognitive skills, and prepare young people for participation as citizens within society.
However, the Afiikan centered educational outcomes of preparing workers for labor
though murky are clear on specifying that Afrikan cultural norms and values will be
transmitted to Afrikan children for the perpetuation of Afrikan sovereignty. Though
multiple theories support the educational outcomes of an Afrikan centered educational
model for Afiikan American children, research does not provide empirical evidence of
the actual experiences of the young people who attended these academies. Given that an
Afrikan centered educational model has both similar and different educational outcomes
as public schools, some fundamental questions need to be considered regarding its impact
upon young people and their lives. Are these outcomes for education so different that

obstacles are created for young people to participate as productive citizens of the local,

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national and global society? Or does the educational experience provide young people
with the needed tools and attitudes to negotiate mainstream culture, as well as provide
tools for agency and self-determination?

Statement of the Problem

Historically, the American educational system has not effectively educated
Afrikan American children and this failure to meet the academic needs of Afrikan
Americans has been manifested in numerous ways. The majority of Afiikan American
students continue to lag in educational achievement when compared to European
American students. One noted example of this lag is that Afrikan American students’
Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores in both verbal and mathematics are 100 points
below that of European American students (National Center for Education Statistics,
2002). The high school drop-out rates for Afiikan American students are substantially
higher than the drop-out rates for European American students (National Center for
Education Statistics, 2002). Afrikan American students are more likely to be assigned to
special education classes (Robinson, 2004) and lower level academic courses (Oakes,
1999; Hacker, 1992; Kershaw, 1992). Additionally, Afiikan American males are
disproportionately expelled and suspended from schools more than their European
American counterparts (Expose Racism and Advance School Excellence, 2001).

Some Afiikan American scholars, educators, and parents viewed these academic
problems as dissonance with the Eurocentric hegemonic structure of the public school
system (Ogbu, 1990; F ordham, 1988). Also, some researchers assert that these
difficulties fuel the psychological and social deterioration of the psyche of many Afiikan
American students and contribute to the diminution of their life chances (Akoto, 1994;

Asante, 1991; Ladson-Billings, 1996, 2000). A myriad of solutions have been offered to

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alleviate the academic problems of Afiikan American students, such as Independent
Black Institutions, Head Start programs, Rites-of—Passage programs, Upward Bound,
alternative schools, charter schools, and even the immersion of Afrocentric curriculum
into public schools (Dunbar, 2001; Ginwright, 1999; Hopkins, 1997; Irvine, 1990;
Warfield-Coppock, 1992; Lomotey, 1992). More recently, the immersion of the Afrikan
centered educational model into the urban public schools has been perceived as recourse
to continued Afiikan American student failure. The proponents of an Afiikan centered
educational model believe that this model would not only increase Afiikan American
student achievement but would also promote the student’s self-esteem, provide a positive
racial identity, and increase the life chances of Afrikan American students (Lee, 1994;
Akoto, 1994; Asante, 1991; Ladson-Billings, 2000).

However, there is a paucity of research that reflects the impact of an Afrikan
centered educational model upon self-esteem, racial identity, and life chances of Afiikan
American young people. Specifically, there is no research that appropriates the voices of
Afrikan American young people to glean insight from the experience of an Afiikan
centered educational model. The lessons learned from these too often silenced voices of
Afrikan American young people, their parents, and the school administrators of one
Afrikan centered school in the Midwest can assist the educational community to refine its
understanding of how to promote academic and life success for all students, specifically,

Afrikan American students.

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Purpose of the Study

Within the last decade, researchers have evaluated the impact of an Afiikan
centered educational experience upon Afrikan-American students’ academic achievement
(Pollard & Ajirotutu, 2000; Ginwright, 1999, Biggins, 1999). Academic achievement is
only one dimension for determining the effectiveness of this educational experience
(Shujaa, 1992; Akoto, 1992). Additionally, the significance of an Afiikan centered
education can be assessed by exploring the values that young people acquire as
participants in this educational initiative. To date, there are no studies that have been
conducted that examine the impact of an Afrikan centered educational experience upon
the lives of young people. In my research, I explored the experiences of Afrikan
American young people who attended an Afiikan centered school. The question that
guided the research was “What were the educational experiences of Afrikan American
young people who attended an Afrikan centered school?
Significance of this study

Currently, research is emerging that explores the impact of an Afrikan centered
educational model upon the academic achievement, educational motivation, or life
chances of Afrikan American students, but this research is in its infancy and is sparse in
quantity. Several researchers have analyzed the implementation process of this
educational model (Giddings, 2001; Murrell, 1999) and its impact upon the academic
achievement of Afiikan American students (Pollard & Ajirotutu, 2000; Ginwright, 1999).
Other researchers have examined forms of this educational model upon student
achievement (Biggins, 1999; Rocquemore, 1997), and one researcher has examined the

impact of a form of this educational model on the achievement motivation of Afiikan-

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American students, but none have explored or investigated the experiences of the young
people who have attended an Afiikan centered school.

This study would contribute to the scholarly conversation on the viability of this
educational model by presenting the perspectives and experiences of young people who
have attended an Afrikan centered school. Theorists have asserted the outcomes of this
educational experience, but, to date, there is very little empirical evidence substantiating
the outcomes. The voices of these young people have the potential to articulate and
provide insight into the dynamics of this educational model as conveyed through their
experiences.

Educators can utilize this research to re-evaluate what is done in the traditional
public school classrooms as reported by these young people and select proved methods of
teaching that can enhance the learning and life outcomes of Afiikan American students.
The results of this study can substantiate what is already being done in the classrooms, or
the results can introduce new pedagogy for instructing Afiikan American students.

The significance of this research to policymakers is that it can provide empirical
evidence to the methods that proved effective to the education of a small group of
students where traditional methods have not produced academic success. America’s
quest to fulfill the adage of “no child left behind” requires on-going examinations of
innovations that may prove beneficial to students. Even though this educational model
appears to target one specific group of students, proponents offer that this model will
indirectly improve the education of all children by preparing the recipients to function
holistically in a pluralistic and global society.

Theoretical Framework

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According to Creswell (1998), “Qualitative researchers approach their studies
with a certain paradigm or worldview; a basic set of beliefs or assumptions that guide
their inquiry” (p. 74). These assumptions are founded upon the researcher’s ontological,
epistemological, and axiological perspectives. The ontological perspective is based on
how the researcher perceives the nature of reality. This perspective addresses the
question of “What is reality?” according to how it is apprehended by the knower. (Guba
& Lincoln, 1994). The epistemological perspective is the researcher’s perception of how
knowledge is created. Ladson-Billings (2000a) asserts that “the concept of epistemology
is more than a ‘Way of knowing . . . [it] is a ‘system of knowing’ that has both an internal
logic and an external validity” (p. 257). The axiological perspective reflects the
researcher’s sense of values and qualitative research acknowledges the value-laden
propensity of the research inquiry (Guba & Lincoln, 1994).

In this research, which focuses on discovering how Afiikan American young
people experienced an Afrikan centered educational model, I have chosen to use an
Afiocentric paradigm as my theoretical fiamework. The Afrocentric paradigm is derived
from the theory of Afrocentricity formalized by Molefi Asante (1988) to address the
cultural and intellectual dislocation of Afrikan people. Asante (1991) posits that an
Afrocentric perspective is an “epistemological centeredness” (Mazama, 2003, p. 5) that
establishes:

a frame of reference wherein phenomena are viewed from the perspective of the

Afiikan person . . . it centers on placing people of Afiikan origin in control of

their lives and attitudes about the world . . . . This theory becomes, by virtue of an

authentic relationship to the centrality of our own reality, a fundamentally
empirical project . . . it is Africa asserting itself intellectually and psychologically,

breaking bonds of Western domination in the mind as an analogue for breaking
those bonds in every other field (p. 171).

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An Afiocentric paradi gm is a constructivist’s mode of inquiry and seeks to

understand how subjects construct meaning in their lived experiences but undertakes this

inquiry from the Afiikan worldview or cultural reality. Guba and Lincoln (1994)

explicate the aim of constructivism is “understanding and reconstruction of the

construction that people (including the inquirer) initially hold, aiming toward consensus

but still open to new interpretations as information and sophistication improve” (p.113).

This framework recognizes that individuals or groups make meaning of phenomenon

from mental constructions (Harris, 1992). The philosophical assumptions that underscore

this paradigm are listed in the Table 1.1:

Table 1.1 Assumptions that Guide Afrocentric Research and Theory

 

1.

Reason for Research

I Relocating Afrikan people to their “Afi'ikan” center(s).

I Describing and explaining the agency of Afrikans in the
shaping of their life experiences.

I Empowering Afrikans to positively affect their life chances
and experiences.

I Generating “authentic” knowledge.

 

 

 

2. Nature of Human I All people act from a cultural center and in their own best
Beings interest.

3. Role of Common I Common sense consists of intuition and individual and group
Sense understandings based on historical and cultural context.

4. Theory as an I Connects Afiikan people to their common heritage.
Approach and I Rejects the agenda of any oppressor (historical and cultural
Orientation to Data specific).

I Seeks to ensure harmony throughout humanity.
I Searches for “truth”.

 

 

5. Place of Values

 

I All research begins with a value position.
I The research must reflect an understanding of the subject
group’s value system.

 

SOURCE: Adapted from Terry Kershaw “Black Studies Paradigm” In Conyer, Jr., J .L. (ed) Afiocentriciy
and the academy: essays on theory and practice. (2003) p. 34.

There are several reasons that I have chosen an Afrocentric paradigm as my

theoretical framework. First, to understand how Afiikan American young people

perceive their experiences with an Afiikan centered educational model in its

complexities, I must analyze the evidence from an Afrocentric perspective, i.e., a

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perspective that views the phenomenon from an Afi‘ikan cultural worldview that
encompasses the cosmology, epistemology, ontology, and axiology of Afrikan culture.
Asante (1998) adamantly argues that when Afiikan meaning does not originate from an
Afiikan center, then “psychological dislocation creates automatons who are unable to
fully capture the historical moment because they are living on someone else’s terms” (p.
8). As a researcher, attempting to interpret Afrikan cultural phenomenon from a
Eurocentric or nonAfrikan worldview will lend to an inaccurate account of that
phenomenon.

Next, this fiarnework acknowledges that knowledge is co-created resulting fiom
the interactions of the researcher and the subjects. Rooted in the Afiikan cultural
worldview, the Afrocentric paradigm advances the concept that the researcher must
submerge himself/herself within the social and cultural context of the subjects under
study (Harris, 1992, Mazama, 2003). The Afrikan cultural worldview acknowledges the
interrelatedness of all being (Ani, 1994) and thus, promotes the premise that the
researcher and the subject concomitantly create new knowledge (Kambon, 1998; Asante,
1998). As the researcher, this paradigm required that I not distance myself from the
research but rather that I immerse myself within the cultural context to gain familiarity
with the history, language, philosophy, and traditions of the people and site under study
(Asante, 1998).

Finally, an Afrocentric paradigm requires that the researcher draws upon modes
of inquiry that respect the historical, social, economic, and cultural perspectives of the
subjects. The experiences of the Afiikan American young people participating in this
study must be interpreted from their standpoint. The fact that the lived experiences of

this group of young people’s occurs within a socio-historical context of oppression

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mandates modes of inquiry that seek to capture and legitimate these experiences. Since
the Afrocentric paradigm is yet evolving, methods of inquiry particular to this paradigm
have not been fully developed (Mazarna, 2003). Proponents of this paradigm encourage
researchers to utilize components of the traditional methods that respect the cultural,
historical, and social standpoints of the subjects and that generate knowledge that
empowers those researched (Mazarna, 2003; Asante 1998; Kershaw, 1992, 2003).

In this research, the aim is to give voice to a group who are often marginalized
and silenced within society. Ofientimes, this groups’ perspective is declared by those
who have objectified them. The intent of this study is to offer the empirical findings as a
resource for evaluative consideration of this educational model for the Afrikan American

community.

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

A definition of terms is needed to clarify words and concepts used in the study.
Sources are given to facilitate further research.

Afrikan/Afrikan American/Black: People of Afi'ikan descent residing in the United
States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Afrikan centered/Afrocentric/Afrocentricity: Interchangeable terms representing the
concept of epistemological “centeredness” in which the location for the consciousness of
Afiikan people is where the Afrikan and the interests of Afiikans are at the center of their
approach to problem-solving (Asante, 2003; Mazama, 2001).

Afrikan centered curriculum: An Afiikan centered curriculum is a guideline for the
delivery of Afrikan centered instruction.

Afrikan centered educational model: A model of education that provides students of
Afrikan descent an education that promotes a positive self-concept, acknowledges their
cultural heritage, and deconstructs the hegemonic influences of White supremacy
(Asante, 1992; Ladson-Billing, 2000).

Afrikan centered pedagogy: The methodology of teaching which goals are “the
acquisition of self determination and self sufficiency for Afiikan people, but ultimately
with truth” (Akoto, 1992, p. 91).

Black Nationalism: The ideology that people of Afiikan descent on the Continent2 of
Africa, as well as, in the Diaspora, share a common heritage of language, culture, and
religion; and that this heritage, way of life and ethnic identity are distinct from those of
other groups. This shared heritage demands racial solidarity which promotes self-
deterrnination, self-respect, and self-sufficiency as Afiikan people (Essien-Udom, 1962;
Kambon, 1998).

Ethos: “Ethos is intimately related to culture; both influencing it and being influenced
by it. Ethos refers in part to the emotional substance of a cultural group . . . .” (Ani,
1980,p.2)

European-centered] Eurocentric] Eurocentrism: “The conceptual framework of
orientation to reality (values, beliefs, definitions, rituals, customs, practices, etc.) based
on the history, culture, and philosophy of Western European people (as a race family)”
(Kambon, 1998, p. 529).

 

2 The term “Continent” used throughout this document refers to the Afrikan continent, unless otherwise
specified.

15

European/European American/White: “Being of, or descendant from, indigenous
Caucasian/W est Aryan-Nordic (Geo—historical Western Europe) genetic-cultural origin
expressed in discernible/overt biophysical traits” (Kambon, 1998, p. 529).

Kawaida: A value system of formal teachings derived from ancient Afrikan philosophy
which was introduced into the Afiikan American community by Maulana Karenga
(1998)

MAAF A: Kiswahili term that means “disaster”, (Ani, 1989) “It refers to the terroristic
interruption of Afiikan civilization that was occasioned by European and Arab slavery
and cultural aggression” (Hilliard, 1997).

Nguzo Saba Principles: These are seven principles of values associated with the
Kawaida faith. They consist of the principles of l). Umoja — unity; 2) Kujichagulia —
self-determination; 3) Ujima — collective work and responsibility; 4) Ujamaa —
cooperative Economics; 5) Nia — purpose; 6) Kuumba — creativity; and 7) Imani —— faith
(Karenga, 1998).

Pan Afrikanism: The ideology that Afrikans on the Continent of Afiica and throughout
the Diaspora Should unite against the European colonialism and white supremacy (Moses,
1962)

SBA: A Kemetic term which means “teaching, learning, wisdom, and study or collective
deep thought” (Hilliard, 1997, p.6).

Worldview: “Worldview represents the distinct unifying cosmological, ontological,
epistemological and axiological principles representing a racial-cultural group’s natural
cultural orientation, outlook or perspective on and the construction of reality” (Kambon,
1998,p.120)

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OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTERS

Chapter 2 presents a review of the literature on Afrikan centered education. The
Afrikan centered educational movement did not arbitrarily happen, but emerged fi'om the
struggle of Afiikan Americans against an unjust and oppressive society in America.
Given is an overview of the historical moments and key players that shaped the Afiikan
American determination to provide an alternative educational model for their children.
Next, this chapter details how this educational model is manifested in various school
settings for educating Afrikan American students. Finally, the current empirical findings
are examined that identify academic and social outcomes for this educational model.

In Chapter 3, the qualitative design utilized in this research project is discussed.
The rationale for choosing a multiple case study design is explained. Also, this chapter
details and explain how data was collected as well as the rationale behind the decisions
for site selection, subject selection and sampling procedures. Further, in this chapter the
methods utilized to collect data, such as, participant observations, interviews, artifacts
and life narratives are explicated and why these methods are most appropriate for this
study. Next, the methods for ensuring the trustworthiness of the data through
triangulation are detailed. This chapter concludes with reflections on the role of the
researcher in this study and points out the limitations of this study.

In Chapter 4, I introduced the director and founder of the school in this study.
Through her narrative, the school is contextualized Within the political, social, cultural
and historical moments of its creation and development. In Chapter 5, I offered the
profiles of the parents and the participants in this study. The parents profile frames the
narratives of each participant, providing insight into the familial influences which were

instrumental in determining the educational location of the participants.

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The findings from the data analysis are presented in Chapter 6. The findings are
the results of a thematic analysis of the young people’s experience in attending an
Afrikan centered school as interpreted through the flame of the three documents which
delineate the outcomes of the educational experience. The frame provides four outcomes
for the educational experience, they are as follows: 1) Outcomes grounded in nation
building, 2) Outcomes cultivating cultural knowledge and identity, 3) Outcomes
cultivating the principles of self-advocacy, and 4) Outcomes developing their
personhood.

In Chapter 7, the discussion of the findings is presented and recommendations are
given for future research. The discussion attempted to highlight the challenges and
tensions of the educational experience of the participants who attended the Shule. In the
discussion, I offer considerations for implementing an Afrikan centered educational
model within traditional public schools settings. Finally, I make recommendations for

further research in this area of study.

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CHAPTER 11
Literature Review

Historically, education has been highly prized and sought after by Afrikans in
America. As this nation fought for its independence, Afiikans perceived education as the
key which would open doors, allowing one the right to participate as an equal within
America society. In the South, it was perceived as a forbidden fruit that once partaken
would enlighten the mind and release the body into liberty. These perceptions of
education fueled the desires of Afrikans, both free and enslaved, to possess it. Yet, their
desires were confronted with the realities of their experiences in the North and the South
as they attempted to attain access to an education.

For Afrikan Americans in America, achieving an equitable and excellent
education has always been synonymous with struggle. Historically, the European
American concept of a suitable education for Afrikan Americans was at odds with the
Afrikan Americans concepts of the appropriate education for their liberation. In the
midst of these experiences, the roots of the Afiikan centered educational movement were
developing. Utilizing the related literature, a brief historical overview of the origins of the
Afrikan centered educational movement is presented. A definition of an Afiikan centered
educational model is defined drawing from the theorists of an Afiikan centered
educational model. Next, an examination of contemporary Afrikan centered educational
options for Afiikan Americans in schools is reviewed and finally the current empirical
findings on the viability of an Afiikan centered educational model within schools are
examined.

Roots of the Afiikan centered Educational Movement

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The Afrikan centered educational movement in the United States was the
collective and self-determined efforts of Afrikans in America, both free and enslaved, to
provide education for themselves and their children. This educational model, which
existed in a rough structure in the 17‘”I and 18th centuries, was perceived as a necessary
component in the drive towards liberation, freedom and independence of Afrikans in
America. It is the consensus of current research on Afrikan centered education that this
movement has it roots in Black Nationalism and Pan Afiikanism (Asante, 1991; Akoto,
1992; Ginwright, 2004).

EU. Essien—Udom (1962) defines Black Nationalism as “the belief of a group that
it shares, or ought to share, a common heritage of language, culture and religion; and that
its heritage, way of life and ethnic identity are distinct fi'om those of other groups . . . that
they ought to rule themselves and shape their own destinies” (p. 20). The Black
Nationalist movement is integral to Pan Afi'ikanism. Pan Afiikanism is the belief that
Afrikans on the Afiikan Continent and in the Diaspora should unite against European
colonialism and white supremacy (Moses, 1978). The aforementioned ideology was the
philosophical guide that drove the Afrikan centered educational movement.

Essien-Udom (1962), Moses (1978), and Redkey (1969) have documented the
genesis of the Black Nationalist and Pan Afiikanist ideology with Paul Cuffe, a free born
Afiikan in America in 1815. Despite being a free Afiikan ship owner in New Bedford,
Massachusetts, Cuffe had become disillusioned with America’s hypocrisy in keeping
Afiikans enslaved while ringing the bells for their own liberation fi-om England. He
founded the Friendly Society for the Emigration of Free Negroes from America and using

his personal firnds took 38 Afiikan Americans to Sierre Leone (Clarke, 1994).

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Martin R. Delany, also a Black Nationalist and Pan Afiikanist during the mid-19th
century, championed the establishment of a state by Afrikan Americans in the Niger
Valley. In fact, he was instrumental in negotiating an agreement with several Afrikan
kings for this project (Clarke, 1994). During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there
were other Afrikan Americans who articulated the Black Nationalist and Pan Afiikan
ideologies, such as Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Alexander Crummerll, and W.E.B.
DuBois.

However, the most influential proponent of the Black Nationalist and Pan Afrikan
movements was Marcus Garvey, who through the Universal Negro Improvement
Association (UNIA), advocated self-determination and the economic, social, and political
uplift of Afiikan people in America and in the Diaspora. He preached the “confraternity
of the Brotherhood” between all Afiikans. Garvey also espoused the reclamation of
Afi'ika, which was established in this chant of UNTA members, “Africa for the Afiicans,
those at home and those abroa ” (Maglangbayan, 1972, p. 21).

In the 19303, Elijah Muhammad inherited Black Nationalism and Pan Afrikanism
from the Garveyites (Ginwright, 2004). Muhammad advocated separate schools and a
separate nation for Afrikan Americans within America Like Garvey, Muhammad was a
proponent of Afiikan Americans educating their own and establishing their own financial
base. As Muhammad Was organizing Afrikan Americans towards self-determination and
agency, national unrest gave rise to the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements.

The decade of the 19603 was wrought with racial and 'civil unrest and this unrest
was manifested in various degrees of protest through sit-ins, boycotts, marches and riots.
Early in this decade, the Black Power ideology, which espoused racial pride and group

solidarity, began to spread throughout the Afiikan American communities as a result of

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the struggle against America’s racist and oppressive social structure. Karenga (1988)
referred to this decade as the period in which people of Afiikan descent made the “most
severe and successful theoretical and practical criticism of the structure and content of
US. society” (p. 125). Ginwright (2004) posited that Black Nationalism and Pan
Afiikanism undergirded the ideology of the Black Power movement which placed Afrika
as the nexus of the political and cultural agenda for Afrikan Americans.

In the midst of the Black Power movement, students on major college and
university campuses across the nation were critiquing these institutions of learning as
microcosms of the larger racist society (Karenga, 1988). Students, both Afiikan
American and European American believed that these educational institutions promoted
racism through the exploitation and oppression of people of color. Karenga (1988)
contends that this exploitation of people of color was accomplished by their purposeful
exclusion from knowledge, wealth, and power. Subsequently, Afiikan American students
on college and university campuses began to demand the establishment of Black Studies
departments that offered courses expounding the Black experience. They “charged that
traditional disciplines had not given attention to Black intellectual experience, culture,
and history” (Okafor, 1996, p. 693). As a result of this student protest, Black Studies
departments were instituted in major universities across the nation.

As the rally for Black Studies intensified, a young scholar emerged who became
an instrument for furthering the Afiikan centered education movement by providing a
theoretical framework. Molefi K. Asante, while working as a director for the Center for
Afro—American Studies at UCLA in the late 19603, began formulating his thoughts for his
insightful work, published in 1980, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change.

Afiocentricity is a theoretical perspective of “resistance and agency” (Robinson, 2004, p.

22

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104) and is a term that is often used interchangeably with Afiikan centered, Afi'ocentric
and A fricentricity.

The ideologies of Black Nationalism (i.e., the belief that Afiikans share a
common historical and cultural experience, and they should seek to determine their own
destiny as a nation, race, and people distinct from others), Pan Afrikanism (i.e., the belief
that Afrikans on the Continent and in the Diaspora should unite against colonialism and
white supremacy), and Black Power (i.e., the belief that Afrikans on the Continent and in
the Diaspora should be able to achieve self-determination, self-sufficiency, self-respect,
and self—defense through the power that they possess) contributed to the theory of
Afrocentricity. Asante (2003) adroitly explicates Afrocentricity as:

[A] mode of thought and action in which the centrality of Afiican interests,

values, and perspectives predominate. In regards to theory, it is the placing of

Afiican people in the center of any analysis of African phenomena. Thus, it is

possible for any one to master the discipline of seeking the location of Africans in

a given phenomenon. In terms of action and behavior, it is a devotion to the idea

that what is in the best interest of Afiican consciousness is at the heart of ethical

behavior. Finally, Afrocentricity seeks to enshrine the idea that blackness itself is

a trope of ethics. Thus, to be black is to be against all forms of oppression,

racism, classism, homophobia, patriarchy, child abuse, pedophilia, and white

racial domination (p. 2).

Contrary to critics’ arguments, Afrocentricity is not an attempt by Afrikan
American Supremacists, Separatists, or Nationalists to impose an Afrikan world-view
upon others (Schlesinger, 1992; Ravitch, 1991). The theory of Afiocentricity does not
promote a position of superiority in which it disaffirms other groups’ perspectives but
offers an alternative way of viewing phenomena. Afrocentrism theoretically challenges
the Eurocentric perspective in three ways:

First, it questions the imposition of the White supremacist view as universal

and/or classical. Second, it demonstrates the indefensibility of racist theories that
assault multiculturalism and pluralism. Finally, it projects a humanistic and

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pluralistic viewpoint by articulating Afrocentricity as a valid, nonhegemonic
perspective (Asante, 1991, p.173).

Theorists of Afrocentricity insist that an Afrikan centered educational model is
the most appropriate educational model for children of color, specifically, Afiikan
American children (Asante, 1991; Lee, 1992, Akoto, 1992; Shujaa, 1992). These theorists
adamantly maintain that this educational model is the result of an Afrikan centered
curriculum which is delivered utilizing Afrikan centered pedagogy (Akoto, 1992; Lee,
1992; Asante, 1991). In this next section, the components of an Afiikan centered
educational model will be presented and elucidated.

What is an A fi'ikan centered Curriculum?

An Afiikan centered curriculum is a guideline for the delivery of Afrikan centered
instruction. One prominent characteristic of an Afrikan centered curriculum is that it was
established upon the theory of Afrocentricity. Although Molefi K. Asante was credited
with forrnalizing the concept of Afi'ocentricity, the genesis of the Afrikan centered
educational movement preceded Asante. During the 19603, the Black Nationalist and
Black Power movements fostered a climate for agency and efficacy among Afiikan
American communities. Consequently, Afrikan American parents began to seek control
over the public education of their children that currently manifests in the demand for
educational initiatives specific to the needs of Afiikan American children. The increasing
interest in implementing an Afrikan centered curriculum into the public schools has
facilitated emergent definitions of what characterizes an Afiikan centered curriculum.
The theorist, Molefi Asante’s criterion for an Afrikan centered curriculum mandates that

the curriculum must “center” the students within their own cultural information (Asante,

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1992). In fact, Asante has developed an Afrikan centered curriculum guide, which can be

located on the Internet.

Another theorist, Wade Nobles, a Professor of Black Studies at San Francisco

State University and one who designed and implemented an Afrikan centered curriculum

in a high school in Oakland, California, defined the objectives of an Afiikan centered

curriculum:

A curriculum infused with Afiican and African American content must
systematically guide the transmission of information and knowledge while
simultaneously reinforcing in African—American students the desire to learn and
encouraging the adoption of behaviors and attitudes consistent with the historical
excellence of African people (Nobles, 1990, p.10).

He further states that an Afrikan centered curriculum should fulfill several criteria:

1.

2.

3.

Refer to the life experiences, history and traditions of Afiican people as the
center of analyses;

Utilize Afiican and Afiican American experience as the core paradigm for
human liberation and higher-level human functioning; and

Assist Afiican American students in the self-conscious act of creating history
(Nobles, 1990, p. 20).

Geoffrey Giddings (2001 ), a Professor of African and Afiican American Studies,

studying the immersion of an Afrikan centered curriculum into a traditional public

school, summarized various researchers’ perspectives on the criteria for an Afiikan

centered curriculum into five elements in his study:

1.

2.

Assist students in developing the necessary intellectual, moral and emotional
skills for accomplishing a productive, affirming life in this society.

Provide such educational instruction as to deconstruct established hegemonic
pillars and to safeguard against the construction of new ones.

Provide students of African descent with educational instruction that uses
techniques that are in accord with their learning styles.

Assist students of Afiican descent in maintaining a positive self-concept, with
the goal of achieving a sense of collective accountability.

Serve as a model for Banks (1998) “Transformation” and “Social Action”
approaches to multicultural education (Giddings, 2001 , p. 463).

25

Kwarne Agyei Akoto is the co-founder of a K-12 Afiikan centered independent
Black institution located in Washington DC. With over thirty years of experience with
an Afiikan centered school, Akoto insists that an Afrikan centered curriculum must be
established on the tenets of nation building and liberation for Afiikan people. Akoto
(1992) provides a concise definition of an Afiikan centered curriculum in his work,
Nationbuilding: Theory and Practice in Afrikan Centered Education. Akoto, in fact,
developed the Afrikan Centered Thematic Inventory (ACTI) as a guideline to the
“curricula domains” (p. 129) of an Afiikan centered curriculum. He delineates five
curricula domains for an Afrikan centered education: 1) Cultural/ideological; 2)
Spiritual/Psycho-Affective; 3) Socio-Political and Economic; 4) Technology; and 5)
Nationbuilding. Akoto contends that the purpose of an Afiikan centered curriculum must
be “(a) to advance the Afrikan American nationality, its cultural and ideological goals;
and (b) to facilitate fully functional and/or exceptional performance in a white dominated
American political economy” (p. 169).

AS varied as the definitions of an Afrikan centered curriculum appear to be, many
researchers and educators posit that this curriculum cannot effectively impact the lives of
Afiican American students unless it is instructed fi'orn Afiikan centered pedagogy.

What is A fiikan centered Pedagogy?

The term “pedagogy” is used in reference to the methodology employed in the
instructions of curricula. Fundamental to the pedagogy utilized within the educational
process are the values, perceptions, and philosophy of education. In the traditional
schools, the pedagogy is shaped by the values of the dominant culture; a culture in which

“normative” and “universal” are white and middle class. This pedagogical perspective is

26

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Eurocentric. It negates the cultural attributes of Afiikan American children and attempts
to assimilate or acculturate the student into the dominant paradigm.

An Afiikan centered curriculum provides the frame or guidelines for an Afrikan
centered education; however, the delivery of the instructions will impact the quality of an
Afrikan centered education. This instructional delivery is encompassed in the pedagogy
utilized by the educational institution and is the pedagogy that teachers employ in their
interactions with students. Various scholars and researchers have delineated the
objectives of Afrikan centered pedagogy (Murrell, 2002; Lee, 1994; Akoto, 1994).

In defining Afrikan centered pedagogy, Peter Murrell (2002) explicates that
Afrikan American historical experience and cultural position must be a vital part of this
Pedagogy:

[This pedagogy should] provide teachers with a unifying framework for how they
are to apply understanding of human cognition, learning, and development. . .but
also guides teachers in how to situate those understandings in practice—and to
use these situated understanding to take firll account of the lives, histories,
cultures, and worldviews of children in diverse urban communities (Murrell,
2002,p.x)

Murrell’s perspective of Afrikan centered pedagogy is one in which he does not focus so
much on the teacher’s exhibiting the qualities of an Afrikan centered pedagogy as he does
on the “system of practices” that produces achievement outcomes for Afiikan American
children (Murrell, 2002, p. 16).

Carol Lee (1994) posits that Afiikan centered pedagogy is critical to the education
of Afiikan American children. She notes that this pedagogy is a necessary defense to the
pervasive Eurocentric influences in education and society (Lee, 1994). She also iterates

that Afrikan centered pedagogy is needed “to produce an education that contributes to

pride, equity, power, wealth, and cultural continuity for Africans in America and

27

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elsewhere” (Lee, 1994, p. 296). She puts forth principles for an effective Afrikan
centered pedagogy:

1. Legitimizes Afiican stores of knowledge;

2. Positively exploits and scaffolds productive community and cultural
practices;

3. Extends and builds upon the indigenous language;

4. Reinforces community ties and idealizes service to one’s family,
community, nation, race, and world;

5. Promotes positive social relationships;

6. Imparts a world view that idealizes a positive, self-sufficient future for
one’s people without denying the self-worth and right to self-
determination of others; and

7. Supports cultural continuity while promoting critical consciousness.
(Lee, 1994, p. 297).

She also notes that Afiikan centered pedagogy is established upon the principles of Maat,
which is an Egyptian concept put forth by Maulana Karenga. The principles of Maat
acknowledge the 1) the divine image of humans, 2) the perfectibility of humans; 3) the
teachability of humans; 4) the free will of humans, and 5) the essentiality of moral social
practice in human development (Lee, 1994, p. 297). She further states that the cultivation
of this paradigm is essential to the “resistance to political and cultural oppression but also
to sustain independent development” (p. 297).

According to Akoto (1994), Afiikan centered pedagogy “is concerned with the
acquisition of self-determination and self-sufficiency for Afrikan people . . . .It is
ultimately concerned with truth and the ‘Afiikan centered mission to humanize the
universe’” (p. 321). Afiikan centered pedagogy is not about adopting “ancient rituals,
values, behaviors, and relationships that have no relevance to modernity” (Akoto, 1994,
p. 323), but Afiikan centered pedagogy should highlight those traditions and values of

former societies that benefit humanity irrespective of time and place:

An Afiikan-centered pedagogy is a pedagogy derived from the Afi'ikan historical
continuum and cultural dynamics. It endeavors to stimulate and nourish creative

28

and critical consciousness and to inculcate through study and application a firm
conscious commitment to the reconstruction of true Afrikan nation-hood, and the
restoration of the Afiikan historical/cultural continuum (Akoto, 1994, p. 325).

When considering Afrikan centered pedagogy, several scholars have noted that
the valuing system of Nguzo Saba is the foundation of Afrikan centered pedagogy
(Akoto, 1994; Lee, 1994; Kenyatta, 1998). This valuing system, also known as the Black
Value System, was created by Maulana Karenga (1989) and is comprised of seven
principles. These principles are 1)Umoja - unity; 2) Kujichagulia - self-determination; 3)
Ujima — collective work and responsibility; 4) Ujamaa — cooperative economics; 5)
Kuumba — creativity; 6) Nia — purpose; and 7) Imani — faith (in one’s self, one’s family
and one’s people). The utilization of these principles in Afiikan centered pedagogy
denotes that instructors must “commit to engage in democratic decision-making
processes, have faith in the possibilities of leadership that each person possesses, and
dedicate themselves to serving the African American community” (Lee, 1992, p. 167).

Akoto (1994) and Lee (1992) assert that a critical element in Afiikan centered
pedagogy is the teacher, who is the transmitter of culture. This point is further
illuminated by Lee (1992) who notes that having a knowledge of Black History and a
love for children does not indicate that a teacher can “effectively teach using an
Afrocentric pedagogy” (p. 167). Shujaa (1994) substantiates this point that teachers are
crucial to an Afiikan centered education through the utilization of Afrikan centered
pedagogy. He asserts the following:

Working with and in independent Afi'ikan centered schools for nearly 20 years I

have seen good teachers grounded in African-centered thinking use European-

centered racist materials to teach brilliant Afiican-centered lessons. 1 have seen

European-American as well as some African-American public school teachers

grounded in European-centered thinking use curriculum materials written by our

best Afiican-centered thinkers in ways that trivialize and nus-represent the
content. These experiences have convinced me that it is the African—centeredness

29

of the teacher’s thinking that determines the African-centeredness of the teaching
(Shujaa, 1994, p. 256).

As clearly expressed by the above researchers, Afrikan centered pedagogy must
recognize the cultural specificity of the African American community and its
continuation. This pedagogy has to facilitate the holistic development of the student by
the recognition of and valuation of the student’s language, culture, and cognitive styles,
as well as, cultivate their ability to create history. Now, how does Afiikan centered
pedagogy and an Afiikan centered curriculum contributes to an Afrikan centered
educational model?

A frikan centered Educational Model

Traditional education in America has been instituted with the objective of
inculcating the values, norms, and beliefs of the dominant culture e.g., European
Americans. “Formal educational systems,” according to Akoto (1992), “are integral
organs of the nation-state and of the cultural ethos that engenders that state” (p. 45). As a
nation-state, America’s educational system operates as a vehicle of perpetuation for the
cultural, sociopolitical, and economical structures of the dominant ideology (Carnoy,
1974; Ballantine, 2000). Traditional public schools provide instructions to students from
a White Nationalist curriculum while utilizing a Eurocentric pedagogy for its delivery.
This pedagogy uses methodology that delivers instruction from a Eurocentric perspective;
utilizing the values and norms attributed to European Americans or the dominant
ideology in a hegemonic methodology. The cultural and historical epistemologies of the
students of color are not considered in giving instructions and the knowledge is delivered

from a Eurocentric bias.

30

The consensus by many scholars, educators, and parents in the African American
community is that an Afrikan centered curriculum should be immersed within the
traditional school curriculum. An Afiikan centered curriculum can provide the guidelines
for instructions for students of various ages and ethnicities, specifically for Afiikan
American students who now comprise the majority population in urban schools in most
major metropolitan areas. However, the immersion of an Afiikan centered curriculum
without the complement of Afiikan centered pedagogy will not provide Afrikan
American children with an Afrikan centered education.

In many schools where an Afrikan centered curriculum has been infused in
instruction, it has been ineffectual in improving academic outcomes. In most cases, the
missing component is Afrikan centered pedagogy. When Afrikan centered pedagogy is
neglected in teaching an Afrikan centered curriculum then the result is not an Afiikan
centered education, but an education that is Eurocentric in presentation and results.
Teaching history using Afrikan centered facts but presenting those facts from a
Eurocentric worldview will situate the Afrikan American child on the periphery of
Europe as an object rather than a subject of history (Asante, 1992).

Many researchers challenge the authenticity of the Afrikan centered educational
models that are currently implemented in charter schools and traditional public schools
(Akoto, 1994; Lee, 1992; Lomotey, 1992). These researchers argue that these curricula
models do not address a key component of an Afiikan centered education, which is
“maintaining and perpetuating the Afiikan culture throughout the nation building
process” (Hotep, 2001, p. 212). This effort to promote the Afiikan cultural continuum

must be manifested through nation building, the transmission of values, and the

31

acknowledgement of Afiikan spirituality. In fact, they contend that an authentic Afrikan
centered educational model cannot be taught within the mainstream school system.

This educational model requires teachers who are consciously engaged in the
Afrikan centered personal transformation, who acknowledge and cultivate the spirituality
of Afiikan people, and who can deliver the instructions with Afiikan centered pedagogy
(Hotep, 2001; Akoto, 1994; Shujaa, 1994). At present, there are no teacher preparation
programs in traditional college settings that are preparing teachers to teach an Afi'ikan
centered educational model. It is the contention of these researchers and also leaders in
the CIBI organization that the Afiikan centered educational model that emerged with the
advent of Independent Black Institutions has been adulterated and co-opted into the
public school setting (Hotep, 2001; Akoto, 1994; Lee, 1992; Lotomey, 1992).
Metaphorically, it is like taking a branch from an oak tree and then presenting the branch
to the world as the oak tree.

Contemporary options in Afrikan centered education

With the passing of the Brown versus Board legislation, Afiikan Americans
wanted to believe that America’s espoused values of democratic morality had finally
convinced its national conscience to acknowledge the humanity of Afiikan Americans by
providing them with a quality education and bestowing them with first class citizenship
status. However, Afiikan Americans soon discovered that the privilege of sharing a
classroom with European Americans was not to be without concessions on their part.
Afrikan Americans had to relinquish their own schools and their own teachers.

The integration and desegregation of schools did not achieve the educational
outcomes that many Afrikan Americans had hoped for, and by the early 1970’s, Afiikan

Americans found their schools as segregated as they had been before the Brown decision.

32

The condition of the schools had only minimally improved. Many of the schools in the
Afiikan American communities were closed down as Afiikan American students were
bussed to European American schools. Consequently, the academic achievement for
Afiikan American students did not increase substantially as had been hoped for by the
proponents of the Brown decision. Once again, Afiikan American parents began to look
for alternatives, particularly in Afrikan centered schools.

The realization that American public schools had made little progress in providing
an equitable education for Afrikan American students re-ignited grassroots efforts within
the Afiikan American communities to ensure the education of their children.
Historically, these efforts had never ceased; however, the betrayal of the Afrikan
American community by the legal, social, and educational structures intensified the
struggle for equitable and meaningful education for Afrikan American children. After
the Brown decision, the first schools which offered an Afrikan centered education model
for Afrikan American students were independent Black institutions.

Independent Black Institutions (1B0

While the Black Power movement was spreading throughout Afrikan American
communities within America during the 19603, Afiikan American parents began to seek
control over the public education for their children. A significant example of this push
for community control took place in New York City with the Ocean Hill-Brownsville
controversy (Doughty, 1973; Lomotey, 1992; Hotep, 2001) where Afiikan American
parents and other community leaders sought to establish local control of the public
schools in their community. This effort was met with conflict and resistance and resulted
in community leaders starting one of the first independent black institutions, Uhuru Sasa

(Hotep, 2001; Lomotey, 1992; Ratteray & Shujaa, 1987).

33

The success of Uhuru Sasa precipitated the establishment of many Independent
Black Institutes (IBI’s) within New York and throughout the United States (Uhuru,
2001). These schools were started as small private schools, after school programs, and
Saturday schools. Oftentimes, IBI’s were started by parents who were frustrated with the
lack of local control over public schools and the curriculum (Lomotey, 1992; Lee, 1992).
For the most part, these schools were supported by the communities in which they were
established through donations or through low cost tuition. These schools have small
enrollments, generally 50 to 200 students (Lomotey, 1992).

The curricula in these schools were often Afrikan centered because parents and
educators were looking for innovative and culturally relevant ways to ameliorate the
education of Afiikan American children (Lomotey, 1992; Lee, 1992). In an effort to
establish a standard Afiikan centered educational model and provide resources and ideas
to other IBI’s, a unifying organization was formed. In June of 1972, the Council for
Independent Black Institutions (CIBI) was created in F rogrnore, South Carolina
(Doughty, 1973). According to Hotep (2001), the mission of the CIBI required has these
requirements:

[B]uilding Pan African nationalist educational institutions rooted in not only

academic excellence, but also self-reliance and self-definition, not for mainstream

integration, but for independent nation building, that sets it apart from all other

educational institutions that serve the Afiican American community (p. 35).

The educational philosophy of the IBI’s reflects the integration of the ideologies
of Black Nationalism (self-determination), Pan Afrikanism (unity), and Black Power
(agency) in the emphasis of three areas for an optimal student educational experience:

1) Creating a strong family and community cohesion,

2) Incorporating the value system of Mat and Nguzo Saba (Kiswahili for “The

Seven Principles of Blackness”) introduced by Maulana Karenga (1988), and
3) By what Lomotey (1992) refers to as “Revolutionary Pan-African

34

Nationalism” (p. 458).
The creation of a strong family and community cohesion is encouraged through the
tradition of students referring to teachers as in Kiswahili familial terms of baba (father)
and mama (mother). Teachers are encouraged and expected to treat their students as if
they were their own children (Lomotey, 1992; Lee, 1992). Also, parents are expected to
be involved with the community of the school. In fact, the 181’s understood that
accepting a child into the school was in effect adopting the child as part of the school
family with all the rights and obligations. So parents were found working in the office,
on committees, and in the classrooms.

The 181’s use the value system of Kawaida, a system of formal teachings derived
from ancient Afrikan philosophy which was introduced into the Afrikan American
community by Maulana Karenga (1998). Doughty (1973) asserts that Kawaida is both “a
religion as well as an ideology” (p. 98). He further explicates that Kawaida provides a
value system that assists Afiikan Americans in self-determination, self-respect, and self-
identity. The Nguzo Saba principles are values associated with the Kawaida faith.
According to Doughty (1973), “as a part of Kawaida, the Nguzo Saba is a describer of
life, how one lives, in what manner and for what reasons” (p. 99).

Maat is also a value system of the Kawaida philosophy incorporated within the
131’s educational philosophy. Mat is a formal system of character instructions that is
expressed in the “Seven Cardinal Virtues of truth, justice, propriety, harmony, balance,
reciprocity and order” (Karenga, 1998, p. 37). The IBI’s utilizes various activities to
inculcate these values into the daily learning experiences of their students, parents and

staff.

35

Revolutionary Pan-African Nationalism is defined by Lomotey (1992) as “part of
a new system of education to replace the existing ‘mainstream’ system that is
inappropriate for Afiikan Americans, provide a means by which Afrikan Americans can
identify with Afrikans around the world, and acknowledge the view that Afrikan
Americans make up a nation within a nation” (p. 458). This ideology is fundamental to
the objectives of nation-building, self-determination and the unification of Afiikans
throughout the Diaspora and is emphasized throughout the educational experience.

Independent Black Institutions can be found throughout the nation. However,
because these schools are tuition based, only a small percentage of Afiikan American
parents can afford to send their children to them. Recently, the charter school movement
has provided another option for the Afrikan American community to provide equitable
and appropriate education for their children.
A fiikan centered Charter Schools

The charter school movement started in the early 19903 as a school reform effort.
Policymakers and parents were concerned that bureaucracy and large student populations
hindered schools from being productive and efficient. Charter schools are independent
public school academies which receive their charters from chartering agencies and are
managed by groups and organizations rather than the central office of a traditional school
district. These schools are initiated by teachers, parents, educators, community leaders,
for-profit companies, and other community stakeholders (Murrell, 1999). These schools
hire their own teachers and develop their own curriculum; however, their students are not
exempt from meeting the state’s educational standards in which the proficiency of

students is demonstrated through standardized testing.

36

Afrikan centered charter schools, which have been established acrOss the nation,
were created by parents, community leaders, and educators who wanted to exercise
control over the education of their children. These stakeholders were not only interested
in exercising agency but also wanted their children to learn about their Afrikan heritage.
Generally, these charter schools have a small student enrollment similar to the
independent black schools and are concentrated in the K-8 grade levels. Unlike the
independent black schools, charter schools receive per student public firnding from the
same sources as public schools.

The exercise of autonomy over the structure of Afrikan centered charter schools
has not proceeded without a challenge (Watson & Smitherman, 1996). In one instance,
Detroit, Michigan attempted to start an all-male charter school, which would specifically
target educating the Afiikan American male population. Research had revealed that this
particular student population was experiencing an alarming rate of school difficulties, but
state law prohibited the Detroit school district from operating this all-male school and
forced the proposed schools to open enrollment to all students (Watson & Smitherman,
1996).

These Afrikan centered charter schools have experienced some academic success
with Afiikan American students (Rockquemore, 1997). However, the No Child Left
Behind legislation has presented these schools with a tension by creating a dichotomy of
goals for the school. The charter school community must determine how to continue to
maintain an Afiikan centered educational focus, while teaching to the state standardized
test. Substantiating this difficulty, Murrell (1999) found that Afiikan centered charter
schools often succumb to the pressure of ensuring that students achieve on the state’s

standardize test and will give less focus to maintaining the Afiikan centered focus. The

37

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end result is “school as usual”, in other words, an educational experience for the student
that is no different from a traditional public school education.

The charter school movement provided alternative educational opportunities for
Afrikan American children, yet similar to Independent Black Institutions, were limited in
their ability to reach the large populations of Afiikan American children in urban schools
in large metropolitan areas. Grassroots efforts in the mid-903 provided the momentum to
implement Afrikan centered educational models within traditional public schools, where
Afiikan American students were the predominant student population, most often in large
urban centers.

Afrikan centered Traditional Public Schools

Within the last decade, Afrikan centered curricula have been implemented within
traditional public schools in urban centers such as Milwaukee, Portland, Philadelphia,
Newark, Detroit, Oakland, and Washington DC. (Pollard & Ajirotutu; 2000; Murrell,
1999, Ginwright, 1999). This model of implementation has been referred to as Afrikan
centered Immersion projects. The impetus for this movement within urban schools was
rooted in the frustrations of Afiikan American parents and community leaders with the
continued failings of Afrikan American students, particularly Afiikan American males.
White flight from and de-industrialization in urban centers created urban school
environments in which these schools were under funded, and the student population
became predominantly composed of children of color. In fact, studies have demonstrated
that children of color, specifically Afrikan American children, are now more likely to
attend predominately Afrikan American schools than before the Brown decision (Orfield,

1996)

38

For parents residing in these urban settings, options to acquire an equitable
education for their children through access to private schools or Afrikan centered charter
schools did not exist because of their inability to afford tuition or provide transportation
to these schools. Coupled with the urgency of ameliorating the crisis of Afrikan
American males as manifested in high drop out rates, high suspension rates, and
underachievement, Afiikan American parents, educators, and community activists
confronted school board and demanded the immersion of an Afrikan centered curriculum
into the traditional public schools. The rationale for this demand was that students
receiving instructions fi'om a culturally relevant curriculum would enhance learning by
providing an environment in which students were not alienated from the instruction and
materials presented.

The Afrikan centered educational movement has been in the heart of Afiikan
Americans from the beginnings of civilization in Afiika. Since initial contact with
Europeans and involuntary sojourn to America, Afiikans have fought to maintain their
humanity through education. Whether through education by organized efforts of fiee
Blacks or through stolen moments in the night, Afrikan Americans have been determined
to acquire the key that would open the door to liberty. When the key did not give them
access to that liberty because of the enactment of federal and state legislature created
barriers to first class citizenship, they contemplated education for a separate nation,
whether in the United States or in the motherland. The Brown decision renewed hope in
a “united” nation. By the 19803, however, Afiikan Americans knew that once again they
had experienced “a dream deferred”. Now, grassroots organizations in Afi'ikan American
communities comprised of teachers, parents, and community members are pushing for an

Afi'ikan centered education for their children, whether in Independent Black institutions,

39

Afiikan centered charter schools or Afiikan centered Immersion projects in traditional
public schools.

The current empirical findings on an Afiikan centered educational model are
examined in the next section.
Current Empirical Findings of an A fi'ikan centered Education

Today, education is still considered by the Afiikan American community to be the
key to upward mobility within American society. This orientation towards education is
demonstrated by their continual search for viable options in the education of their
children. Nationwide, Afiikan American parents, educators, and community have
become frustrated with the failure of the public school system in educating Afiikan
American children. As a result of this dissatisfaction, grassroots movements have
emerged throughout the nation creating Black Independent schools (Lomotey, 1992),
opening Afrikan centered charter schools (Murrell, 1999) and demanding the immersion
of an Afrikan centered curricula within the tradition public schools (Pollard & Aj irotutu,
2000). Increasing numbers of Afiikan American children are now receiving an Afrikan
centered education throughout the nation’s schools.

Research on an Afiikan centered education began in the early 1970’s with the
advent of independent Black institutions. Much of this research has focused upon
explicating the socio-historical need for an Afrikan centered educational model for
Afrikan American children (Doughty, 1975; Akoto, 1992; Lee, 1992; Lomotey, 1992;
Ratteray & Shujaa, 1987; Hotep, 2001). Some researchers have examined the parental
motivations behind decisions to seek this educational model for their children (Dove,
1998; Ratteray & Shujaa, 1987, Shujaa, 1994). For example, Joan Ratteray and

Mwalirnu Shujaa (1987) conducted a study examining the rationale that supported the

40

 

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choices of Afrikan American parents to send their children to Afrikan centered
independent schools. Researchers were interested in this decision-making from the
perspectives of how parents defined the needs of their children, the extent of commitment
that they were willing to make to fulfill their child’s academic needs, and whether they
perceived the needs of their child as being met (Ratteray & Shujaa, 1987). Another
researcher, Nah Dove (1998) performed a study in which she examined the motivations
that undergirded the decisions of “Afrikan” mothers to send their children to Afi'ikan
centered independent schools in both the United States and the United Kingdom (p. xiii).
Nevertheless, currently little research has been located that suggests that an Afiikan
centered educational model in an Independent Black institution has increased student
academic outcomes, or more generally, that an Afiikan centered education has impacted
the life experiences of Afrikan American students.

The creation of Afi'ikan centered charter schools coupled with the demand for
Afiikan centered Immersion schools has intensified within the last decade. This
proliferation of Afiikan centered schools offers opportunity for greater access to
educational choices for the Afrikan American community. As a consequence of the
novelty of this innovation within both of these school settings, research which examines
the outcomes of this Afrikan centered educational model is sparse (Biggins 1999, Lake,
1996; Pollard & Ajirotutu, 2000; Ginwright, 1999).

However, one study that looks specifically at the academic outcomes of Afrikan
American students attending an Afrikan centered school was conducted by Jennifer
Biggins (1999). Biggins engaged in a five year descriptive study that sought to determine
if the achievement test scores of students improved as a result of receiving instructions

from an Afrikan centered curriculum. She studied an urban elementary school (K-5)

41

located in the Midwest that had adopted an Afrikan centered curriculum. Utilizing the
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Biggins compared the achievement test score gains of the
students in the school that had adopted an Afrikan centered curriculum with the test
scores of students from a school which had a traditional curriculum. Biggins reported
that her study found students who attended the Afrikan centered school scored higher in
both reading and mathematics than students in the comparable local norm group (See
Table 2.1, p. 43). She also noted that the test scores for these students revealed an overall
maturity in the area of science, a fact which was unmatched in the control group.

Another realm of emerging research focuses on this educational model by
examining the process of implementation within the public school setting. Three studies
were located which utilized the findings in diverse ways (Murrell, 1999; Pollard &
Ajirotutu, 2000; Ginwright, 1999). Two of the studies shall be focused upon here
because these researchers were interested in determining whether implementing the
Afrikan centered educational model increased student academic outcomes. One study
employed the findings to clarify how the presence or absence of various school factors
such as leadership, collegiality and financial resources, impact the resultant student
outcomes in Afiikan centered immersion schools (Pollard & Ajirotutu, 2000). The other
study also looked at the academic outcomes of students resulting from the
implementation process of this curriculum, but concluded that economic class affected
the students’ outcomes (Ginwright, 1999).

Pollard and Ajirotutu (2000) performed a five-year study which evaluated the
implementation process of an Afiikan centered curriculum for two traditional public

schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The disheartening academic performance of children

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of color, particularly Afiikan American males, engendered a collaborative effort of
educators and professionals in establishing schools to address the needs of these students.

Two schools were designated for the Afrikan centered Immersion project, one
elementary school and one middle school. The researchers utilized in-depth interviews,
observations, and surveys of administrators, teachers, parents, and students, as well as
analysis of artifacts to gather the data for their study. Using various methods of
assessment, such as statewide testing results, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), the
district’s testing results, and grade point averages, the researchers were able to capture
academic outcomes of students over the five year period of the study. The study
concluded that when the elements of strong, stable leadership, shared vision, teacher
collegiality, and financial support were present, an environment was created that fostered
increased academic outcomes for Afiikan American students. These outcomes were
manifested as increased academic achievement, increased student attendance, and lower
suspension rates for the elementary school (Pollard & Ajirotutu, 2001). Their study also
demonstrated by the middle school’s implementation process that when these elements
were not present, student academic outcomes, suspension rates, and attendance rates
remained unaffected (See Table 2.1, p. 43).

Shawn Ginwright (1999) conducted a study similar to Pollard and Ajirotutu. He
examined the implementation of an Afrikan centered curriculum in a traditional public
high school in Oakland, California in 1992. The movement for the immersion of an
Afiikan centered curriculum into this traditional school curriculum was a grassroots
effort that resulted from poor academic outcomes of students at this high school. As a
result of budgeting deficits in the school district, the school board proposed to close this

high school whose student population was steadily declining. A task force composed of

44

community leaders, educators, parents, and professionals was developed and approval
was given to restructure the school into an Afrikan centered focused school.

Ginwright studied the implementation process for three years, while performing
interviews with community leaders, administrators, teachers, parents, and students. He
also collected data through observations and school document analysis. The results of
Ginwright’s study revealed that implementing an Afrikan centered curriculum within a
traditional public school required the commitment of all stakeholders. Ginwright was
able to employ documentation of trends for the three year period in student academic
performance, drop—out rates, suspension rates, grade point averages, and graduation rates
to ascertain student academic outcomes. His results revealed that there was no significant
change in student outcomes (See Table 2.1, p. 43).

However, Ginwright did not attribute the lack of change in outcomes to the
implementation process, but rather he concluded that the failure of the Afiikan centered
curriculum to impact the academic outcomes of Afiikan American students resulted from
the misdiagnosis of the problems of Afrikan American students in urban schools. His
contention is that an Afrikan centered educational model is the imposed prescription of
middle-class Afiikan Americans to resolve the social and economic blight of lower class
and working class urban students. He further asserted that urban Afrikan American
students cannot relate to this curriculum and, therefore, instead of offering a cure for the
academic problems of Afiikan American students, this curriculum can only exacerbate
the outcomes.

Current research that investigated the intrinsic values of exposure to an Afrikan
centered course was found in a study conducted by Joyce Lake (1996). Lake performed

a study of high school students in a Midwestern school district to determine if

45

participation in Afrikan American history classes affected the self-concept and
achievement motivation of Afiikan American students. Lake posited that this
determination would be the first step towards improving academic achievement of
Afiikan American students. She used a pretest-posttest control group quantitative
research design involving three high schools in which students participated in an Afiikan
American History course for twelve weeks. Lake concluded from her findings that the
participation of Afrikan American students in an Afrikan American History course for
twelve weeks did not increase student self-concept or achievement motivation (See Table
2.1, p.43).

There are limitations found in the aforementioned studies. Of the four studies
reviewed, only one of the studies specifically examined the impact of an Afrikan centered
educational model on the academic outcomes of Afiikan American students. This study
by Biggins (1999) was limited in that it only examined the academic outcomes of
students who experienced an Afiikan centered education in an elementary school. This
research was performed as a quantitative study resulting in a missed opportunity to garner
rich data from students explicating why this education was conducive to positive student
outcomes. Nevertheless, this study provides a strong foundation on which to build
further research in examining the impact of this educational model in middle schools and
high schools.

Two of the studies probed the process of implementing an Afrikan centered
curriculum within the traditional school environment. One of those studies analyzed how
the implementation process affected student outcomes, while the second study analyzed
factors of economic class and how those factors impact the implementation process.

Pollard and Ajirotutu’s study was qualitative. They collected essential data focused on

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the implementation process through interviews with administrators and teachers in the
schools. However, one limitation here is that the researchers did not draw data from
students on their perceptions of and experiences with Afiikan centered education. The
researchers relied heavily upon the assessments methods as the source of evidence to
indicate if the implementation of the curriculum had been successful by an increase in
student academic achievement. Since academic achievement was the only outcome
targeted, the researchers limited the study and did not seek to determine if an outcome
other than student academic achievement was a valuable product of this education.

In Ginwright’s (1999) study, a portion of his data was garnered from interviews
with working class Afiikan American students between the ages of 14 to 19 years old
who attended the high school. Ginwright asserted that he wanted to allow their voices to
be heard as they expressed their perceptions of the Afiikan centered immersion project.
He discovered that the students were more concerned with “making money” than they
were about learning Afiikan facts (Ginwright, 1999, p. 231). Ginwright conjectured that
these values centered on economic concerns were a direct result of these young people’s
concerns external to the school environment. He felt that students of low economic status
were less likely to see value in receiving an Afrikan centered education. However, a
limiting factor is that his research was performed in a school environment that had
unstable and unsupportive leadership and an un-invested teaching force due to high
teacher turnover, which made it almost impossible to implement the Afiikan centered
educational model effectively. So his findings of no increase in academic outcomes for
students could be caused by poor implementation of the educational model as much as it

could be a result of economic disparity between the implementers and the students.

47

These studies identified an increase in student outcomes as the fundamental and
desired outcome for an Afrikan centered education. Only Ginwright’s study solicited the
students’ voices to determine how they perceived the benefits of experiencing an Afrikan
centered education. Yet, in Ginwright’s study, the “successful” implementation of the
Afiikan centered educational model was not attained because it lacked the elements of
stable leadership, teacher collegiality, and additional financial support. Therefore, the
fact that there was no documented increase in academic outcomes could be the results of
an ineffective curriculum implementation. Ginwright’s study comes closest to examining
how this educational model affected the students socially, culturally, and spiritually, as
well as how it affected their perceptions of its impact upon their life chances, but it lacks
the credibility that their perceptions of the impact of an Afrikan centered education are
the results of the model, since it was not effectively implemented. However, there is one
study that did seek to identify outcomes associated with the experience of receiving an
Afiikan centered education that went beyond academic outcomes.

In Lake’s (1996) study that examined the intrinsic value of exposure to a twelve-
week Afiikan centered course, there were several limitations. First, the length of twelve
weeks for the study did not facilitate the comprehensive exploration of the targeted
variables, while a study consisting of several years of ongoing exposure to Afrikan
centered courses could render far-reaching results. When considering that Afrikan
American children exist daily within a social context of racism in America, it seems
highly implausible to expect a twelve week course on Afiikan American history to offset
the many years of oppressive experience. Another limitation was that Lake’s study only
identified the areas of self-concept and achievement motivation as the intrinsic values of

interest in this study. She did not examine whether students gained knowledge of their

48

 

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cultural heritage, acquired a sense of social responsibility towards their community, or
even developed moral consciousness resulting from this cultural—historical exposure.
Consequently, another study will need to be performed to examine other values that may
have been imparted to the students as a result of participating in the course.

The apparent scarcity of research on the outcomes of an Afiikan centered
education upon the lives of Afrikan American students, academically, socially, and
spiritually, offers opportunities for further research. Proponents of an Afrikan centered
education espouse the importance of Afrikan American students both learning from an
Afrikan centered curriculum and learning cultural values that proceed from Afiikan
culture, such as the Nguzo Saba and the principles of Maat (Akoto, 1994; Karenga, 1998;
Asante, 1992; Lee, 1992). Certainly, increasing academic achievement for Afiikan
American students is an important component of this education to its proponents.
However, transforming the Afrikan American student into a person who is conscientious
of the humanity of all people is a more compelling outcome of this education (Asante,
1992)

Research needs to be performed that identifies the intrinsic values of this
education in the lives of Afrikan American students. Is there more for students to gain
from this educational model than just higher grades? Does this educational model
enhance self-concept and increase the life chances of the students who attended an
Afrikan centered school for a majority of their educational careers? In fact, how do
Afrikan American students who have graduated fi'om an Afiikan centered school
perceive that school experience in retrospect? Currently, there is no research that
examines the impact of this educational model upon the lives of students who have

attended and graduated from an Afiikan centered school. The voices of the Afiikan

49

American students who have personally experienced this educational model can best tell
the story of how this education has impacted their lives. The intent of this study is to
engage in research that will examine what is the perceived value of this education to
those who have experienced it. The search is for answers that will explicate what values

other than academic achievement an Afiikan centered educational model offers.

50

CHAPTER HI
Design and Methodology
Overview
Frustration with the inability of public school system to provide many

Afrikan American students with a quality education has been the impetus for the Afiikan
American community to seek an alternative educational Option for their children. An
Afrikan centered educational model has emerged as one option in the attempt to increase
the academic success and life chances of Afrikan American students. To date, very little
research has examined the influence of this educational model upon the academic
outcomes of Afiikan American students. Additionally, no research has sought to uncover
the influence of this educational model upon the lives of the Afrikan American young
people who experienced it. Rarer still are studies that utilize the voices of students who
have experienced this educational model to determine the perceived outcomes of this
educational experience. The question answered in this study is “What are the educational
experiences of Afrikan American young people who have attended an Afiikan centered
school?
Research Design

This inquiry was undertaken by employing a qualitative research design. The
qualitative research approach is established upon the premise that “reality is socially
constructed, complex, and ever changing” (Glesne, 1999, p. 5). Qualitative research
permits an interpretive approach to phenomena, that is, it offers methods that provide a
venue for the researcher to ascertain how people make meaning as they interact with
people and events in their world. According to Janesick (2000), qualitative researchers

“study a social setting to understand the meaning of participants’ lives in the participants’

51

own terms” (p. 210). This approach was best suited for this study, since the intent was to
provide the participants an opportunity to share their lived experiences as they have come
to understand the shaping of their experiences by attending an Afrikan centered school.
To garner an understanding of the perceptions of Afiikan American young people who
attended an Afiikan centered school and how that educational experience has influenced
their lives, the qualitative research approach emphasizes methods, such as intensive in-
depth interviews, narratives, observations, artifacts and document analysis which captures
the intense meaning-making in which the researcher and the participants are engaged
(Denzin & Lincoln, 2000).

In this research, an integrated bounded interpretive multiple case study design was
employed with an Afrocentric methodological approach. An interpretive design was
selected because “knowledge is a social and historical product” (Miles & Huberman,
1994, p. 4) and meaning can be discovered in what people do everyday. The goal was to
grasp a glimpse in time and provide an understanding of “meanings made by both the
social actors and the researcher” (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 8).

This design was integrated because there were several units of analysis in this
study. One unit of analysis in this study was the Afrikan centered educational model.
The study explored the outcomes of this educational model for the Afrikan centered
school. Another unit of analysis was each young person. Each case consisted of the
lived experience of a young person who attended a Midwestern Afrikan centered school.
Each case was bounded by criteria established for participation in this study as well as by
the educational model and the site under study.

The multiple case study design permitted a holistic understanding of each

participant’s perception of their experiences resulting from the Afrikan centered

52

education. Each participant’s life told a different story as he/she interacted with this
educational model, and the multiple case study method allowed these unique experiences
to be captured and examined individually and collectively. Herriot and Firestone (1983)
assert that “evidence from multiple cases is often considered more compelling and the
overall study is therefore regarded as being more robust” (cited in Yin, 2003, p. 46).

There were several reasons why an Afrocentric methodology was selected to
conduct this study. First, the complexities involved in studying members of a historically
oppressed and marginalized group whose stories are not often heard or are told as seen
through the lens of their oppressors requires this method. Sharing the experiences of this
group demands a method which will moderate unintended biases and the influence of the
dominant culture’s traditional methods; therefore, the Afrocentric methodological
approach was chosen.

This methodology permitted a holistic approach for understanding the perception
of experiences for each participant resulting from an Afiikan centered education; this
approach insisted on the presence of the researcher within the work. Unlike traditional
research methods that require the researcher to distance himself from the object of study,
the Afrocentric methodology requires the researcher to take a collective approach to
understanding the Afrikan phenomenon, that is, to join with the phenomenon under
study. Asante (2003) asserts that the “Afrocentric method suggests cultural and social
immersion as opposed to ‘scientific distance’ as the best approach to understand Afiikan
phenomena” (p. 27).

The Afrocentric methodology allowed discovery of the lived experiences of the
participants by “questioning all assumptions about reality that are rooted in a

particularistic view of the universe” (Asante, 1990, p. 26), in effect, my philosophical

53

stance or assumptions were examined beginning, during and upon completion of this
research. This examination of my philosophical stance was achieved through the process
of “introspection” and “retrospection” (Asante, 1990, p. 27). According to Asante (1990)
“[i]ntrospection means that the researcher questions herself or himself in regard to the
topic under discussion” (p. 27). He further explained that prior to the study, the
researcher should write down all assumptions, values, and beliefs about the phenomena
for the purpose of identifying possible prejudgrnents that the researcher may have that
would hinder obtaining a clear or accurate picture of the experience under study.

Afrocentric methodology also requires the researcher to be retrospective once the
study is completed. “Retrospection is the process of questioning one’s self after the
project has been completed to ascertain if any personal obstacles exist to a fair
interpretation” (Asante, 1990, p.27). It is the follow-up check to ensure that the
knowledge generated must be empowering to people of Afiikan descent, the ultimate aim
of Afiocentric methodology (Mazama, 2003, Kershaw, 1992, Asante, 1990). A journal
was kept where thoughts and assumptions were recorded about the Afrikan centered
educational experience prior to the research, during the research process, and upon
completion of this study.

Finally, this methodology was best suited for this study because it lent itself to a
variety of methods that were used according to the research question and the participants
in this study. These methods were selected because they captured the historical, social,
political and cultural context of the lives of the participants in their responses to the
experience of attending an Afiikan centered school. This methodology encouraged the

utilization of narratives, observations, as well as, documents and artifacts analysis.

54

Twenty months were spent in periodic observations of the school site, interviewing
subjects, and document analysis.
Site and Subject Selection

The setting for this research was in a K-12 charter school situated within an urban
community in the Midwest. The school opened as an Independent Black Institution in
1974 and operated under the auspices of the Council for Independent Black Institutions
since 1976. In 1995, the school became an Afiikan centered chartered school; it offered
an Afrikan centered education to Afrikan American students for well over 30 years and
was chosen because its’ curriculum implementation was well established. Previous
research has revealed that the implementation of this educational model can impede or
enhance the outcomes of the students, by selecting this site; the intent was to minimize
the transitional impact of the initial implementation upon the student outcomes. That is,
the educational model is already well-established in the school and will have minimum
impact on student outcomes.

Another reason for the selection of this school site was that it experienced its first
graduating class of seven students in 1996 and continued to graduate students each year
thereafter. This meant that participant selection could be garnered from a pool of young
people from at least eight graduating classes for this research. Each year the school had
small groups of graduates (i.e., anywhere from five to fifteen students) and drawing fi'om
eight years of graduating students increased the likelihood of finding young people
located within or around the city who would participate in the study.

Sampling
Several sampling strategies for selecting subjects were used for this study: 1)

criterion sampling, 2) snowball sampling, and 3) extreme or deviant case sampling (Miles

55

& Huberman, 1994). First, “criterion” sampling was used to locate the initial subjects.
This method of sampling was most appropriate because it facilitated the location of
young people who fit the criteria of the study. The phenomena of this study are young
people who had attended an Afrikan centered school, and the subjects were specifically
selected because they had this experience. With the assistance of an informant, subjects
were identified who met the specific criteria for the study. The subjects selected for this
study were:

1. Subjects were between the ages of 18 and 24 years old.

2. Subjects had attended an Afiikan centered school for the a majority of

their K-l2 academic careers, and

3. Subjects were not currently enrolled in the Afrikan centered school.

A pilot study was performed to narrow the research interest on Afrikan centered
education. As a consequence of the pilot study, an informant was located who provided
access into the school setting. The informant was a former teacher in the Afrikan
centered school and made initial contact with young people who fit the criteria for the
study. The informant provided the initial list of names of those who were willing to
participate in the study.

Next, “snowball” sampling was used to locate more subjects for the study.
According to Miles and Huberman (1994), snowball sampling “identifies cases of interest
from people who know people who know what cases are inforrnation-rich” (p. 28). This
sampling strategy appropriated knowledge of subjects in the study to locate and provide
access to other potential subjects. Seven participants were located and interviewed for

this study. Of the seven participants, the sampling consisted of two brothers, of the same

family and their mother, a brother, and a sister from the same family and their father,

56

three individual participants, and their parents. Also interviewed were the school director
and an administrator of the school.

Finally, the “extreme or deviant case” sampling strategy was used to locate
subjects who would provide a different perspective of the phenomena under study. This
sampling strategy also “serves to increase confidence in [the] conclusions” (Miles &
Huberman, 1994, p. 28). One potential subject who had a different educational
experience than most of the other participants was located, but refused to participant in
the study.

Data Collection

In this Afrocentric method approach, several research methods were employed to
collect the data Intensive face-to face, in-depth interviews of the participants permitted
me to construct rich descriptive narratives. A creative, structured open-ended interview
method was used to gather data on the experiences of Afrikan American young people
who attended an Afiikan centered school (F ontana & Frey, 2000; Holstein & Gubrium,
2000). According to Holstein and Gubrium (2000) creative interviewing allows the
interviewer "to create a climate of mutual disclosure" (p. 117). Holstein and Gubrium
(2000) point out that the interviewing process is a social encounter between the
interviewee and the interviewer in which knowledge is constructed. These researchers
elucidate that participants do not bank knowledge fi'om which the interviewer comes and
withdraws, but that knowledge is created as a result of the interaction between the
researcher and the participant. Interviewing allowed the acquisition of data that could not
be obtain through simple observations and since this research was established on the
reflections and memories of the participants, there were no opportunities to observe the

participants within the site as students.

57

Narratives. In this Afrocentric methodological study, personal life narratives
were used as a method of creating portraits of the participants. In conjunction with the
data collected from the interviews, two research methods were used to assist in answering
the questions of "Who are the participants?" “What were the social, cultural, and
historical contexts of their school experiences?” and "What are their experiences of
attending an Afiikan centered school?" Catherine Riessman (1993) writes that "narrative
analysis allows for systematic study of personal experience and meaning: how events
have been constructed by active subjects" (p. 70). Ochs and Capps (1996) confirm that
narrative “provides tellers with an opportunity to impose order on otherwise disconnected
events, and to create continuity between past, present, and imagined worlds.” (p. 22).

This method of inquiry is best suited to the study of Afrikan people, since
storytelling and oral traditions are historically found within the Afrikan culture and the
Afrikan American community.

Procedure

Each participant was engaged in 60-90 minutes intensive in-depth interviews.
The school setting was observed for two days a month during an eighteen month period.
The purpose of this observation was to become familiar with the context of the school
setting, that is, teacher and student interactions, the culture of the school as defined
through symbolism and imagery, and parental involvement. Each participant of the
study received a “Thank you” note as well as an electronic copy of the completed study.
Additionally, a teacher’s meeting; a Kwanzaa celebration, a school roller skating event,

and the school relocation to another building were observed and in some cases active

participation was necessary.

58

When clarification was needed, follow-up interviews with several of the
participants were performed.
Data Analysis

Keeping in line with the tenets of the Afrocentric methodology, prior to analyzing
the data, introspection was undertaken. This process was to identify any assumptions,
values, and beliefs concerning an Afiikan centered educational experience. After
introspection, the interviews were transcribed and the “code mines” (Glesne, 1999, p.
135) were entered to search for themes within the data. According to Glesne (1999),
“[c]oding is a progressive process of sorting and defining and defining and sorting those
scraps of collected data that are applicable to your research purpose” (p. 135). The data
analysis was undertaken by reading and re-reading the transcripts. From the transcripts
and fieldnotes, key themes and patterns that emerged fiom the data were identified. A
coding system was established through sorting and re-sorting the emergent themes and
patterns and each new theme was recorded in a code book. When no new themes and
patterns emerge, the themes were compared to see if major overarching themes within the
coding could be identified and where possible some themes were merged with other
themes. This data reduction was a necessary part of the analysis process. Miles and
Huberman (1994) affirm that “Data reduction is a form of analysis that sharpens, sorts,
focuses, discards, and organizes data in such a way that ‘final’ conclusions can be drawn
and verified” (p. 11). Once the themes and patterns were identified and exhausted, the
findings were recorded.

After the completion of the data analysis and writing up the findings, the process
of retrospection was performed. Thoughts, emotions and reactions in the research

process were examined to ensure that a fair representation of the data and the participants

59

had been achieved. This examination encompassed writing within a journal. Several
questions were asked: Were the participants represented fairly? Were these findings
anticipated? Had subjectivity within this study been accounted for sufficiently?
Verisimilitude

In an attempt to ensure accuracy within this study, the use of multiple methods
and multiple data sources was employed, a process called triangulation. Triangulation
was achieved through the use of several methods of inquiry, such as intensive in-depth
interviews, observations, and documents examination. Not only were subjects
interviewed, but the site was visited to observe student and teacher interactions, as well as
gain insight into the school context. On these visits, the accounts of events within the
school as reported by the participants were verified through teachers, and even current
students. Newspaper articles were also located that substantiated events that the
participants reported during their interviews.

Also, data was gathered from multiple sources such as through the interviews of
the young people, their parents, and the director of the school. Even though this study is
interested in the experience of the young people who attended an Afrikan centered
school, the interviews of their parents and the school director were used to cross check
and verify the data received from the young people. As another means of ensuring
accuracy, the “member check” method was employed, which provided opportunities for
the participants to look over the transcripts to verify the accuracy of data collected.
Several of the participants were willing to “collaborate” in the research by perusing their
transcripts, although no suggestions for change or corrections were recommended.

The Role of the Researcher

60

As an Afrikan American, middle-class, female researcher, I wanted to view this
data from my own race-based epistemology. My own lived experience is encompassed in
growing up in a Midwestern city which was flourishing as an automotive center. As an
Afiikan American child growing up in this society during the turbulent sixties (19603), I
was painfully conscious of the racial oppression and injustices that permeated the social
and economic terrain like a thick smog. Realizing that my worldview has been shaped by
my lived experiences, I concur with Cynthia Tyson (2003) as she asserts that the
“specificity of oppression” shapes the epistemology of the Afiikan American scholar (p.
20). In other words, the historical experience of oppression in this country has impacted
how people of color view phenomena. She further states that “the experience of racism
and oppression moves the oppressed “Other” into a paradigm of survival creating a view
of the world that is not shared by those gatekeepers who legitimize academic discourse
and research” (Tyson, 2003, p. 21). In light of Tyson’s assertion, I acknowledge that I
bring to this research process an epistemological perspective that has been and yet is
continually being shaped by the “specificity of oppression”.

Limitations of this Study

This study has several limitations. First, the study looks at participants of a single
site. Data may be different if taken from various sites in different regions of the country.
This site is located in an urban community and may produce different data if the study is
performed in a rural or suburban area. Further, this study lacks a control group to
compare the responses of young people to determine if these responses can be

generalized to all students.

61

CHAPTER IV
Context of the School
Introduction
The Setting

The Faizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy is an Afiikan-centered
charter school which provides instructions to students from the kindergarten through
twelfth grades. It is located in Westville3, Michigan, which is a large metropolitan urban
city. The Westville Public School District (WPSD) has a student enrollment of
approximately 170,000 students; well over ninety percent of its student population is
Afrikan American (U.S. Charter Schools, 2002). By 2001-02, more than 19,000 students
were attending charter schools in Westville (U .8. Charter Schools, 2002). In an effort to
minimize the impact of declining enrollment resulting fiom students transferring to
charter schools, the WPSD capped the F aizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory
Academy’s student enrollment at 300 students. During the 2004-05 academic year, the
school had a student enrollment of 260 students (Annual Education Report, 2005).

F aizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy began in 1974 as an
Independent Black Institution (IBI) in the format of a Saturday School. It was named the
Nat Turner School; its genesis was rooted in the Black Power, Black Nationalist, and Pan
Afrikanist movements of the 19603, as Afrikan Americans were redefining themselves
and their existence in American society. These movements were both political and
economic within Afiikan American communities, and they promoted the ideology that

Black people on the Continent and the Diaspora must become a self-determined and self-

¥

3 To ensure anonymity of the location and the participants in this study, the names of the school, city and
People have been changed

62

reliant people. In response to this movement, a collective of parents, educators, and
professionals began to embrace the self-determination initiative to create the private
school. When the Nat Turner School became a full day school in 1976, the name was
changed to the Faizah Shule Academy for Gifted Children. The name of the school was
significant for two reasons. First, the name was changed to Faizah Shule because
“Faizah” is a Kiswahili term which means life and “Shule” is Kiswahili for school.4 In
essence, the name “Faizah Shule” means the “school of life”. The second reason the
name was changed was to give emphasis to the Afrikan centered educational model and
to stress the philosophy of the school, which emanated from Mama Taraji’s, the founder
and director of the school, belief that Afrikan American children were gified children and
that the school experience should be holistic, impacting every aspect of the child’s life.
In that same year, the F aizah Shule joined the Council of Independent Black Institutions
(CIBI) and was instrumental in refining the ideology of IBI’s that consequently, resulted
in the creation of national standards for IBI’s.

As an IBI, student enrollment for Faizah Shule was comprised of approximately
sixty students. The requirement for attending the F aizah Shule was through parental
choice and student tuition. Whenever possible, financial scholarships were awarded to
families who experienced temporary financial hardships. Rather than have the students
leave the Afrikan-centered learning environment to attend public school, when the oldest
students reached the eighth grade, the Shule extended its grades each year until the school
reached the twelfih grade. When the high school was added, it was named the Marcus

Garvey Preparatory Academy and emphasized student preparation for higher education.

 

4 The name of the school is significant to the philosophy of the school. Faizah is actually a Kiswahili term
which means “she is victorious”.

63

Even though the schools were located in separate buildings, they were usually presented
as one entity, the F aizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy (FS/MGPA)5, when
Mama Taraji referenced them. In 1996, the FS/MGPA experienced its first graduating
class of seven students in 1996.
The F aizah Shule - Background

The F aizah Shule was located in the building that housed K-8 grades and had
been a storefront that encompassed the entire length of a short city block. Christian
churches of various denominations lined the streets like trees on both sides of the Shule
and across the street from it. The building was painted in a color that was a dark red and
windows lined the front, the left side and the back of the building. An interesting feature
of these windows was that every window was shielded from unwanted entry by cast iron
security guards. A sign “F aizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy” hung over
the main entrance in the front of the school.

The school was divided into two learning circles. One learning circle was the
Nile Valley Learning Circle, which is where students are instructed from kindergarten
through 5th grades. This learning circle was located on one end of the building and
consisted of open classrooms that were divided by material cabinets, lockers and coat
racks for the younger students. The room was painted white. The classroom walls were
utilized for student achievements, decorated bulletin boards, affirmation posters, Afiikan
American historical figures, and various maps of the world, particularly the continent of
Afi'ika. Within the Nile Valley Learning Circle, grades are identified by ethnic groups. T

The second learning circle was the Pyramid Learning Circle, which was where

 

5 Henceforth, Faimh Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy will be referred to as the acronym
FS/MGPA or simply as the Shule.

64

students from sixth through the eighth grades were instructed. This learning group was
located at the opposite end of the building. Along the narrow hall which connected both
instructional centers were offices for the finance managers, the School Psychologist,
counselors and instructors. The office for the Director and the Administrative Assistant
for the school was located in the same area of the Pyramid Learning Circle. There were
three rooms in this area that were utilized for instruction; one main room and two
adjacent rooms on each side of the main room. Off from the main room was an area with
about eight computers. During the times that I visited the Shule, I never observed any
students using the computers. Mama Taraji is a constant presence passing through the
rooms, occasionally stopping to praise or if necessary, chasten students.
Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy - Background

The Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy was housed in a building located on
the property of the oldest Afrikan American college in Westville. It has leased this
building since 1994 and is located to the left of the main building on the property. The
building was a multi-level building with rooms on all floors. The fiont exterior wall of
the building was brick and the side walls and back wall of the building were covered with
painted white wood. Windows flanked the front of the building with a few windows
located on the sides and in the rear. The front entrance was always locked and could be
accessed only fiom the parking lot that also served the college. The rear of the building
had a gated-fenced perimeter.

Displayed on a small table in the foyer is a picture of the school’s namesake,
Marcus Garvey. Also displayed on the table was the official accreditation of the Marcus
Garvey Academy as a member of the National Honors Society. African statues and

artifacts were also displayed on the table. In this building, there were three classrooms

65

on the upper level of the school and three classrooms on the bottom level of the school.
At one time this building served as the elementary school. Now this building is the high
school.

Meeting the Founder of F aizah Shule/Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy

To understand the context of the FS/MGPA, it is necessary to first meet and
interact with the founder of the school. The vision of the school is enmeshed and
embedded intricately within her social, historical, political, and cultural perspective. So,
our effort to explore the context of the school must occur simultaneously with
understanding the founder, Mama Taraji.

I remembered that I was astonished at the physical beauty and stamina of this
woman. Mama Taraji is a beautiful woman in her seventies. She was medium stature
and she was attired in a colorful Afrikan top and slacks. Her long grey locks flowed from
under her head dress. She was a soft-spoken woman with a calm and warm demeanor.
Mama Taraji was a native of Westville. She grew up during a time when the Afrikan
American community of Westville was rich and vibrant with the presence of Afrikan
American cultural heritage:

And we went to everything. . .all cultural groups [because] at that time people

came to churches in community things and anybody could go. There were Black

business and science expositions. . .that [were] kind of in with George Washington

Carver people. Black inventions and Black businesses, people got to see

those. ..And in the Black community there was a race consciousness that was

different than it is now, I think. We knew about Marcus Garvey, W.E.B.

DuBois...We got to see Eartha Kitt...Lena Horne...l mean we just had these

images of Black people who were prominent and successful in all areas. . .From

athletes to inventors to intellectuals (Personal Interview, 2004).

After graduating from high school, she continued on to college where she co-

majored in English and French. She taught English and Journalism in the Westville

Public schools for ten years. She decided to pursue a Masters degree and began

66

substitute teaching throughout the Westville school district. During this time, she
witnessed the economic and subsequent resource disparity between affluent and low
socio-economic schools and decided that she needed to create her own school. She noted
that her drive for the advocacy of Afiikan American children stimulated her search for an
educational model which would address their specific concerns. She asserts “I was
looking for something that would dramatically impact [Afrikan American] students.”

In 1974, Mama Taraji along with a collective of twelve families opened the
school that would eventually become F aizah Shule as a Saturday school called the Nat
Turner School. Mama Taraji described the process of the genesis and evolution for the
Saturday school:

The process that we chose was to run a Saturday school for two years and to

develop and test curriculum. . .at least one member of the family was an educator.

And most of them taught higher education, they were college instructors and

professors. So we worked diligently and seriously on curriculum and we tested it

in six week segments. We had kids come for six weeks and then they were off for

a week while [we] did an evaluation and assessment, rewrote or wrote core

cm'riculum until we had felt strong enough and we were ready to open the Shule

in 1974 (Personal Interview, 2005).

In 1976, yielding to increased pressure from parents and having refined the
curriculum, the Saturday day school became a full day, K-8 school and the name was
changed to Faizah6 Shule.

Struggles: The tool of perfection. Historically, Mama Taraji and the Shule
community struggled to keep the school open and this struggle was manifested in
constant relocation of the school. In over 30 years of existence, the school had moved

nine times. The Shule began in an Episcopal Church center and after several years

moved to a Lutheran church. After a brief period, the Shule moved to Lorne College of

 

6 Refer to footnote #1

67

Business. Violations cited by the Fire Marshall caused the Shule to move again. They
purchased a small building, but then lost the building because of financial difficulties.
Next, the Shule moved to a Catholic church. The church decided to demolish the
building and the Shule was forced to move again, this time to another Lutheran church.
Officials at the Lutheran church decided to terminate their rent and the Shule moved to
the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). The YWCA eventually closed and
the Shule moved to the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). After several
years, the YMCA closed and was sold to Catholic housing. Finally, the Shule moved
back to Lorne College of Business, which is its current location.

In 1995, the Shule became a charter school and opened its enrollment to students
within the Westville Public School district.

The Guiding Principles for the educational experience. During this time, the
school was under the ideological and organizational umbrella of the Council of
Independent Black Institutions. In 1994, through the collaborative efforts of its members,
in which Mama Taraji and the staff were instrumental, the CIBI created a position
statement. The position statement defined an Afrikan centered education and in 1995, the
CIBI also created national standards for evaluating Afi'ikan centered Educational
Institutions (Hotep, 2001). According to the definition created by CIBI and adopted by
Faizah Shule and which guided the instructional pedagogy of its member schools:

CIBI defines Afiikan-centered education as the means by which Afrikan culture —

including the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills needed to maintain and

perpetuate it throughout the nation building process — is developed and advanced
through practice. Its aim, therefore, is to build commitment and competency
within present and future generations to support the struggle for liberation and
nationhood. We define nation building as the conscious and focused application
of our people’s collective resources, energies, and knowledge to the task of

liberating and developing the psychic and physical space that we identify as ours.
Nation building encompasses both the reconstruction of Afrikan culture and the

68

development of a progressive and sovereign state structure consistent with that
culture (Hotep, 2001, p. 212).

The CIBI position statement further elucidates ten beliefs of utilizing an Afiikan-

centered education. The practice of Afrikan-centered education:

1.

2.

10.

Acknowledges Afrikan spirituality as an essential aspect of our uniqueness as
a people and makes it an instrument of our liberation;

Facilitates participation in the affairs of nations and defining (or redefining),
reality on our own terms, in our own time and in our own interests;

Prepares Afiikans ‘for self-reliance, nation maintenance, and nation
management in every regard’;

Emphasizes the fundamental relationship between the strength of our families
and the strength of our nation;

Ensures that the historic role and ftmction of the customs, traditions, rituals
and ceremonies --- that have protected and preserved our culture; facilitated
our spiritual expression; ensured harmony in our social relations; prepared our
people to meet their responsibilities as adult members of our culture; and ,
sustained the continuity of Afrikan life over successive generations -- are
understood and made relevant to the challenges that confront us in our time;
Emphasizes that Afrikan identity is embedded in the continuity of Afrikan
cultural history and that Afiikan cultural history represents a distinct reality
continually evolving from the experiences of all Afiikan people wherever they
are and have been on the planet across time and generations;

Focuses on the “knowledge and discovery of historical truths; through
comparisons; hypothesizing and testing through debate, trial and application;
through analysis and synthesis; through creative and critical thinking; through
problem resolution processes; and through final evaluation and decision
making”;

Can only be systematically facilitated by people who themselves are
consciously engaged in the process of Afrikan-centered personal
transformation;

Is a process dependent upon human perception and interpretation (Thus, it
follows that a curriculum can not be Afrikan-centered independent of our
capacity to perceive and interpret it in an Afrikan-centered manner);
Embraces the traditional wisdom that “children are the reward of life” and it
is, therefore, an expression our unconditional love for them. In order to best
serve Afrikan children our methods must reflect the best understanding we
have of how they develop and learn biologically, spiritually and culturally
(Hotep, 2001, p. 212).

Integrating the beliefs and the position statement from the Council of Independent

Black Institutions with her personal educational philosophy, Mama Taraj i developed a

69

framework for instructing students at the Faizah Shule. Mama Taraji’s articulated her
educational philosophy as follows:

Our philosophy has evolved over the years. We have a collective philosophy.
Basically, we are saying that we believe that all children are gifted. It is up to the
teachers to identify and this is before Howard Gardner, to identify the particular
strengths and talents in each child. And to develop a curriculum just for him
alone that will become an equalizing factor for his social and academic growth,
for these children. We believe in the whole child and that everything has to be
addressed, the child’s nutrition, the spiritual, the physical development, the
intellect, etc. And because we live in a racist society, we believe that Black
children need more intense mentoring. . .We believe that the parent should be
involved at all levels from pre-school thru high school and probably on into
college in their child’s education . . . [because] their first teacher should continue
to guide them, to study with them, to nurture them, to see that they have these
thing.” (Personal Interview, 2004).

A more formal articulation of the educational philosophy of F aizah Shale/Marcus

Garvey Academy was located in the Shule’s Parents Handbook (1999) and reads as
follows:

0 We believe, as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, believed in preparing talented young
people to provide leadership and service for Afrikan people at home and
abroad. Our commitment is to continue this legacy within an Afrikan
centered framework and a violence-free environment challenging students to
become some of the finest scholars, artists, and leaders in the global
community.

0 We believe that with the spiritual and moral strength inherited from our
ancestors, and through on-going struggle for justice, peace, and self-
determination, the [Garvey] Preparatory experience will foster in the students
a spirit of self-reliance and commitment to the rebuilding of our communities
and reclaiming our traditional greatness.

0 We believe that education is the gateway to liberation and that all students
deserve to be fully and correctly educated with the truth of human endeavor.
In the spirit of Sankofan Education, we must teach our students to reclaim and
reconstruct Afrikan greatness, using that knowledge to establish working
relationships with Afrikan people throughout the Diaspora.

a We believe that education is a transforrnative and life-long process. Growth
through learning places responsibility on both Mwalimu (teacher) and
Mwanafunzi (student) to share their knowledge and skills. This process
involves social interaction, cultural immersion, hands-on, and “beyond the
walls” creative school experiences that complement and reinforce reading,
computing and research. Learning must be balanced between structure and
freedom to create.

70

0 We believe that parents must continue to take an active role throughout their
children’s entire education; and that parents and teachers must work together
to promote harmony, self-determination, cooperation, collective
responsibility, purpose, creativity, and faith (The principles of the NGUZO
SABA) in the children they collectively serve.

0 We believe that all children deserve respect and protection; but must also
learn to respect others. These lessons are best taught through role-modeling
by adults who are positive and fair and consistent in their behavior.

0 We believe that given an educational experience that promotes self-esteem,
self-respect, and self-determination, and armed with a consciousness baSed on
truth, justice, and service, Afrikan descended children can become competent
and confident leaders in their communities and in a world of many diverse
peoples and cultures (Parents Handbook, 1999, p. 3).

The FS/MGPA’s also developed a seven-fold purpose statement that reads as
follows:

0 To develop a learning model that encourages academic excellence, self-
deterrnination, entrepreneurship and social responsibility.

0 To produce leadership for the redevelopment of the Afiican American
community.

0 To reinforce group identity and pride as well as self-esteem by daily use of
exemplary deeds and virtuous thoughts from great African people throughout
our history.

0 To instill a sense of belonging in parents, students, and teachers by
emphasizing the concept of extended family.

0 To develop strategic thinking based on past and present successes and creative
possibilities for the firture.

To prepare students for higher learning.

0 To examine the benefits of extended exposure of learners to education based

on Afrocentric principles. (Parent Handbook, 1999, p. 4).

These documents were utilized as the guiding principles to ensure that students
who attended the F S/MGPA received an Afrikan centered educational experience. The
overall intent of this experience was to produce leaders who were grounded in Afiikan
culture and identity and who would work towards the liberation and perpetuation of
Afrikan people on the Continent and in the Diaspora

The next section provides detailed insight into the culture of a typical day at the

Shule. This section provides a rich description of the rituals and ceremonies in which

71

students were expected to engage as well as the songs and affirmations that students sang

and recited each day in this educational experience are presented.

72

A Typical Day at the Shule

A Typical Day at the Shule

Because the participants’ memories of the Shule experience spanned over a period
of time, in some cases as many as nine to twelve years, and also because the Shule has
experienced various changes over the years, such as expanding grade levels and even
converting to a charter school status, the participants descriptions to paint a portrait of a
typical day at the Shule have been synthesized. Drawing upon the memories of the
participants in this study, the following description of a typical day at the Shule is
presented:

Students anived at the Shule in uniformed dress, girls attired in a black skirt or
slacks with a white blouse, and an optional red sweater, and boys in black slacks, a white
shirt, and the optional red sweater. Occasionally, girls would wear a scarf or a head wrap
and both boys and girls wore black shoes. The mornings began with the gathering of
students and staff for the opening assembly, which was held at 8:30 am every moming in
two locations in the building. The pre-kindergarten to fifth grade assembly was held in
the Nile Valley Learning Circle room with their school administrator, teachers, and staff
and the sixth to the eighth grades assembly was held in the Pyramid Learning Circle
room with their school administrator, teachers, and staff members.

During the assembly, the students stood in a circle formation and took a stance
referred to as angulia, which is Kiswahili for “attention.” In this stance, boys would
stand with their arms folded across their chests, and girls would stand with their arms in a

crossed position over their chests. Students understood that taking this stance

73

demonstrated respect for their elders and a willingness to hear what was being said. One
participant explained angulia in this way:

Angulia is to stand at attention and it how you have to stand during morning and
afternoon assemblies. How you stand when you are greeting one of our Mwalimu
[teacher]. How you stand for approval, for the most part you are at rest in
between any tabora or a drill, like a tapping society. . . .I think there was a spiritual
element [to it], but also there was a discipline element because it was about
learning how to control and still yourself fiem the inside-out. And I think angulia
in a lot of ways helped stilling oneself from the inside-out. You have to pull from
an internal force so that you can control your body [and] you can control your
mouth (Personal Interview, Asma, 2004).

While standing in angulia, students participated in the daily ritual of honoring the
ancestors through prayer and libation, the recitation of pledges, and the singing songs of
affirmation. They heard announcements and inspirational words. The students recited
the pledge, which is referred to as the CIBI pledge:

We are Afrikan people struggling for national liberation,
We are preparing leaders and workers to bring about positive change for our

people,
We stress the development of our bodies, minds, souls and consciousness,

Our commitment is to self-determination, self-defense and self-respect for our
race (The Council of Independent Black Institutions, 1990, p. 51).
The students sang songs of affirmation; one example is the song, Watoto Wa Afi'ika (We
are children of Afrika). This song is a call and response, that is, one person says the
verse first and then the audience responds by repeating it. This activity, call and
response, is reclamation of Afiikan traditional culture (Ani, 1997). A student is selected
to lead the song and then employs improvisation as the song progresses. One student

related that the song was sung as follows:

Watoto Wa Afrika (call)
Watoto Wa Afrika (response)
My name is Kamau (call)

His name is Kamau (response)
His name is Adofo (call)

His name is Adofo (response)

74

 

 

 

 

(Personal Interview, 2005).
The song would continue in this manner until every student and teacher had been named.
Announcements were given and encouraging words for the day and the wanafimzi
(Kiswahili for students) all pulled together by saying seven harambees. Harambee
means “let’s all pull together” in Kiswahili; it is performed by the students forming a fist ’
with their left hand, raising their fisted arm in the air and pulling the arm down to the
group recitation of seven Hararnbees. Then, the students are dismissed fi'om the group
assembly and go to their classes.
The curriculum consisted of classes that are centered in Afiikan culture. Studies
are designed to present a holistic context for learning about self and heritage, and to
provide the basis for understanding other peoples (Annual Education Report, 2005).
Students receive instruction from the following categories:
I CULTURE — Afiikan Studies, Social Studies (History, Civics, Government,
Economics) Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy, Fine Arts,
Music and Dance

I LANGUAGE ARTS & COMMUNICATIONS — Reading, Writing, Speech,
Listening, Afrikan and World Literary Studies, Drama, Debate, Oratory,

Research/Library Skills, Journalism, Foreign Languages: Afrikan and

European
I MATHEMATICS — Basic operations, Geometry, Afrikan Counting Systems,

Business Math, Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus

I SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY — Life Science, Afiikan Invention and
Discovery, Environmental Studies, Chemistry, Physics, Physiology and
Anatomy, Research and Scientific Writing, Computer Science

I PHYSICAL EDUCATION —- Fitness, Games and Sports, Martial Arts,
Health & Nutrition (Annual Education Report, 2005).

In the Nile Valley Learning Circle classrooms, a visitor may find kindergarten
students learning about their identity as Afrikan people. One participant of this study
explained the importance of students gaining knowledge of their Afrikan identity as the

foundation of their educational experience:

75

They needed to understand [that] they were African children and everything that
they needed to do that was going to be good and had needed to be reaffirmed was
an African thing. Everything that needed to be in [the] room which was about
colors or shapes or styles or letters or numbers were learning about black people.
And it could be about black people anywhere in the world but it was going to be
about black people. They were going to be inundated and re-inundated with
blackness, blackness, blackness and how beautiful and good it was (Personal
Interview, Asma, 2004).

In the Pyramid Learning Circle classrooms (older students), you may find
students receiving instructions for writing a term paper. This term paper would be

expected to be representative of a college level paper with cover sheet, footnotes, and

 

bibliography. This paper would challenge students to see themselves as leaders of
nations, and a comprehensive explication of how they would effect and implement
policies for the maintenance of their nation would be expected. One participant described
the experience of writing this paper as follows:

And our assignment was to write . . . I mean I was so zealous about that
assignment, I wrote something like 9 pages worth of work. I think the
requirement was like 4 pages, but I wrote something like 9 pages. The whole idea
was how we foresee ourselves as an independent African nation and what that
would be. You know, that’s what heads of state do, that’s what people who are
designing policies and implementing policies that affects entire nations, and the
entire world, that’s what those kinds of people do. But we were never taught
explicitly certainly that, neither implicitly that we did not belong to that group . . .
but we are responsible for re-designing and then implementing new policies, and
a new way of thinking, a new way of being, and a new way of teaching, and a
new way of living (Personal Interview, Asma, 2004).

At mid-day, students attended lunch at the Shule. The entire school gathered in a
common lunch area and one student was selected to lead the group in the giving of thanks
for the food. The prayer is recited in Kiswahili but is translated here:

One hand to give,

One hand to receive,

We give praise to our Creator for healthy food to eat
To make us stronger.

To continue our struggle for liberation,

Justice, and peace.

76

 

 

 

 

.
..n.

 

...Juwwsvmfn,3mz.5.u5§1r3mtd.. :4... .u ..it... . “abetrtrbfl
at . .

We say “Thank you!” (Personal Interview, Kamau, 2005).

Students ate their meals, abundant in raw vegetables and fruits. The Shule’s
philosophy was to encourage students and parents to eat nutritious and healthy foods.
After students completed their meals and cleaned up behind themselves, they were
permitted to go outside for recess. During recess, boys and girls were kept apart and
engaged in separate activities. After recess, students went to their afternoon classes.

During the afternoon classes, a visitor would find students in the Nile Valley
Circle classrooms learning about the protocol for interacting with adults. As one
participant related:

We [Afiikan people] have always been very, very careful [and] deliberate about
relationship in role and place. You know children have a place, and it isn’t to be
beat down and oppressed, but they have a place. As a young adult you have a
place; as a full grown adult you have a place; as an elderly you have a place. And
so we were constantly learning and being molded and shaped in a way in which
we understood our place and not that that wasn’t an important or special place,
but that there was certain ways in which you engaged with an adult. If you were
late for class, you had to ask permission to enter. If you left the class, you had to
ask, but first of all, you had to apologize for being late and then ask for
permission to enter. Anytime a teacher walked into the classroom and at the
beginning of class, you stood and you greeted your teacher with respect. You did
not leave a class . . . . You waited for the teacher to dismiss you and then you
stood up and you thanked them for providing you with the information and all that
you had gained for that day from that class. You didn’t just enter [a class], let’s
say that that teacher had sent you with a note to another Mwalimu (teacher). You
didn’t just walk into that class, you didn’t ever walk through anyone’s classroom,
depending on where you were and they had open classrooms. No, you ask
permission (Personal Interview, Asma, 2004).

In the Pyramid Learning Circle classrooms, a visitor may find students learning
the third principle of the Nguzo Saba, which is Ujima. This principle stands for
collective work and responsibility and is understood to mean “To build and maintain our

Community together, and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to

77

 

solve them together” (Karenga, 1998, p. 53). A participant of the study described how
this principle was affirmed in their education:

But it is very interesting about this idea that everybody will take responsibility for
each other because if anybody is misbehaving then everybody gets in trouble.
That was how we learned. We had to chant when we would drill “Are you your
brother’s keeper?” or “Are you your sister’s keeper?” and the answer was “No, I
am my brother”; “No, I am my sister.” Not that there wasn’t individual
responsibility, but definitely out of that push for individual responsibility came a
larger governing responsibility to something bigger than you. I’m always saying
it started with you, but it always ultimately went to something that was bigger
than you (Personal Interview, Asma, 2004).

At the end of the day, students gathered for the closing assembly. In the
assembly the students formed a circle and stood at angulia Once again, the students,
teachers, and the administrator participated in the recitation of pledges, songs, and
inspirational words. In the closing assembly, the Afternoon pledge:

I am the first and the Last.

I am the Umoja and Imani.

We pledge to think Black, Speak Black,

Act Black, Buy Black, Pray Black,

Love Black, and Live Black.

We pledge to do black things today,

To ensure us of a Black tomorrow (Konadu, 2005, p. 169).

This pledge is followed with the singing of the song, We Have Done Black Things Today:

We have done Black things today and

We will do Black things again tomorrow.

We have done Black things today and

We will do Black things again tomorrow.

Will you? Yes, I will. Will you? Yes, I will. Will youuuuuu?

One more time (repeat) . . .

Asante Sana (Thank you very much) (Konadu, 2005, p. 170; Personal Interview,
Asma, 2004).

The Seven principles of the Nguzo Saba have been incorporated into a song, and a
student leader engaged his fellow students in a call and response rendition. At the end of

the song, students pull together with seven strong Harambees. This act of pulling

78

together was interpreted by the students as coming together on one accord and combining
their energies and strengths in support of the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba.
Following the Harambees, the students clapped their hands together seven times.
Afterwards, the students were dismissed for the day.

Although the Shule was dismissed for the day, many students remained on
campus. These students were participating in after school programs, such as drum and
dance practice or tutoring, and some were just waiting for their parents to pick them up.
So a day at the Shule often did not come to end until well into the evening hows.

In the next chapter, profiles of the participants of this study and their parents are
presented. The intent is to put flesh on the sinew of each participant’s life, hoping to
shed some light into the context of each young person’s educational experience as related

through their narratives.

79

CHAPTER V
Case Studies
In this chapter, the participants in this study, and their parents will be introduced
through their narratives. The objective in this chapter is to paint a brief portrait of each
person to give the reader a sense of who these people are historically, socially, politically,
and culturally. The underlying questions which guided the writing of each narrative of
the participants and their parents were:
1. Who is this person?
2. What were his/her parental influences while growing up?
3. What was the social, historical, political, and cultural context in which
they grew up?
An additional question which was posed for the parents in shaping their narratives was:
4. Why did he/she select the Afrikan centered school for their child(ren)?
In this study, one parent for each participant and in two cases, two children of the

same family were interviewed. Refer to Table 5.1 for a breakdown of the participants,

their parent, graduation year, and gender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 5.1: Participant, Darent, graduation year and gender of participants

Participants Parent Year Graduated Male or Female
Kamau Mama Mariama 1996 M

Heimes Mama Mariama 2001 M

Naimah Mama Nefertiti 1996 F

Asma Mama Busara 1996 F

Nina Mama Ayo 2001 F

Mumbi Baba Shombay 2001 F

Adofo Baba Shombay 2002 M

 

 

 

 

Narratives are often employed when attempting to make meaning of particular life
experiences (Hatch & Wisniewski, 1995). In the following profiles, a brief narrative of
the parent is presented and then a brief narrative of the child/ren of each family is given.

The parent’s narrative frames the historical, cultural, social and political context which

80

 

guided the decision to enroll the participants into an Afrikan centered school. The
parent’s story broadens the scope of the participant’s life, allowing the reader to more
fully apprehend the lived experiences of each young person participating in this study.

To protect the privacy of the participants in the study, a pseudonym has been
given to each participant, their parents and the school in the study. Some participants
selected a pseudonym or pseudonyms were provided for those participants who did not
select a pseudonym.

The majority of the participants, their parents and the director of the school had
names representative of Afrikan culture. In selecting pseudonyms for the participants
and their parents, I wanted to be mindful of the representation of the participants in this
study. Their Afrikan names were significant because each name declared a quality,
virtue or characteristic of the person who carried that name (Mbiti, 1991; Tedla, 1995).
As researcher, I wanted to respect the naming tradition of Afrikan culture and as I
selected pseudonyms for the participants, their parents and the director of the school, I
took care to select a name for each person which reflected a trait or character that I
observed during the interview process. In this action, I am aware that I shaped the image
of my participants to the reader by the pseudonym that I select.

Mama Mariama, which means “a gift of God ” in West A fiica

I selected the pseudonym “Mariama” for this parent because I believed it
described how her family perceived her life. She and her family had endured a crisis
which tested their faith in the Creator and each other. It became apparent as I
interviewed her that her children felt that she was, indeed, a precious gift from God.

Mama Mariarna has two children who participated in this study, Kamau and

Heimis. Mama Mariama and her husband owned a home located in a predominately

81

       

   

    

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white suburb about 20 miles outside of a main urban hub, East City. A small population
of people of color resided in the area; in fact, the neighbors located immediately to the
left of their home were Afrikan Americans.

At first glance, observing Mama Mariama in the kitchen, I did not notice the
peculiarity of her movements. At times her movements were not smooth and fluid, but
rather jerky and forced. Mama Mariama later told me that she had been completely
paralyzed thirteen years prior, and doctors did not expect for her to ever walk again,
however, she was proud of the progress she had made in moving about without
assistance.

This family had the ability to make you feel at home. Mama Mariarna’s sixteen
year old daughter assisted her in the kitchen with obvious pleasure. I noticed that each
task her mother gave her was met with an attitude of honor and respect. We sat at a table
arranged with real chinaware, silverware, napkins and elegantly arrayed dishes of food
and we prayed before eating. While eating, Mama Mariama told me about her close fate
with death back in 1992.

On reflection it demonstrated a critical point in the lives of the family members
and underscored the affection and love that her children displayed towards her with
constant affection through spontaneous hugs and kisses, subtle touches and playful
joking. It seemed as if laughter and giggles were constant companions in the midst of
this family.

When she was growing up, Mama Mariama asserted that she was comfortable
with who she was as a person. She was not an activist, nor did she give serious
consideration to her Afrikan heritage. She offered that her attitude may have been

influenced by her socialization in a mostly white school environment at the Catholic

82

 

 

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school that she attended as a child, but she added that her parents always taught her to be
proud of herself as a Black person. She met and married her husband, who was an
activist and involved in the Black Nationalist movement. He sought knowledge about
Afrikan history and identity, and his was the motivation to place their children in an
Afiikan centered school.

After her husband located the Afrikan centered school, Mama Mariama went to
visit the school. Initially, she did not want her children to attend the school. Her first
impression of the school was that it was “messy” and “it didn’t look neat in what I
considered a lily white school painted with white walls.” Also, she was concerned about
her children coming away from this experience without being “well-rounded.” “I wanted
them to be a well-rounded child like I thought I was . . . and to get the aspect of all the
things that may be more relative to white society.” In the vein of being a good wife, she
acquiesced to her husband’s desires. The event that won her over to accept this
educational experience for her children was the first spring program she attended. “These
little kids were dancing and reciting poems and telling me about my history and doing
things that I never saw done before, and, boy! I was just shocked and amazed how
organized they were and the regimen of everything.” As a parent, she was required to be
involved in her children’s education, which meant that she attended parent training
sessions in Afiikan history and culture. Mama Mariama admitted that she experienced a
cultural transformation by being involved with the Afrikan centered school.

Mama Mariama stated that she became critically ill, suddenly in 1992. This
illness was so critical that the doctors did not expect for her to live. She was hospitalized
for a little over a year. During that time she was completely paralyzed for six months,

suffered from pneumonia for five months, and was bedridden for two and a half years.

83

 

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When this occurred, her oldest child, Kamau was 12 years old, Heirnis was 8 years old
and her daughter [name] was 4 years old. Her husband was so distraught by her illness
that he deserted the family, leaving her eldest child, Kamau, in charge of the entire
household. She comments that at twelve years old, Kamau “took over two children and a
mom and a household . . . and he still made 4.0 in school.” However, the Shule
community rallied together and came to her assistance. During Mama Mariama’s most
critical times, the Shule family became caregivers to her children and also to her. The
Shule staff and parents provided care to her children, prepared meals for her and her
family and even made sure that she was able to keep her medical appointments.
Kamau, which means “quiet warrior” in Swahili

I chose the pseudonym “Kamau” which means quiet warrior for this participant
because I observed him as a calm, serious young man during my interview sessions. Yet,
as the oldest child of a seriously ill mother, life circumstances enacted a high demand on
his young life as he accepted the responsibility of caring for his family through the crisis.

Kamau arranged for the interview to be held at his mother’s home. When I
arrived, Kamau was in the driveway assisting his sixteen-year old sister who was learning
how to parallel park. After exchanging introductions and small talk, Kamau led me into
his parents’ (mother and stepfather) home where I was greeted by Kamau’s parents, his
grandmother and his sister. Kamau decided that we should venture outside to conduct the
interview while sitting in the gazebo in the backyard.

Upon first meeting Kamau, I was struck by his serious demeanor, yet he
possessed an easy smile. He had a round boyish face, smooth yet glistening chocolate
brown skin. His dark brown eyes were full of life, yet gazing back from them was a man

mature beyond his years.

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Kamau was born and grew up in the Midwestern metropolitan city of Westville in
a home with his mother and stepfather and two younger siblings. His brother currently
attends Veterinary school at a historical Black college in the south, and his sister is a
senior in a predominantly white high school in a suburban school district. He mentioned
that he has an older half brother by his father and maintains a “good relationship” with
him.

When describing his family’s socio-economic status, Kamau felt that his family
was middle-class and he remarked that “we were never without.” Kamau considered his
parents to be Afrikan centered, particularly his father, who “was really into Afrikan
history.” It was this that led his father to locate the Afrikan centered school, F aizah Shule
where he and his siblings attended. “He’s a visionary-type person . . . And he heard
about this school . . . And he wanted his kids to be reared and to know who they are and
that is where he sent me.”

Initially, Kamau attended a Catholic school from kindergarten through the third
grades. “My mom always tells the good kids . . . that school was never a problem [for
me] . . . I always had good grades . . . Always A’s and B’s, I was never a C, D student.”
Even though, Kamau received excellent grades in the Catholic school, his father’s
concern that he acquired knowledge in Afrikan culture and history motivated him to
enroll his son in an Afrikan centered school, the F aizah Shule.

Kamau spoke candidly as he described the school and recalled his many
experiences. Kamau graduated from the Shule in 1996 and immediately enrolled in a
predominantly White university within the state to continue his education, majoring in
marketing. His desire was to attend a historically Black institution but he didn’t have the

financial means to go away to college. He was offered a full scholarship at the

85

predominately White university, and he accepted it. He joined an Afrikan-American
Greek fraternity and was active in community activities. He graduated with a bachelor’s
degree in communications and began working for a marketing firm in Westville. Kamau
recently received a job promotion, became engaged and purchased a house in an affluent
suburban community.
Heimis, a name he chose for himself

“I don’t know where it [Heimis Rodriguez] really came from. It came from
somebody who used to play beats with Popsicle sticks, that was the thing, I was Heimis
Rodriguez and my profession was making beats with popsicle sticks.” He explained that
he has always offered this name as his A.K.A. (also known as). His best friend went by
the name of Rudolph. “And he became Rudolph Adelphia, and that was it. And [we
were known] as H & R Block: H for Heimis and R for Rudolph . . . . We were the H& R
Block and it’s just been that way since high school.”

Recently, Heimis graduated from a historically Black university (I-IBCU) and had
been accepted at the HBCU’s Veterinary School. He knew that his love of animals was a
gift from God, and he was determined to fulfill his “calling”. Heimis was back in town to
visit his family during the middle of the summer. Heimis is different from his brother,
gregarious and playful: a jokester.

The interview was held at his mother’s house. Heimis emphasized that he was
born and raised on the east side of Westville. He recalled as a child coming home for
lunch, which his father had prepared for him while his mother worked. He felt that his
family was a little below middle class. He was the middle child in a household of five
people, along with dogs, cats, and fish. Heimis attributed the finding of the F aizah Shule

to his father. “I’m pretty sure it was my dad because he was real Afrikan centered.”

86

 

 

Heimis’ father was the founder of a local magazine which was Afrikan centered called
“Acabalon Inc.,” and his mother was the editor. Through the magazine, they would bring
in renowned Afrikan American speakers to Westville who would speak to the public.

Heimis recounted how he entered the F aizah Shule in prekindergarten. He boasts
of being a history maker much like his brother. His brother was one in the first
graduating classes, but Heimis holds the honors of being the first, and one of the only,
students who attended F aizah from prekindergarten through the twelfth grade. His sister
[name] attended F aizah also, but left to attend a predominantly white high school in the
suburbs where her mother and stepfather had moved. When he comes back to Westville
during breaks and vacations, Heimis visits the FS/MGPA to volunteer his services. He
believes in giving back to the Shule community.

Mama Nefertiti, which is Egyptian for “the beautiful one has arrived ”

Mama Nefertiti did not adopt an Afiikan name nor did she offer a pseudonym to
be used for this study. I selected this pseudonym for Mama Nefertiti because as I
observed her during the interview, through her mannerisms and physical carriage, I was
reminded of the famous queen of Kemet (Egypt).

Mama Nefertiti currently sits on the Board of Directors for the FS/MGPA and is
the mother of Naimah, a participant in my study. Mama Nefertiti was a tall, thin stately
woman who looked younger than her years. Her hair was straight and pulled back away
from her face, exposing her high cheekbones.

Mama Nefertiti was born in a small rural town in Louisiana. She attended school
in East City, graduated and attended a major university in South Arbor. She majored in
psychology but left after a few years when she married her husband. They moved to

Westville where they started their family. She viewed her family as a working class

87

family, since her and her husband were both employed at that time. Mama Nefertiti and
her husband are the parents of three children, Naimah, Donald and Charles and all were
enrolled at the Faizah Shule at one time.

Mama Nefertiti does not consider herself to be an activist, per se, nor does she
consider herself to be a Black Nationalist or Pan Afrikanist. She was not involved in the
Black Power or Black Nationalist movements of the 605 and 703. In high school, a
teacher “piqued’ her interest in Afrikan American artists, particularly, the writers and
poets of the Harlem Renaissance. She did not begin to seek an understanding of herself
as an Afiikan person until she became involved with the Shule.

Initially, Mama Nefertiti enrolled Naimah in a neighborhood public school. In
Naimah’s third grade year, the teachers went on strike for several months. While
watching a television special that featured the Faizah Shule, Mama Nefertiti and her
husband decided to make an inquiry into the school. They “were looking for a good
school, but [they] weren’t necessarily looking for an Afrikan centered school . . . . We
were just looking for a good school.” Her husband was leaning more towards the school
because it had an Afiikan centered focus. They enrolled Naimah into the F aizah Shule
with the intent to keep her enrolled there just until the strike was over. As a young
working family, they felt that they could use the tuition money in some other needed
capacity. Mama Nefertiti recalled that they “got hooked” and stayed, eventually
enrolling all of their three children in the Shule.

She stated that the philosophy of the school emphasized the giftedness of every
child, and this philosophy was an attractive feature of the school. It was an excellent
strategy that provided for the development of each individual child. She discovered her

personal development to be a crucial part of the educational experience. As her children

88

were learning Swahili and learning about Afiikan inventors and educators, she was
learning also, “I felt that I was learning right along with them.” The Shule provided
Afrikan centered training to teachers; and this training was made available to parents at
no cost. She noted that “the school had an open door policy, so just through your
participation and general parental involvement; you received training of some sort.” She
was involved in transporting students to political protests activities, local and statewide
rallies, and to performance events.

When Donald, the oldest son, was in the ninth grade, he asked his mother if he
could attend one of the public high schools in Westville. He was interested in playing
football, and the Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy did not offer intramural sports.
Mama Nefertiti acknowledged that there were several reasons why she seriously
considered his request. Her brother had played sports in college and was in the National
Basketball Association (NBA), so, Donald had strong role models promoting sports. Her
family was encouraging her to allow him an opportunity to play sports. Still hesitant
because he had not had the experience of attending a public school, she was uncertain of
his ability to withstand the influences of that environment. She made him commit to
demonstrating his seriousness by maintaining a 4.0 grade point for his ninth grade year.
She acquiesced and allowed him to go because he had proved that he was serious about
utilizing the opportunity to play sports, so she enrolled him in the public school, and his
younger brother soon followed.

Naimah, a name she chose for herself
Naimah selected to give herself a name after a favorite person in her life. Naimah

described this important figure as someone who was the Director of an Afiikan centered

89

school. Also she stated that this person reminded her of Mama Taraji in her commitment
to the school and was someone that she wanted to emulate.

Naimah carried herself in a stately manner. She walked very erect and exuded
confidence. Her complexion was creamy coffee brown and her hair was cut very close in
almost a boyish manner, but yet definitely woman. She was a tall, thin woman. I recall
thinking how a silhouette of her would capture the elegance of her presence.

After a brief discussion about my research, Naimah sat back and began to tell me
about her life. She was born in East City, Michigan and her family moved to Westville
when she was five years old. Naimah told me that she is the oldest of three siblings, two
brothers and a sister, a brother, 19, who was attending college and a brother, 15, currently
in high school. Her father remarried; Naimah has a one year old sister.

Naimah began her school experience in a public school. She stated that her
parents “weren’t really satisfied for reasons I don’t know. I was too young. But they
found F aizah Shule, and I went there the following year was the third grade.” and
attended F aizah Shule from the third grade until she graduated in 1996. In the fifth grade,
she was double promoted. When asked about her academic performance, she responded,
“I always did really, really well in school. Always a top performer, straight A’s. I only
got one B in my entire school career.”

Naimah now resides in Atlanta, Georgia and is in the process of opening a
daycare for prekindergarten Afiikan American children. She feels that this is a stepping
stone to her higher aspiration of opening a literacy institute for Afiikan American
children. Naimah plans to attend graduate school at Harvard University in the near
future.

Mama Busara, which means “wisdom ” in Swahili

90

I selected the pseudonym for Mama Busara from Swahili which means “wisdom.”
During the interview, Mama Busara shared a wealth of wisdom on childrearing, family
values and instructional pedagogy.

She is the parent of Asma, another participant in the study. Mama Busara is an
administrator at the F aizah Shule. Mama Busara was a native of Westville and had a
long history with the Faizah Shule. She came from a long line of educators; in fact her
father’s grandfather was a founder of Morehouse College. Her grandfather received a
master’s degree from Harvard University in the 19203 when W. E. B. DuBois was there.
Despite the entrenchment of poverty, her maternal grandmother immersed her mother in
the world of dance and the equestrian. So she attributes her paternal family with the
influence of institutional instruction and attributes her maternal family with the nurturing
concepts of the importance of family.

Mama Busara’s grew up observing her father, a supervisor over Social Workers
and community agents for the Westville School District. As a young child, she observed
her father, the only Afiikan American in his position, negotiate with, appeal to, and even
pressure his subordinates in their choices of interactions with the Afrikan American
clientele and the poor clientele. With unconcealed pride, she remembered, to the
amazement of her then young mind, how her father was often disrespected in these
encounters, but he consistently responded with fortitude and resolve. If she wanted to
spend time with her father, she would often travel with him to his various meetings. “He
was gone all the time. Either he was counseling somebody, organizing something, down
at the food co-op, organizing to get shoes, taking them to the dentist. He was always on

call. She recalled her parents’ involvement in community activism, manifested by the

91

frequent hosting of community gatherings in the backyard. Her mother engaged her and
her sister to listen to the radical voices of the sixties:
I remember as a teenager, I remember my mom letting us listen to the “Last
Poets.” Even though, she didn’t like the cursing, she would let us listen to it
anyway. She took us to see Bobby Scales when he was here. We had neighbors
down the street who were ranking officers of the Black Panther party. So we use
to read the Black Panther’s paper and then my father was a community organizer,

se we had to deal with issues of poverty, and all that was around me all the time
(Personal Interview, 2005).

Mama Busara stated that her parents’ attitude toward education was that
education did not make those who possessed it better persons, but rather the value of the
education was assessed by the accomplishments that resulted fi'om having it. “What you
did and if you didn’t do it, what you could [have done] for yourself and community with
education, you didn’t need to get it at all. What’s the point in having it?” For Mama
Busara’s parents, “[t]he value of education is to make a true contribution of yourself and
your family and your people, and if you’re not about that then what is the point in getting
educated?”

When Afrikan American families in her middle class community were sending
their children to Catholic schools, Mama Busara’s father resisted the appeals of his
daughters to enroll them with their fiiends. He was a staunch supporter of traditional
public schools; his reasons were political. One reason that he gave her for keeping her
and her sister in public schools was that Afi'ikan Americans had struggled too hard to
obtain access to public education to forsake the opportunity to attend public schools. The
other reason that he offered for sending his children to public schools was that he wanted
to eliminate or diminish the idea of classism. She recalled that he told her “now that I

make a certain amount of money doesn’t mean that I’m going to send you off to some

92

Catholic school . . . . Why not make it better for all the children instead of just pulling
yours out because you have the benefit of money?”

Smiling, Mama Busara reflected upon her youthful years of community activism
at her high school, when she acquired the nickname “militant midget.” She received that
name because “I was so small and I use to have an ‘Angela Davis’ afro; you know the
whole nine yards.” Her retort to that nickname was “Yeah, small but mighty!” As a
junior in high school, she organized and participated in a sit-in to protest that girls could
not wear pants or short shorts to school. At that time, school regulation was such that
girls could wear only dresses to school.

While in college, her daughter, Asma, was born. She enrolled her child in a
daycare center operated by a multi—cultural group of people and also became involved
with the Kiswahili Club, an Afrikan centered organization on campus that brought in
guest speakers for Black Studies. She attributed her growth in Afrikan consciousness to
her involvement with this organization and wanted her daughter to have a similar
experience. “I was growing in my Afrikan consciousness and I knew for my daughter to
have a similar experience and understanding of who she was, she had to be in an
environment that embraced that ideology.” She felt that cultural knowledge is a critical
defense in the struggle of life, particularly within a society that negates the humanity of
Afiikan people.

Mama Busara eventually enrolled her daughter in the Shule:

And when I saw how the Shule was interacting with the prekindergarten children

. . . . Prekindergarten is a preparation for school, but just hearing that language

and finding where they taught the children. I really loved that they didn’t have

the T.V., that they were actively engaging the children in active learning, in active

play. That everything that they did had a purpose for some kind of academic or
moral or spiritual or some kind of lesson for them to draw from, to profit. But I
liked how they engaged the children; I liked the philosophy. The Shule title was

93

“the academy school for gifted children.” And I loved the fact that the school
embraced the theory that all children are gifted (Personal Interview, 2005).

Asma, which is Swahili for “higher, more exalted ”

The pseudonym “Asma” was selected for this participant, because I was
impressed with the level of insight that she espoused as she explicated her educational
philosophy for Afiikan American children.

When I interviewed Asma, I was greeted by her and her two year old daughter,
Njeri. Njeri was not shy and proved to be an inquisitive toddler. Asma was born in
Westville and lived with both parents during the first year of her life, after which her
parents “broke up and went their separate ways.” Both of her parents were initially
teachers in the Westville Public School system. She explained that she came from a long
line of educators. Her mother who is a biology and chemistry major is the fifth
generation of teachers in her family and she is the sixth generation since she had taught
kindergarten in an Afiikan centered chartered school for several years. Asma’s father
was a longtime teacher and administrator in the Westville school district. Asma’s parents
met at a local university and were both political activists on campus. Her father taught
history and often supplemented his lessons with documents and writings from renowned
Afiikan American historians, such as Dr. John Hendrix Clarke, J. A. Rogers, and others.

Asma was the only child of both of her parents until she was 10 years old, after
which she was a sister to two brothers. Her youngest brother attends an Afrikan centered
school, but not the Shule because he experienced some difficulty while there which
warranted his move to a different school. According to Asma, when the Shule became a
charter school, it experienced a period of adjustment that involved receiving a different

clientele of students and hiring teachers who were inexperienced with the Afrikan

94

centered educational model. This period of instability and adjustment proved to be not
conducive to her brother’s learning style. He began to have behavioral problems, and his
mother decided it would be best to move him to a more stable environment.

Asma sees herself as “different” and that her experience with an Afrikan centered
educational model has placed her in a small group of unique individuals. She believes
that there exist around twenty to twenty-five Afrikan American young adults who have
spent the majority of their educational careers within an Afrikan centered educational
environment and ideology throughout the nation.

Today, Asma is married, soon expecting her second child and is a student at
Westville Law School.

Mama Ayo, which means “joy” in Yoruba

I chose this pseudonym for Mama Ayo because I observed joy to be a constant
presence in her demeanor as she interacted with her students, her granddaughter, and with
me.

Mama Ayo is currently a Language Arts instructor at the Shule and has been
teaching there for the last fourteen years. She is the mother of Nina, a participant in this
study. I met Mama Ayo on one of my first visits to the Faizah Shule. I observed her in a
classroom of seventh graders. Fourteen 6th and 7th grade students were engaged in
activities within the room which looked to be about a 10’ by 12’ space. In her classroom,
chairs with attached desks were arranged in four back-to-back rows. Jazz music flowed
fiom a small stereo system located by Mama Ayo as she sat at one of the student desks
positioned to the far right of the room and softly permeated the room with soothing
rhythmic sounds. Upon entering the room and immediately to the right was a wall inset

which was decorated with a seven candle Kwanzaa stand surrounded by fi'uit, nuts and

95

green foliage plants. Colorful Afiikan cloth was draped across the two windows in the
room for the dual purposes of blocking out the morning sunlight and painting a visual
Afrikan culture throughout the room. Several brightly decorated bulletin boards graced
the walls; each one announced students’ achievements.

I interviewed Mama Ayo in her home in South Arbor, which was located about
forty miles from Westville. In South Arbor, Mama Ayo lived with her daughter and
grandchild on the campus of a major university within the state.

Strikingly beautiful, Mama Ayo had a round face with almond shaped eyes. She
had a soft creamy coffee complexion and was medium build. She was adorned in
colorful Afrikan attire and she had wrapped her hair which was locks of dreads with a
matching cloth.

Mama Ayo began her life in the south in the midst of a large family of tobacco
farmers under the matriarchy of her great grandmother. She acknowledged that her
mother was young and single, and though she knew her biological father, she never had a
close relationship with him as she was growing up. Her mother eventually migrated to
Westville, leaving her in the south with her great grandmother. Mama Ayo’s mother met
and married a man in Westville, and sent for Mama Ayo when she was around seven
years old. She grew up in a working class home. Her mother was a nurse’s assistant and
her stepfather worked in the vocation of refiigeration.

Mama Ayo noted that she grew up in an environment in which self-education was
very important and she was encouraged to get a “good” education. Although Mama Ayo
did not consider her parents to be Afiikan centered, she always thought of her mother as a
Black woman who actively demonstrated both the pride to be Black and the defiance

against the constraints of an oppressive society. “I remember her saying that she would

96

never live anywhere where she wasn’t wanted . . . but at the same time, she had this
attitude that she could go anywhere she wanted to go . . . . I can remember us going to the
stores and going in the malls and stuff and sometimes we’d be the only Black people.”
While in college, Mama Ayo became actively involved in the Black Power
movement. This was around the late 70’s and she noted that the movement had “lost a lot
of its luster.” Mama Ayo had a strong leaning towards the philosophy of Malcolm X.
She did not subscribe to the civil rights movement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
believing they were pursuing two opposing goals. Concerning Dr. King, she felt “his
thing was to change the conditions of our people by integrating and assirrrilating into
America.” Whereas, regarding the Black Power movement and Malcolm X:
The Black Power movement . . . the school of thought was that we have to create
for ourselves, and we have to be self-sufficient. And yes, we do want civil rights.
You know, the law, the rights that are guaranteed to us as citizens of this country
but we also are concerned about human rights . . . not just being able to integrate
into the white world but also to be able to defend omselves if we need to . . . . Dr.
King, his philosophy was a turn the cheek philosophy; non-violence. Malcolm’s
school of thought was [that] we can defend ourselves, and actually as so-called

citizens of this country, that’s supposed to be one of our rights, to defend
ourselves (Personal Interview, 2004).

Also contributing to her growing consciousness and awareness of Afrikan culture was her
employment as a journalist at two Afrikan American media venues, the Westville
Chronicle and Broadside Press. At the Chronicle, her job was “to report what was going
on in the cultural, nationalist community . . . . So everything that went on in terms of
community organizations, theatre, concerts, music, anything that was cultural,
particularly dealing with Afrikan centeredness, that’s what I did while I was there.”

Her first encounter with the F aizah Shule was when she was working as a
journalist at the Broadside Press. Faizah Shule and the Broadside Press were housed in

the Nat Turner Center. The Nat Turner Center was affiliated with an Afrikan centered

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church that not only housed the church but also, the Faizah Shule, a food co-op and the
Broadside Press. Though she was aware of the school and its purpose to educate children
from an Afrikan centered perspective, she felt that she could not financially afford to
send her children to this school. She had two children, and her primary concern was to
ensure that they received a “good” education, which she felt that they were getting fiom
the neighborhood public school they attended. This particular public school had a good
reputation and was staffed predominately with Afrikan American teachers. “I was happy
that they were getting a good education, even though it wasn’t Afiikan centered
education.”

After Nina was born, Mama Ayo began to utilize the F aizah Shule’s after school
program for her older children, and “in exchange for my two oldest children being in the
after school program, I went in and volunteered once a week.” With assistance from
Nina’s father, Mama Ayo was able to send Nina to the Shule during her Prekindergarten
year, but when that assistance ceased, she enrolled her in public school. By the time Nina
was going into the second grade, Mama Ayo began to work as a teacher’s assistant at the
Shule. The inconvenience of the conflict between her employment hours and her
daughter’s school dismissal time influenced Mama Ayo’s decision to re-enroll Nina at the
Shule. As a Shule employee, Mama Ayo was not exempt from paying tuition, but was
able to receive a small discount.

Mama Ayo also related having had a somewhat disheartening experience with the
public school system in regards to her eldest daughter. By the time she was in the fifth
grade, she encountered her first white teacher who exercised no managerial skills over his

class, and her daughter was becoming discouraged with school. She added “from a

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nationalist background, our thing is that you cannot turn your children over to the slave
master to educate them and expect for them to get a good education . . . . That’s crazy!”
Nina, which means “mother ” in Swahili.

Nina was a young mother and I chose this pseudonym for her. She was patient
and nurturing to her daughter during the interview session. Even though, the
interviewing process required Nina’s concentration as she recalled her experiences at the
Shule, she never was removed from her maternal focus.

Nina stood about five feet one or two inches and she was a fair almost olive
complexion Afrikan American woman. Nina was dressed in a pink athletic outfit with
sneakers. Her reddish brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Nina was born and
raised on the east side of Westville, and attended Faizah Shule most of her life. She went
to the Shule for prekindergarten, a school in east Westville for the kindergarten and first
grades, and was enrolled from the second grade until graduation in 2002. Nina has two
brothers and two sisters, but she is not close to her father’s children and does not stay in
touch with them.

Nina considered her family to be working class, although she had been raised in a
single parent home all of her life. Regarding her mother “I know she was working three
jobs and she was, you know, out there hustling everything, you know, so she could do
everything for me.” Nina felt that her mother and she had a very close relationship, and it
was because they were so much alike, plus their birthdays were two weeks apart. “I think
us being so much alike helps me to understand her, so I think it helps her to understand

me.” Nina said that her mother had the greatest influence on her. “She was my first

example of how a woman should be.” Another reason they spent so much time together

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was that her mother was her teacher at Faizah Shule fiom the 4m through the 6‘” grade,
and some portions of the 8th and 9th grades.

Nina recalled that she had a good experience when she attended a Westville
public school. “I can always remember being a good student. I always loved school.
Kindergarten . . . . I was really fortunate to have really good teachers when I went to
public school.” She spoke about her public school experience:

We did, I remember all kind of activities and my teacher, my kindergarten teacher
was very hands on; she was very involved. Even though we had a large class, she
was able to get around to all of us and really be involved. And my 1St grade
teacher, Mrs. Lyle, she was like the best teacher. She taught me how to read.

And I can remember, I remember wanting to learn how to read. That probably
helped of course. We has some bad kids in there who didn’t wanta do anything,

but I remember wanting to learn how to read. So that was the big thing. And, but

taking the phonics, we did phonics workshops and things like that (Personal

Interview, 2004).

Nina felt that her grades were pretty good while she attended the F aizah Shule,
but highlighted some times when she got into trouble. “I clearly remember being the kid
that got other people in trouble.” Nina was double promoted, which meant she skipped
the 7th grade and was promoted to the 86' grade after completing 6th grade. She felt that
eighth grade was her adjustment period. This was the year that she entered the high
school. She felt that she had to adjust to the transition of being in the group of the oldest
students to becoming one of the youngest students in the high school. But she was able
to pull her grades up from a 3.0 GPA in the 8th grade to a 3.4 overall GPA by the time she
graduated.

Nina will be graduating in December 2005 with a Bachelor’s degree from a major

university in southern Michigan.

Baba Shombay - He who walks like a lion.

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I chose the pseudonym for Baba Shombay, which means “he walks like a lion”
because he was a wealth of knowledge from a broad range of topics. He spoke with
authority over whatever topic he discussed.

Baba Shombay is the father of two of the participants in this study, Mumbi and
Adofo. Baba Shombay was a tall, thin Afiikan American man. He had a short afro and
his face was clean shaven. Baba Shombay appeared to be comfortably dressed in a multi-
colored Afrikan Dashiki and dark slacks. I found that Baba Shombay managed to find
humor in his life’s experiences and did not hesitate to highlight the learning opportunities
his experiences entailed.

Baba Shombay told me that he was born in Westville and was raised primarily by
a Christian mother. His mother was a teacher in the Westville schools and his father was
in the Navy. Baba Shombay graduated from a top ranked high school in the city,
received a master mechanic certification from a local career institute, and was employed
by a major automotive firm as a technician. This employment opportunity gave him the
chance to continue his education, enabling him to become an “engineering technologist.”
He is now working as a Teacher’s Assistant in the history and science classes at Marcus
Garvey Preparatory Academy.

While attending college, Baba Shombay was involved in the reorganization of the
Black Students Association. He and fellow students “reorganized the so-called Black
Students Association, which always reminded me of the Boy Scouts, and renamed it the
Association of Students of Afiikan Descent.” He became an activist promoting Afrikan
organization and Afrikan consciousness in the school.

When Baba Shombay became involved with a young woman with a three year old

child, he began to give serious consideration to provide a quality education for his

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children. “[The daughter] was four [years old], time to put her in school. That’s when I
started having issues with where was I going to put her in school . . . and Mama Taraji
and Shule was there so that’s where we started.” After a son and daughter were born and
were old enough, he enrolled them into the Shule also. He was now paying tuition for
three children to attend the Shule. The fact that he was paying both tuition and taxes
caused him to become a parent activist in the Westville public schools. Baba Shombay
asserted:

Now I’ve got three children in school and the Shule is breaking me. Then that’s

when I actually started, became actively involved with the Westville Public

Schools, saying that we need to African-ize the public schools because I’m paying

taxes for public schools, and I’m paying money for private school, and this is

ridiculous (Personal Interview, 2005).

As a community activist, Baba Shombay engaged in various activities to engender
agency and self-determination in the Afrikan American community. He was involved in
bringing Afrikan American scholars to speak in Westville. He also participated in
initiating a Westville School Board recall. Eventually, he worked actively in the
development and implementation of three all-male academies in Westville. Once the
schools were operating, Baba Shombay, in what he considered a proactive move, enrolled
his son, Adofo, in one of the all-male academies.

According to Adofo and Mumbi, Baba Shombay allowed his children to
experience traditional public education when they asked his permission to do so. He
permitted his eldest child, Gheche to attend a traditional elementary public school when
she asked. In the same manner, he allowed Mumbi to enroll in the same elementary
school when she was in the sixth grade and allowed Adofo to attend the ninth grade in a

traditional public school setting. Baba Shombay’s rationale for allowing his children to

attend public school was that “sometimes experience is the best teacher.” He felt that

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they could learn more by actually attending the public school and experiencing the
environment than by telling them about the environment. In fact, both Mumbi and Adofo
asked to be placed back in the Shule because they felt that the work was too easy and that
they were not receiving a quality education in the traditional public schools.

Mumbi, which means “creator, mother of the universe ” in Kikuyu

Mumbi has two young children and is a nurturing caring mother, a role she
valued. As a result, I chose the pseudonym of Mumbi which means “creator, mother of
the universe” for her.

She was medium stature about five feet five inches, perhaps a bit shorter. She
was a beautiful woman of Afrikan descent with a chocolate brown complexion. Her
personality was light and hearty, manifesting in her penchant to quickly discover the
humor of various aspects of her educational experience as she relayed it to me.

Mumbi recalled that she was born in Westville. Mumbi felt that her family is
Afrikan centered, that is, their actions are driven by the question of “how does this
benefit Afrikan people?” She felt this way because her paternal grandmother owns a
cultural center on the east side that operates as a cultural hub within the Afrikan
American community. Her father is a historian of Afiika and Afiikan American culture
and now teaches at F aizah Shule. Mumbi had just completed the certificate program for a
Medical Assistant at a local technological institute. She is interested in going back to
school for nursing. However her ultimate desire is to become a child psychologist.

Mumbi attended the F aizah Shule from kindergarten until graduation with one
year of interruption. While in the fifth grade, she appealed to her father to let her attend a
traditional public school, but once she got there, she found the work too easy and begged

her father to send her back to the Shule.

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I went to public school, one year, I think about the fifth or sixth grade. I didn’t

really like it [laughing]. I had made my daddy put me back in the Shule after the

year was over, but the work was just too easy and if in the fifth or sixth grade, I

could realize that the work was too easy, I went back to school to get some harder

work (Personal Interview, 2005).

When talking about her experience at the Shule, Mumbi stressed that the course
work was challenging and the teachers were demanding. She proudly boasts about
having to dissect animals for science in the 8th and 9th grades. She told me that her
English teacher, Mama Ayo, had prepared her to write research papers. “She had me
prepared to do a research paper, as far as the bibliography, works cited page, the body,
the content, and outline goes.” She says that her grade point average (GPA) was 3.3
when she graduated from the Shule.

Mumbi feels obligated to go back to the Shule and volunteer assistance whenever
she is needed. She believes that giving back is a manifestation of reciprocity and fulfills
the goal of nation building. Also, she is the mother of two boys and enjoys being a
mother.

Adofo, which means “courageous warrior ” in Akan

When asking Adofo to supply me with a pseudonym for this research, he was
adamant about using his own name. He felt that his name was serious and “I want people
to know who I am basically, even though my name is serious. . . . And I want people to
know that.” Adofo’s father had named Adofo after a radical Afrikan American leader of
the sixties. Baba Shombay made sure that Adofo understood the importance of his name
and the history of his namesake. This presented a struggle for me as researcher. I wanted
to give Adofo the opportunity to use his name, but I needed to maintain the commitment

of anonymity to the other participants and the school. Alter much consideration, I

decided that it would be best to provide a pseudonym for the study. Adofo means

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“courageous warrior” and represents my perception of his personality during the
interview.

Adofo is back in Westville preparing to continue his educational career at
Westville Community College (W2C). Since his graduation in 2002 from the Faizah
Shule high school, Adofo had attended a historically Black University in Alabama.
Several of his peers from the Shule were also attending this university. Adofo was
majoring in Architecture, but when his funding ran out, Adofo found himself back in
Westville.

Born in Westville in 1984, Adofo grew up with two older sisters and a younger
brother. He and his siblings attended the F aizah Shule at various points in their
educational careers. Adofo’s two older sisters are currently attending [NTT], a technical
institute and both are pursuing medical certifications. Adofo’s younger brother is
currently enrolled in the Marcus Garvey Preparatory Academy. Adofo considered his
family to be a middle working class family.

Adofo sees his paternal grandmother’s work and Mama Taraji’s work as “a joint
venture . . . because a lot of her [his grandmother’s] curriculum [that] she uses and the
guidelines for her summer program and our after-school program is based on the Shule.”
In fact, since his graduation from high school, Adofo has taught chess at his
grandmother’s center.

Adofo’s educational journey was significantly different than the other participants
in this study. Initially when Adofo started school, like his older sisters, he was enrolled
in the Faizah Shule. He attended the Shule from kindergarten through the first grade.
During that time, his father was actively working with the Westville Public School

District in efforts to open several all-male academies. The intent of these academies was

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to address the crisis of academic failure and specific needs of Afrikan American boys.
After overcoming challenges, which included litigation by a women’s group protesting
the exclusion of females, three Afiikan centered academies opened in Westville. The
particular focus on Afiikan American males was the impetus that caused Baba Shombay
to pull Adofo out of the F aizah Shule and placed him in the academy named after his
namesake, Adofo Academy. Adofo attended the academy from the second grade until he
graduated from the eighth grade.

In the ninth grade, Adofo attended a traditional public high school, Martin Luther
King. While in the public school, Adofo noted that his grade point average was terrible.
Adofo felt that the size of the school attributed to his poor performance. “Big, too big.
King was huge . . . it was huge. There were one thousand students. They didn’t have
enough room for the students.” Adofo didn’t believe that he was receiving a quality
education in the public school and asked his father to allow him to go back to the Faizah
Shule high school and in the tenth grade he enrolled in Marcus Garvey Preparatory
Academy, continuing there until his graduation in 2002.

Evident in the young people’s choices and locations after graduating from the
Shule is some manifestation of the impact of the educational experience upon their lives.
All of the young people interviewed had some higher educational experience. Out of the
seven young people interviewed, five had completed a four year degree. The other two
young people, ironically brother and sister, both maintained their intention to continue
their education.

In Chapter VI, the findings from the thematic data analysis are presented. In this
chapter, utilizing the espoused philosophical outcomes of the Shule and the CIBI position

statement as a lens to explore these educational experiences, the themes which emerged

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from the data analysis were examined. The findings from that analysis are reported in

light of the review of literature and the educational outcomes.

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CHAPTER VI
Findings
Introduction

This study explored and investigated the experiences of Afrikan American young
people who attended a school which instructed fiom an Afiikan centered educational
model. The findings speak to the question, “What were the educational experiences of
Afiikan American young people who attended an Afiikan centered school?” An Afrikan
centered educational model has been heralded by its proponents as a viable alternative to
the traditional public school’s educational model (Akoto, 1992; Lee, 1992). Within the
last decade, proponents of an Afrikan-centered education have attempted to standardize
the Afrikan centered educational model by defining the guidelines and parameters for this
education. The CIBI organization established itself as the accreditation and regulating
organization for Independent Black institutions. However, many schools both private
and public have implemented what they have termed an Afiikan centered educational
model.

In a review of the literature, research has explored the implementation of this
model within public schools and public school academies, i.e., charter schools. There are
few studies that impute academic success or increased life chances of Afrikan American
students to this educational model. Rarer still are studies which utilize the voices of
students who have experienced this educational model to determine their perceived
outcomes of this educational experience. Questions to be answered are “What are the

educational experiences of Afiikan American young people who have attended an

Afiikan centered school?

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The collective of families which created the Faizah Shule in the mid-70$ were
influenced by the Black Nationalist and Pan Afiikanist movements of that time. Joining
the Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI), which operated as a unifying
organization for independent Black institutions throughout America, the F aizah Shule
helped to develop and refine the ideology of Afrikan centered education. This ideology
that was formalized into a position statement for CIBI was adopted and integrated into
the educational philosophy and the purpose statement which guided the educational
process at the F aizah Shule.

The synthesis of the CIBI’s position statement, FS/MGPA’s philosophy statement
and purpose statement suggest that the educational outcomes should develop young
people who undertake the goal of nation building for Afrikan people on the Afiikan
continent and throughout the Diaspora. Nation building should reflect in the young
person’s involvement in positions of leadership, their perpetuation of Afiikan traditional
culture, spirituality, and in their understanding and acceptance of their roles as adults.
These young people would be critical and creative thinkers who are grounded in their
Afrikan culture and identity. This educational experience located in the centeredness of
Afiikan worldview systems, endeavors to develop young people into “re-Afrikanized,
liberated thinking human beings” (Akoto, 1992, p. 112).

These documents defined the philosophical underpinnings of the FS/MGPA and
demonstrated that in addition to academic excellence, the Shule proposed to provide
students with these educational outcomes:

1. The Shule provided educational experiences for young people that were grounded
in the concept of nation building.

2. The Shule provided an educational experience for young people that cultivated
their cultural knowledge and identity.

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3. The Shule provided an educational experience for yormg people that cultivated
the principles of self-advocacy
4. The Shule provided an educational experience for young people that developed
their personhood.
In this chapter, the findings from the thematic analysis of the data are presented.
The first outcome that emerged from the data analysis was that the Shule provided an
educational experience grounded in nation building.

Educational Experiences Grounded in Nation building

If it’s not about nation building, then it isn’t about anything
—- John H. Clarke

Nation building. For the Afrikan centered educational model, nation building
must be an active process of garnering and developing the resources of Afiikan talents for
the freeing of Afrikan minds and bodies. In this educational model, students are
encouraged to reclaim Afiikan culture, which is taught and modeled in behaviors, values,
traditions, and language. This reclamation is referred to by Akoto(1 992) and other
Afi'ocentrists as re-Afrikanization (Kambon, 1998; Hilliard III, 1998). Since education is
a cultural act (Hilliard III, 1998), Afiikan centered education is about the “reconnection
and continuity” of Afiikan people (Akoto & Akoto, 2000 p. 72). Akoto and Akoto agree
that “nation building is an intergenerational process of progressive but intense denuding
[Afrikans] of multi-generational layers of alien values and things, and the progressive
adoption and immersion of [Afiikans] in the culture and the work of rebuilding” (2000, p.
73).

The educational philosophy at the F aizah Shule addresses nation building as the
belief that the Shule would provide an educational experience which would “foster in
students a spirit of self-reliance and commitment to the rebuilding of our communities

and reclaiming our traditional greatness” (Parent Handbook, 1999, p. 2). The CIBI

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position statement declares that the Afiikan centered educational model prepares
Afrikans “for self-reliance, nation maintenance and nation management in every regard”
(2005, p. 6-7). Through their experiences these young people gained an understanding of
nation building which is reflected in their narratives.

When speaking of nation building, Kamau identified Mama Taraji as intensely
focused upon the business of nation building in operating her school. Kamau described
Mama Taraji as having an attitude of creating a nation. He shared, “Her attitude was [in]
developing a nation, a nation of thinkers, a nation of positive people to represent the
Afiikan Diaspora . . . all that really means at the end of the day is [that] she was building
leaders.”

The concept of nation building for the participants in the study flowed throughout
the educational experience when the participants expressed that nation-building was
rooted in the individual, family and the Shule community. Naimah understood nation-
building to be the fundamental objective of her educational experience. This ideology
was stressed at home as well as in the Shule. Naimah elaborated, “I feel like I was taught
that education and everything that I do is about nation building. And if it’s not about
nation building, it is not about nothing.” She said that nation building was “kind of
drilled into us.” She understood that nation building should be the primary motive for
‘thatever I pursued in my life.” She added that nation building was promoted at home,
“my father would . . . ask me, well, why do you have to go to school? And my answer. .
. would be so that I can help my people.”

One element of the philosophy of the Afrikan centered education at the F aizah
Shule was the belief in “preparing talented young people to provide leadership and

service for Afiikan people at home and aboard” (Parent Handbook, 1999, p. 2). Asma

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recounted a project that had a great impact on her sense of agency and self-determination
for Afrikan people on the Continent and the Diaspora:

I mean I remember one of the assignments that we had. . .yeah, I’m sure this was

in the sixth grade. . .it was at the end of Chancellor Williams book [The

Destruction of Black Civilization], and I think that we were talking about a

Declaration of Independence or a Constitution. . .for African people. The whole

idea was how we foresee ourselves as an independent Afiican nation and what

that would be. You know, that’s what heads of state do, that’s what people who
are designing policies and implementing policies that affects entire nations, and
the entire world, that’s what those kinds of people do. But we were never taught
explicitly certainly that, neither implicitly that we did not belong to that

group. . .but we are responsible for redesigning and then implementing new

policies, and a new way of thinking, a new way of being, and a new way of

teaching and a new way of living (Personal Interview, 2004).

Asma’s reflection demonstrates that students were not simply required to think
about what nation building entailed but were required to apply strategies towards nation
maintenance and management.

Heimis also perceived nation building as a process that was located within
everything that he did, but he noted that the act of nation building first began with him.
He defined nation-building, “in my mind, nation-building is first, building your own
nation.” He also broadened his definition to include the animals of the earth
(demonstrating his desire to be a veterinarian and reflecting the Afiikan cultural concept
of Afrikan people’s responsibility to exist in harmony with nature). He further
expounded, “I’ll help my kids out before I help somebody else’s kids out, because that’s
human nature, but I’m going to help somebody else’s kids.”

Heimis also identified simple acts of assisting other Afrikan Americans as part of
the nation building concept. For instance, he felt that ensuring that fellow college

students were picked up from the airport was an act of nation building. These college

students were alumni from the Shule who also attended the same HBCU that he attended:

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Now the thing I do [is] I show love to anybody that’s in Alabama and in Atlanta.
I pick people up from the airport. That’s nation-building in the simplest [form].
Even my boy, [Adofo] when he was at [HBCU], I showed him love (Personal
Interview, 2005).

Mumbi, a young mother spoke to the concept of the perpetuation of Afrikan
people; she perceived the birth of her two children as an act of nation building. She
explained nation building as the act of creating leaders fiom Afiikan American children
who will have the ability to think critically about their place in the world and how they
can be instrumental in assisting Afiikan people.

I’m building a nation! You see, I’m building a nation. How I see it manifested in

my life? Well of course, nation-building is way beyond just bringing more

children into the world. I guess when you say nation-building, that’s the first
thing that will pop into your head, having kids or trying to build a nation, bringing
more people into the world. It’s more than that . . . that’s what the Shule does.

Because, they’re not having children, they’re bringing children. They’re

collecting children to turn them into nation-builders, to make them think, not

about themselves, but about the nation, about African people . . . . That’s the
scientific question that we always ask when we do our science fair. Is it good for

African people?

In their description of their educational experience, some participants viewed
nation building as reflected in class projects centered upon the perpetuation of the
Afrikan nation. Other participants spoke of nation building as beginning with them first;
as manifested in producing children for the nation, and even in assisting other Afrikan
people in seemingly small ways such as providing transportation so that they could
continue their education.

An Afiikan centered educational experience was built upon family involvement
and cooperation in the within the Shule community.

What was really cool was the environment is definitely a family environment . . .

There is an African proverb that says ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’
--Kamau

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Family and Community. The concept of nation building cannot be obtained
without the active engagement of the members of the nation-state. The smallest units of
the nation-state are individual families and the collection of families make up the nation-
state. It is common in Afrikan traditional cultures to consider the family as the basic unit
of the community (Tedla, 1995). However, the concept of farme is not confined to the
nuclear family as in the Western culture, but includes extended family such as aunts,
uncles, cousins, and grandparents. This broad concept of family is attributed to Afrikans’
sense of collective importance, that is, that every person in the family is connected to and
interested in the welfare of each other. According to Mungazi (1996), traditional
Afiikans understand the concept of family “within the framework of the oneness of
being” (p. 28). Mungazi (1996) explained the oneness of being operated in the Afiikan
family from two perspectives. The first perspective was that family ensured the physical
welfare of its members, that is, making sure that food, clothing and shelter were provided.
The second perspective was in providing members with a “sense of belonging and an
improved self-concept” (p.29). Within these perspectives, an individual progressively
locates his/her space within the family unit as a contributing member.

The aforementioned ideology undergirded the education at F aizah Shule and
framed the practice of an Afrikan-centered education, which “emphasizes the
fundamental relationship between the strength of our families and the strength of our
nation” (CIBI, 2005, p. 6-7). Proponents of Afrikan centered education understood that
the family unit is the first and primary unit for the perpetuation of Afrikan heritage and
culture. When participants were asked the question “What made their school an Afrikan

centered school?” they unanimously agreed that it was the familial environment.

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Kamau recalled that it was Afrikan tradition and the Shule protocol to refer to the
teachers as mama (Kiswahili for mother) and baba (Kiswahili for father). Kamau
explained:

This was my mama, this was my baba, so they are responsible for me like I am

their own, and they took that seriously to the hilt. So it was my son, [Kamau],

needs to learn. So we were taught like we were their kids...it is like if] was a

teacher and I had my own child in school, I [would] want my child to succeed

(Personal Interview, 2004).

The Faizah Shule also believed that it was important for instructors, parents and
students to develop a strong sense of community through the extended family concept.
Kamau noted how he felt that he was fortunate to have been in an environment in which
the education of the children was considered a community endeavor:

What was really cool was the environment is definitely a family environment . . .

There is an Afi'ican proverb that says ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ And they

made that proverb the truth. It was everybody was involved all of the time. I was

fortunate during my time because parents were really involved (Personal

Interview, 2004).

This view was substantiated by Akoto (1992) when he asserted that “[effective]
parenting within a viable family, which family is also supported within a supportive
network of families is a central requirement for the perpetuation of those new Afrikan
centered values among you ” (p. 35). This supportive network of families constitutes
the realization of community for the Shule. Within Afiikan cultures, community is the
space in which an individual is defined. The community does not exist external to the
individual and the individual does not exist external to the community (Tedla, 1995;
Mungazi, 1996; Mbiti, 1998). Menkiti (1984) states, “[I]n the Afiican view, it’s the

community which defines the person, not some isolated static quality of rationality, will,

or memory” (p. 171 ). Several participants spoke about experiencing the extension of

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family within the Shule community. Naimah explained her understanding of family as a
function of community:

Based on African centered living and African style of life in which an Afi'ican —
traditional African community pretty much regardless of what nationality you are
talking about, what region of the continent you are talking about minus some
variation here and there. No individual exists on their own. Family units don’t
really even exist on their own, it is all a part of the commrmity. So the idea was
that we don’t have students, we have children and they belong to us, to the
community as a whole (Personal Interview, 2004).

Another participant, Nina explained how family at the Shule has become her extended
family:

[T']he Afiican centered perspective is that the school is your family because like
you guys said, we spend so much time there. And your teachers are one of the
many influences in a student’s life and like for us . . . because our teachers were
there and they taught so many grade levels, we spend three and four years with
them, so they really get to know us. We really get to know them. And we really
get family. I mean, most of my extended family, because it’s really just me and
my mom; and I don’t really keep in touch with my dad’s side of the family that
often. 80 my extended family is my Shule family (Personal Interview, 2004).

Naimah emphasized her experience of the family environment not only was it an
extended family environment, but it was a safe place, particularly when her parents were

in the midst of a turbulent divorce:

We had to refer to 0m teachers as momma and babba, and so it really felt like a
family. I guess the best way I could describe it was that it was an extended family
there quite literally. The level of involvement that the teachers had in my
personal life, the level of awareness that they had of what was going on when my
parents were getting a divorce, I felt comfortable talking with my teachers as
mentors. And I felt safe and very comfortable in that because my parents’ break
up was violent and very hostile. So there were times where we weren’t allowed to
leave and they protected us (Personal Interview, 2004).

Heimis recounted his experience of the family concept as demonstrated by the
staff at the Shule when his mother became critically ill. The staff members adopted his

family as their own and ensured that he and his siblings had transportation to school:

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[T]he Shule was real family oriented, I give the Shule a one hundred percent
credit on being at that time . . . it takes a whole village to raise a child, family
oriented unity, Nguzo Saba. I give them one hundred percent on that. I mean
they were willing . . . especially in my situation where my momma got sick [and]
couldn’t drive. We had pe0ple like Mama [Ayo] use [to] pick us up. We use to
get dropped off at the Inner City Cultural center on the East side and she would
take us to the Shule because she used to work there early in the mornings. And
she would take us all the way over to the Shule. We’d use to ride with Mama
[name], Mama [Busara] would pick us up some time. Heck Mama [Taraji] came
and got me a couple of times and that’s the principal. She’s the top dog. It was

really family oriented (Personal Interview, 2005).

For the participants in this study, the family and community environment at the
Shule was the most salient feature of the educational experience. They recounted how
they considered their teachers to be surrogate parents who became their extended families
and who offered a safe place, along with needed assistance to families experiencing
difficulties and crises.

Another outcome which arose from the data analysis was that the Shule provided
students with educational experiences for developing their cultural knowledge and
identity. Cultural knowledge and an Afrikan identity were cultivated through the
students acquiring cultural proficiency, developing a positive self-concept, cultivating a
belief in student greatness, and fostering higher order thinking skills.

Educational Experiences for developing their Cultural Knowledge and Identity

«we learned Afiican culture in the school and we were based on African culture.
--Heimis

Cultural Proficiency. Proponents of an Afiikan-centered education have argued
that the struggle for nation-building and liberation demands an education that provides
Afrikan children with knowledge of their Afiikan cultural identity. Culture is the
meaning making mechanism of reality for a people, manifested in language, rituals, and

symbols. One of the beliefs as posited by the CIBI position statement is that an Afiikan-

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centered educational practice “emphasizes that Afrikan identity is embedded in the
continuity of Afrikan cultural history” (p. 6-7) and that history is dynamic and distinct.
The F S/MGPA’s philosophical statement acknowledges that education for Afrikans,
particularly Afrikan Americans is in the spirit of Sankofa, which is Kiswahili for “going
back and fetch.” F S/MGPA believes that Afiikan Americans must look back within the
Afrikan historical continuum to reclaim as well as reconstruct Afrikan greatness. Central
to accomplishing that mission is the reclamation of the Afiikan cultural ethos.

FS/MGPA believed that the students must engage in “cultural immersion,” that is,
students must not only have knowledge of the Afrikan culture but essentially live the
Afiikan culture.

Participants in the study articulated their experience in receiving an education
from an Afrikan centered cultural perspective. To them, the experience was essential to
their identity development because it was built upon their view of history and events from
their own epistemology (i.e., method of knowing) and ontology (i.e., essential nature of
reality) as an Afiikan people. Karnbon (1998) contends that these components of world-
view are dependent upon a particular racial/cultural experience. Naimah explained her
understanding of how the Afiikan-centered educational experience enabled her to gain
cultural proficiency:

The fact that this is African and African American history, that the experience of

Afiican people across the Diaspora was the basis for everything that we did,

everything that we learned, everything was centered around that. And so the

curriculum, the core curriculum, didn’t suffer because of that but that was just the
foundation. So as we studied math we learned our basic math, algebra, geometry,
but I feel like it was enriched by having knowledge and understanding of what
these subjects, what these ideas mean to us as Afi'ican people. Where were
Afiican people in 1865, what were they doing? So we had to learn about the
Emancipation Proclamation and the formation of America as a country. But we
always had to understand what black people were doing at the time; where were

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people at this time? How did these events affect black people (Personal
Interview, 2004)?

Niarnah understood that the foundation for gaining knowledge was in locating
Afrikan people at the center of that knowledge acquisition. She also noted that Afrikan
cultural knowledge was imparted to the students. She highlighted leaming about Adinkra
symbols and learning how to wrap Afrikan head wraps. She reminisced that in the
Afiikan centered environment, there was always “something culturally reflective.” She
firrther explained:

We learned about the symbols. We learned how the cloth was used, how to wrap
the cloth around us, and how to create geles, the headpieces, yes. Pretty much in
depth in everything that surrounded us was reflective of a piece of Africa. So our
teachers, their attire, they didn't have a uniform, but once I became a teacher I
understood that they were required to wear African clothes. Not all of the time
not even always full African garb, but there should be something culturally
reflective, whether it was earrings or a bracelet that children need to see, to see
the culture and experience it on a daily basis (Personal Interview, 2004).

Heimis felt that the Shule helped him to acquire values through the cultural
traditions, rituals, and activities that grounded him and prepared him for his future
endeavors. He expounds on this experience even further:

[A] lot of people say when you have a foundation of yourself, you can go on. Just
know who you are. You can learn that kind of any place, but I guess the Shule, it
being African-centered . . . they help to instill that in you . . . . 1 know where I
came from and I know where I am going given the values that I’ve got . . . . I
learned . . . . But experience at the Shule, I believe help to prepare me for the
future more so than the education . . . . It’s not the education of books that
grounded me, but it’s my experience at the Shule. The things that the Shule did,
how they did them, the performances we use to do, the drumming and dancing
[that] I was always involved in, my rites-of-passage, the family experience, the
mama and the baba, the being responsible for little kids while the teachers are in
the meetings, the fact that the school was real little . . . that whole cycle . . . helped
me be grounded. More so than learning 5 times 5 is 25 . . . . Kind of the fact that I
was there was better than the 5 times 5 is 25 (Personal Interview, 2005).

At the Shule, American holidays were not celebrated; rather, celebratory

traditions were established that had cultural relevance. The Afrikan centered concept of

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self—determination, Kujichagulia promoted the ideal that Afrikan people create and
celebrate their own cultural traditions. During the time of Halloween, the young people
in the study reported that they participated in “Ancestors Day,” which represented a time
to research and give honor to Afrikan family, community, and historical ancestors.
Kamau described the significance of that event, “[A]nother thing that we did that
was different was Ancestor’s Day versus Halloween . . . . Halloween is more [about]
celebrating goblins and ghouls.” Kamau was quick to interject that the Shule
administrators never said that they were against Halloween, but “instead of drawing all
this attention to jack-o-lantems and all of these dead, scary things,” the students were
encouraged “let’s talk about some dead things that made a difference.” Kamau explained
that on Ancestor’s Day, the students would dress up as an ancestor, “you would become
that person for that day. And you had to write a paper on them too . . . . I am talking
about a five page paper . . . so it was a history lesson.”
Adofo offered another perspective of the cultural celebrations:
Even, they didn’t have Christmas but they had Kwanzaa. They didn’t have
Valentine’s Day. It was Black love day. In those days, they did not want to
worship 3 man named Valentine. Who was Valentine? That’s the question. If
you wanted to celebrate something then you have to know what you’re doing. It’s
Valentine’s Day. Who was Valentine? Do you lmow him? No. St. Patrick’s Day,
you ever met St. Patrick? No. Ever heard of St. Patrick? No, you just heard of the

day. Basically, it’s just . . . . Capitalistic holidays. Stuff that’ll make you spend
your money (Personal Interview, 2005).

For cultural nationalists, reclamation of the language is vital to the process of
nation-building for Afiikan people (Karenga, 1998; Asante, 2003). According to Asante
(2003), “Language is essentially the control of thought” (p.41). He argued that Afrikan
people must control their language, if they are to control their future. Participants in the

study talked about learning Afiikan languages as well as other languages. Heimis’

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account summarizes the experience, “the fact that we spoke Swahili, like almost fluently.
So [you] spoke English and Swahili when you went to the Shule.”

For many of the participants, the cultural imperative was emphasized in the home
environment as well as the Shule. In fact, in situations where the parents initially were
not familiar with Afrikan culture, the parents learned right along with their children.
Niamah recalls that her mother and father were also gaining from her experience at the
Shule:

I think there were so many things that they had never encountered until I had

attended the school . . . . Whether it was just in helping me with homework

assignments or participating in school events. And that is still a very important
part of the school right now is educating parents . . . . So there is a lot of education
that goes on [so] that the parents actually can reinforce what is going on (Personal

Interview, 2004).

Upon graduation, most of the participants went off to pursue higher education.
Out of the seven participants in this study, four went to a four-year predominantly white
institution, two attended a historical Black university and one participant attended a two
year community college. One can speculate that once these students were not in an
environment which reinforced the Afrikan-centered world-view, that these students
would experience difficulty maintaining cultural proficiency. When asked how he
maintained his Afrikan centered perspective once he graduated from high school, Adofo
indicated that this Afiikan cultural orientation had been internalized:

I have no choice. It’s there now. It’s there now. Subconsciously, it’s there. 1 may

not think I’m doing it but it’s there. You can do something and not know you’re

doing it. How I would end up at a HBCU, the best HBCU? I think, it’s just
subconsciously in there (Personal Interview, 2005).

The participants in the study felt that the Afrikan-centered educational experience
had provided them with knowledge of their historical cultural identity. They attributed

this acquisition to their instruction in Afiikan history from their own epistemological and

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ontological perspectives as Afiikan people. Participants also noted that their parents
were equally transformed through their child’s educational experience. Finally, one
participant affinned that once cultural competency was acquired, it was internalized for
life.

The FS/MGPA’s intent was to create in these young people an awareness of their
cultural roots. Yet, they understood that integral to the development of cultural
proficiency was the need to cultivate a positive self-concept. Supporting the Shule’s
rationale for developing positive self-esteem in Afiikan American children, Mama Taraji
asserted “because we live in a racist society, that Black children need more intense
nurturing” (Personal Interview, 2004).

We suffer fiom issues of our esteem, issues around our values, issues around

abilities and capacity, issues around black children and academically accelerating,

issues around being able to accept that . . . the three R’s for black children are not
the fundamentals. They are not fundamentals for any child. They come after the

fundamentals which are: who you are, who you are in relationship to the people to
whom you belong, and who you are in relationship to the world around you.
---Asma

Positive Self-Concept. The above quote from Asma, gives a clear description of
the difficulties facing Afrikan American children in American society. Daily encounters
with a hostile and brutal society organized around the ideology of White Supremacy
(Ani, 1994; Kambon, 1998; Wilson, 1998), translates into suffering from an atrophied
self-definition for the majoring of Afrikan Americans in America. Recognizing and
identifying with this experience has positioned the F aizah Shule to strategize ways to
ameliorate the often atomized destructions fiom these encounters. Addressing this

reality for Afiikan people, the Faizah Shule’s educational philosophy states the

following:

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Given an educational experience that promotes self-esteem, self-respect, and self-
determination, and armed with consciousness based on truth, justice, and service,
Afrikan descended children can become competent and confident leaders in their
communities and in a world of many diverse peoples and cultures (Parent
Handbook, 1999).

The staff at the FS/MGPA was energized by their belief in the legitimacy of
Afrikan culture and the greatness of Afiikan people. They were intensely committed to
the development of leaders for Afrikan people and the world. The participants in the
study noted the Shule’s commitment to this goal; it was not only obvious in their
pedagogy but also in their faith and pronounced belief of the “genius” of Afiikan
children.

Several participants in this study presented descriptions demonstrating their
experiences of developing a strong self-concept as a result of attending the Shule.
Naimah emphatically states, “I would not be the person I am if I had not attended
[Faizah] Shule. I don’t know what would have become of me, but the things that I
experienced are so intrinsic to who I am, to what I believe, and what I want to do”
(Personal Interview, 2004).

When speaking of his perception of how the Afrikan centered educational
experience cultivated his self-esteem, Kamau elaborated that “it developed a person.” He
further explained:

I think because there was . . . attention [focused on you] and you were taught to

drive yourself [that] when I went to [name of university], which was a

predominantly white school, I didn’t feel less of anything; I felt good happy and

proud of being me. So when I went in there my attitude was, hey, you all, how
are you doing? I’m here. It taught me how . . . to be open—minded [and] to not be
afraid to learn stuff. A lot of cats [that] I grew up with in my neighborhood or

whatever are still there. They have not left the block because they are afraid . . . .

We went to Africa and we did all kind of stuff. We were out and about. We

talked to people who were involved in things and that made us think differently.

You weren’t afraid to learn new stuff and listen to different music and just a lot of
things that a lot of people I find are just afiaid to do . . . I am like, hey, what else

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can you show me? Teach me something [that] I don’t know (Personal interview,
2004).

Asma shared her development of a positive self-esteem. She pointed out that
“growing up in a school that’s Afrikan-centered . . . you just learn to have a very strong
sense of self.”

You always or at least almost always [are] able to maintain your identity
regardless of the space, enviromnent, or the venue in which you find yourself.
You are who you are in everything and even if you don’t own the space entirely,
you never lose yourself. You always own yourself. Because you have learned the
value of what it means to be who you are where you are (Personal Interview,
2004)

Substantiating their perspectives on the development of their self-esteem and
preparation for life, some of the participants cited the Afiikan centered education as
providing the basis for their ability to go into predominantly White institutions (PWI) and
not feel intimidated in that experience but rather found themselves empowered. They
also were not spending their time grappling with their identity while there; a process
which they found engaged other Afiikan American students. Asma gave her account of
feeling grounded in her Afrikanity:

I’ve attended the [name of a major PWI university] as an undergrad, which is very
much a white institution, a predominantly white institution and a socially white
institution and has been intensely unfiiendly to black students until very, very
recently . . . What was always very interesting to me was how so many of my
peers, my contemporaries, who were black [which means] they were young adults
of African descent; rather they be from [Westville] which is a 80-85 percent
Black city or from somewhere else, who did not have similar experiences [and]
who hadn’t at the very least grown up in a home which was very much centered
cultmally, ethically, and spiritually around a politicized black perspective and
they’ve come to the [name of university] to discover themselves . . . where for me
it was an opportunity to be challenged certainly, but to refine my own
understanding of who I already knew that I was and to get a chance to kind of
play around and learn and discover things about other people . . . and that’s one,
the tremendous values of having grown up in a very politicized and very “Pro
Black” house, but two, having that constant 360 support in whatever environment
that I was in just about my entire life, having gone to the Shule and therefore been
involved in . . . a lot of my extra-curricular activities, particularly performing

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theater, rites-of-passage were related to the Shule. So just that constant
reaffirmation and confirmation over and over and over again of who I am and
what I do and what my purpose is valued and valuable, or really invaluable. I
think it made it much easier for me to transition into that institution without losing
myself or at least losing much less of myselfthan I saw a lot of other kids lose . . .
. So I just was constantly reminded of how important that experience was to me
being able to maintain things as fundamental as my dignity while I was there
(Personal Interview, 2004).

Nina felt that the experience at the Shule has helped her to be secure in her
Afrikanity, that is, who she is as an Afiikan person. With apparent pride, she described
her features and accepting the reality of her beauty as an Afiikan woman. Nina
explained that the Afrikan centered educational experience has caused her to see the
world fiom a different perspective. “And the way I view the world is fiom such a
different perspective . . . the type of person [that] I am, I’m proud to be Black.” She
further emphasized, “And I’m proud to be African and I’m secure in . . . the fact, that my
hair is nappy and the fact that I’m never [going to] be a size two, no matter how, what I
do, how much I diet or anything . . . I’m never [going to] be a size two. My nose is big
and my lips are bigger . . . . And it’s because of my African-ness.” Nina felt that she
demonstrated more security in her Afiikan identity than she observed in other young
women who also attended the university:

So I’m a lot more secure in myself as opposed to so many sisters 1 see come up

here to [name of university] who are just, they just get totally turned around. You

know, because they come up here and get so bombarded by so much European-
ness, whiteness, and you know, so it’s grounded me. It’s given me a good
foundation, and I can come up here, and I can do what I need to do, and I can take
these classes, and I can get my degree, but I don’t lose myself in the process. And
when I feel myself losing myself, I have the tools and the foundation to pull
myself back . . . . I felt I was really prepared for the rest of the world. I was really

prepared to come here . . . . And, from the educational perspective, definitely, I
think I was prepared to come here (Personal Interview, 2004).

The participants in the study unanimously agreed that the experience at the

F S/MGPA were committed to the cultivation of their positive self identity as Afi'ikan

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-_r- -.— ——-.—-vr-

people. The educational experience offered by the Shule was predicated upon their
intense belief in the historical greatness of Afrikan people and in the young people that
they instructed.

--All day long it was I want you all to be the best, whatever the best meant. She

[Mama Taraji] didn’t have a definition for it. It was just be the best at it period.

-Kamau

Expectations for Greatness. Current research on Afrikan American student
academic achievement has shown that teacher expectations can have both positive and
negative impacts upon student achievement (Thompson, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1994;
Irvine, 1990). Daily in urban school settings across the nation, Afrikan American
students interact with teachers who have low expectations for their academic
achievement (Hilliard III, 1997).

Through research Afiikan American scholars and educators have deduced that the
cultural orientation of Afrikan Americans has a greater focus on people and activities,
unlike the western cultural orientation, which is geared towards things (Hale, 1986;
Boykin 1986; Shade, 1994). This orientation towards people stimulate Afi'ikan American
children to seek greater positive interaction with their teachers than European American
students; in fact, Afiikan American students have higher academic success when their
relationship with their teachers are warm and supportive (Shade, 1994).

Central to the educational philosophy of the Faizah Shule is the belief that all
Afrikan American children are gifted. Mama Taraji states:

Our philosophy has evolved over the years. We have a collective philosophy.

Basically, we are saying that we believe that all children are gifted. It is up to the

teachers. . .to identify the particular strengths and talents in each child. And to

develop a curriculum just for him alone that will become an equalizing factor for
his social and academic growth, for these children (Personal Interview, 2004).

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This belief in the giftedness of the students was imprinted in the hearts of the school
director, her staff, the parents, and the students of Faizah Shule. The participants in this
study, specifically those young pe0ple who were in the first graduating class saw
themselves as a special group of gifted children who were destined for greatness.

The term “greatness” did not encompass one specific definition, but it was
encapsulated in the Afrikan historical cultural experience. It was presented in the
historical accounts of the great civilization of Kemet. Greatness was presented in the
ancestral memory of the accounts of the survivors of the Maafa, the Afrikan Holocaust.
This greatness was presented in the great works and accomplishments of all the ancestors
who have gone before and paved the path for this generation’s existence. Young people
were constantly told and reminded by the demonstration of invested time, effort and love
of the Shule staff, parents, and community that they were expected to be great. Several
young people share this experience:

But the model of the school was the new Afrikan child will have a broader vision,

and I think the full name of the school at the time was [F aizah] Shule Academy

for Gifted Children. So the whole philosophy was that all children are gifted.

And many of us are gifted in different ways. And that’s the mission of the school
and the instructors were to tap into those gifts no matter how they surfaced or how
they manifested themselves for each child. Yes, I was considered gifted among
everyone else who I went to school with (Personal Interview, 2004).

Asma affirmed that she had never experience this expectancy for greatness in the public
school that she attended briefly:
So our orientation was that . . . all the expectations were that you are going to do
and be great. What you do is expected to be great. Who you are is great already,
but we expect you just to fulfill your own capacity. And that was something that I
definitely never experienced in a public school setting (Personal Interview, 2004).

Kamau who was in the first graduating class recalled that “there were seven of us

who graduated . . . it was like we all kind of jelled so well, we were kind of what I call

127

the experiment kids.” He felt that because students in his class were the first cohort of
students who had experienced the Afrikan centered education for most of their school
career; they were the test case for many innovations. But, he and his cohort were also the
recipients of high levels of investments of hope and faith through the Shule community.
He remembered Mama Taraji’s desire for his “success” and also, he recounted the weight
of the responsibility that her love and interest placed upon him:

And she just wanted you to succeed . . . looking at it now it was like this lady
loved the hell of out of us and to this day still does. When she sees me it is like
her face lights up and she is like, how is my [Kamau] doing? And for somebody
to care about you like that makes a difference. It changes the way that you do
things, the way that you feel about things and the way that you interact with
people. When people care about you, you treat people like they care about you
and like you care about them (Personal Interview, 2004).

Each of the participants was grateful for the attention and care of the staff; even to
the point of experiencing what was essentially “parent-like fussing” from them. The
participants understood that they had become part of an extended family, and the teachers
considered them to be as one of their own children (Hilliard III, 1997). This concept of
accepting the students as their own children was a direct reflection of the Afrikan
traditional culture. The F aizah Shule incorporated the wisdom that “it takes a village to
raise a child” and the participants felt that they were recipients of that conviction. In fact,
Nina spoke appreciatively about her teacher’s concern for her:

So my teachers always . . . made sure when I got into my slacker mode, they’re

like, that’s not you. Snap out of it. You know, in science class, if I wasn’t doing

well, Mama [Busara] would be like no, that’s unacceptable and I’m not gonna

accept it until you do it right. And they always had such expectation of greatness
so they always made sure that we produced greatness (Personal Interview, 2004).

She further explicated:

So no, the fact that Mama [Busara] cared, and the fact that I went over to her
house and spent the night and, you know, I hung out with her kids, and she
considered me to be her daughter. You know, really made her invested in my

128

education, and my teachers were invested, and Baba Mwandu, my history teacher
was, you know, really invested and really cared about us succeeding. So that
definitely, that definitely had a great impact on my education. So I don’t know. I
just get into these modes, and it’s like I don’t really feel like doing that and now
that I’m older, I push myself because I expect greatness for myself (Personal
Interview, 2004).

Nina demonstrated that she had internalized her teachers’ expectation for her. Buying
into and trusting her teachers’ perception of her, she began to demand the same level of
performance for herself. In Afiikan traditional culture the community is central to the
formation of the individual’s identity and perception of self (Tedla, 1995).

Fundamental to nation-building is creating a generation of leaders capable of
instituting self-determination and agency. The participants related how their experiences
at the FS/MGPA reflected this goal. They shared how teachers had high expectations for
them and were constantly reinforcing those expectations through their investment of time,
love, and attention. The participants viewed the teachers like their own parents, often
spending time with them and their families outside of the school setting. According to
the participants, the teachers believed in them and their abilities for achieving
“greatness.”

The Shule sought to provide an education that would cultivate the “giftedness” of
every Afiikan child within the Shule community for the purpose of creating leaders for
the Afrikan nation. Proponents of an Afiikan centered education believe that critical and
creative thinking is a necessary component of the educational experience (Hilliard III,
1997; Akoto, 1992; Lee, 1992).

And because I was at this school I was able to look critically at things that were

around me
-- Naimah

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Higher Order Thinking. The latest trend in education has been promoting a
notion of creating a generation of higher order thinkers (Ennis, 1987). However, the
teachers at Faizah Shule have understood that higher order thinking was an essential tool
for the reconstruction of the Afiikan world.

Our children’s commitment to this struggle and to the culture and ideology can

only come through the exercise of their individual thought processes: that is,

through the knowledge and discovery of historical truths; through comparison;
hypothesizing and testing through debate, trial and application; through analysis
and synthesis; through creative and critical thinking; through problem resolution

processes; and through final evaluation and decision making (Akoto, 1992,

p.116).

The Shule’s purpose was “to develop strategic thinking based on past and present
successes and creative possibilities for the future” (Parent Handbook, 1999, p. 4). This
strategic thinking must proceed fiom a reciprocal relationship between teacher and
students, in which the teacher is student and the students are teachers. This thinking
entails examining phenomena utilizing both critical and creative skills. Akoto asserts that
the “objective of creative/critical thinking skills is to equip the student with the ability to
be discerning and analytical, but insightful, intuitive and imaginative as well” (1992, p.
161)

One aspect of the Afiikan centered education provided by the Shule was in
exposing Eurocentric mythology and the fabrication of “truth” as taught from a
Eurocentric world-view and viewing history from an Afrikan centered location (Ani,
1994; Asante, 1992). When Kamau related his experience at the Shule, he shared that
History was one of the courses that demanded a critical analysis:

[T]here were things in European culture from a historical standpoint that are

mistruths I am sure in some cases. Like the biggest thing that stands out to me is

everybody and their mommas now know that Christopher Columbus did not

discover America; why haven’t the history books changed? How can you
discover a place where there are people? So I think from a historical standpoint

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we were just. . .taking different angles at looking at things (Personal Interview,
2004).

Kamau further expounded that the teachers, through critical analysis required a more
in-depth examination of Afrikan historical events. For instance in studying the Maafa
(the Afrikan Holocaust of slavery), Kamau understood that his analysis proceeded from
an Afrikan worldview, which is different fiom a Eurocentric worldview. He offered that
the Afrikan worldview teaches circular or relational thinking, that is, “from a cause and
effect” perspective; “everything that is old is new.” The “European culture teaches linear
thinking . . . . Do this and do this later and just keep going”. Kamau explains:
Somethingsaremorecritical . . . .Andwhenltalktoallofmyotherfiiendswho
didn’t attend Afiican-centered schools, they didn’t talk about nothing about black
folks. And what I mean by that . . . of course, you had your slave trade. Before
the slave trade, [those] people were doing something. So what were they doing?
Let’s go and find out . . . we looked more in-depth into that part of it. The
European settlers went over and grabbed some black folks and brought them here,
and they worked for 400 years, and then they set them free. Okay . . . . I mean, to
hear it like that, it was nothing. Let’s look at that some more. People got killed.
They sank in ships. Four hundred million Afiicans died, that is not lightweight

stuff. So it was a more critical look into some things and just more expanded
horizon of African people (Personal Interview, 2004).

Instructions were often given and reinforced through applications. In the Afrikan
centered education, higher order thinking was cultivated by engaging the students in
applications of the knowledge imparted. The teachers understood that students needed to
problem-solve through identification of the problem, gathering of important facts,
contextualizing, reflection, and decision making (Geertsen, 2003; Akoto, 1992). Nina
relates an experience in an algebra class. She noted that the teachers designed a project
that addressed the various learning styles of the student, while, demanding a critical

analysis of the consequences of particular choices. These lessons were built upon the

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Afiikan cultural emphasis on the interdependency of all things (T edla, 1995). Nina
explains it this way:

So just reading it in a book doesn’t really help me [to understand] so you know,
that’s a part of the Afiican centered curriculum in the class incorporating things in
the class.. .that’ll help each child in their particular learning style . . . . Like she
[the mwalirnu] had us build this house so that we could apply the things that we
were learning instead of just arbitrarily looking at them on paper . . . . So we had
to incorporate certain angles in the house and do certain things from the algebra
class we were learning. And we also had to talk about the materials that we’d be
using and where we would get them from and where we’d build it and what
would happen to our environment if we put an house there . . . so not just, oh,
I’m [going to] go . . . clear [these] acres and acres of land of all these trees and
where all these animals live. What’s [going to] happen to that environment once I
put my house there and what am I going to be changing about it and what other
life forms am I [going to] be displacing once I put my house there. And how am I
going to be able to live harmoniously because we are the dominant life form but
all the other animals have just as much of a right to live here as . . . . Everybody
else. [T]hat’s part of the African centered idea that, you know, they gave us. It’s,
yes, we’re the dominant life form and you know, we’re drinking beings and we
seem to run off more than just instinct. But that doesn’t give us any more right to
be here than anything else (Personal Interview, 2004).

The acquisition of higher order thinking skills was perceived as a valuable
outcome of the Afrikan centered educational experience. The participants in the study
expressed their experiences in obtaining these skills through projects and frames of
reference. The young people stressed the importance of examining phenomena fiom an
Afrikan centered perspective, which is aligned with their cultural and historical
continuum. In this regard, they were also taught to perceive themselves as the leaders of
nations and responsible for maintaining harmony with all of creation.

The Shule provided an educational experience that cultivated the principles of
self-advocacy, the third outcome that arose from the data analysis. Creating leaders, for
the Shule meant that students needed to understand how to practice social and political
activism as well as student agency.

Educational experience that cultivated the principles of self-advocacy

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-they were training us to be activists from the very beginning, and we always felt

empowered to act and to actually change circumstances.

---Naimah

There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education either

fimctions as an instrument that is used to facilitate the integration of the younger

generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or
it becomes “the practice of freedom,” the means by which men and women deal
critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the

transformation of their world (Shaull, 1970, p.34).

Activism. Ensuring the goal of nation building requires that the next generation is
actively seeking to establish and maintain the nation-state. The CIBI position statement
clearly states that an Afiikan centered education “prepares Afiikans for self-reliance,
nation maintenance, and nation management in every regard” (CIBI, 2005). Also, in the
value system of the Nguzo Saba, Nia is the sixth principle and this principle promotes the
concept of collective purpose and responsibility.

While attending the F aizah Shule, the participants spoke of regularly being
engaged in activities that developed their confidence in their abilities to affect society and
history through activism. Activism as defined by Wordnet, “is a policy of taking direct
and militant action to achieve a political or social goal” (W ordnet, 2006). For the
participants, activism was a very key component of their experience. They expressed
their memories of going to events and learning that they had the ability to impact society.
Naimah’s articulation most poignantly denotes the collective experience of the
participants:

But we always had to understand what black people were doing at the time; where

were people at this time? How did these events affect black people? I think that

probably more than anything else that is what made us an Afiican centered
school. We were always looking at current events, what was going on. I always
remember writing letters and campaigning to free Nelson Mandela. Whatever

was going on in politics we knew about [it]. And we didn’t just know about [it]
but we were doing something about it however we could at that age . . . they were

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training us to be activists fiom the very beginning and we always felt empowered
to act and to actually change circumstances. So when he was freed, we felt like
we had done something like we had ownership and we had participated in a way.
So in that sense activism was just instilled in us. So I think that’s why I feel so
committed to serving a cause greater than myselfbecause I feel like I can
(Personal Interview, 2004).

When asked how many students in her graduating class did she considered to be
activists, Naimah responded, “I would say about three out of seven” (N aimah). This may
be an indication that even though all the students were exposed to aspects of activism, not
all were perceived as having internalized the ideology of the experiences. On the other
hand, participants may practice activism in less obvious ways, such as through
volunteerism.

Parents also became activist. One reason for this transformation was because they
transported the students to the rallies, protest events, marches, and sit-ins that exposed
them to the political clout of grassroots efforts. Another reason was that they also were
learning how to be activists right along with the children. These events were often not
planned in advance, but as the need arose in the community, the Shule was bound by its
philosophy of community to meet the call.

Adofo described one event in which students at the F aizah Shule participated in a
protest at a major university in Michigan. Adofo stated that “at [name of the university],
they had a problem when some students locked themselves in the office as [a form of]
protest . . . . I forgot the actual [reason why], because I was young.” When asked if the
protest was attributed to Affirmative Action, he responded:

No, it wasn’t affirmative action. It was some students, they were having a

problem. One year, they had some students protesting the way the [name of the

university] was handling some business. I can’t remember actually the situation . .

. . I was going through my rites of passage, too, at the time. I was in 9th grade.

And they loaded us on the bus and we went out there and we demonstrated. We
drilled and we said pledges and we were basically supporting the people who

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were boycotting the school. But the people there were looking like these are kids
from [Westville] and they’re well disciplined. Well disciplined. We were there to
support the people . . . . It was all over the news (Personal Interview, 2005).

Adofo continued explaining that they were transported to the university by the parents
through carpools:

It really wasn’t anything planned. It was last minute. The students [at the
university had] just graduated fi'om the Shule . . . and they came back [telling of
the organized protest] . . . and then Mama Taraji and other teachers decided that
we should go out there. We should be seen, we should show our support . . .
because it was only about five students actually protesting . . . . And for us to E
come out there, last minute and show our support, they’re like well, it’s bigger
than the school now. So they got the attention they needed. And when the
community sees something that needs to be done, they do it . . . . You need to see !
our face, to see we’re not playing (Personal Interview, 2005).

 

Adofo also stressed that the Shule supported major candidates with elections
within the community. However, for Adofo, activism was not only demonstrated through
their political activism but also through social activism which encompassed the
community involvement of their performance group, which was the Pyramid
Performance Troupe. He described their activities:

We were drumming and dancing all the time. We would go out in Black History

month and we play for that all the time. We’d go to every school in [W estville]

just about, dnrrn and dance and explain the stories behind African drum and

dance. We put on performances all the time at [name of university] State
(Personal Interview, 2005).

The Shule’s philosophy maintained the importance of exposing Afrikan American
young people to community role models “who were positive and fair and consistent in
their behavior,” and so students were provided the opportunities to be active with other
activists of the community. So not only were the young people engaged in activism, but
they were exposed to role models of activism. Most importantly, when alumni of the
Shule were actively engaged in protest for change, the Shule community was compelled

to become a part of that protest through active support and voice.

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Student activism was critical to nation building. A key component of “nation
maintenance” is producing leadership for the nation and the world. For the Shule, student
agency in the form of leadership began within the environment of the Shule community.

[The tribunal] just kind of evolved, it just kind of happened. It was like that was

the cool thing to take care of your school and be responsible.

--Kamau

Student Agency. Black Nationalism and Pan Afiikan ideologies undergird the

educational philosophy at Faizah Shule and permeate the curriculum, the pedagogy and

 

H".

the activities of the school. Black Nationalism and Pan Afiikan ideologies promote self-
determination, self-respect and self-efficacy for Afiikan people. Agency or
instrumentality is the energy that accomplishes the goals of this ideology. When sharing
their experiences of attending an Afiikan centered school, the participants recollected
how they were encouraged to practice student agency. One way in which agency was
manifested was in taking responsibility for their learning. Kamau explained how and
why he perceived this agency in learning was present:

Another thing that was interesting was [that] we taught ourselves. And what I

mean . . . there was definitely instruction. Like the principal of the school she

taught at Wayne State, and we had straight formal instruction . . . . But what I
mean by we taught ourselves, when I came in [enrolled into the Shule] it was kind
of a group [of us] that we all just jelled together and went through this whole
thing [the Shule experience]. And the school grew with us . . . . But we took our
education in our own hands. We were always learning, everything was learning.
It wasn’t like I had to sit [and say] I am in math now. Everything was intertwined
and interrelated (Personal Interview, 2004).

Another participant pointed out how the Director of the Shule would allow the students to
select topics of interest for instructions. It was obvious that the curriculum format was
not carved in stone, but the students could make requests for various educational

experiences and when possible, their requests were fulfilled.

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For instance, Mumbi shared:

We told her [Mama Taraji] what we wanted and when we brought that to her, she
made it possible. We had a hip-hop class. We had a chess class, you know,
people whojustwantedto do extramath. Wehadextramath. Thehardestthing
was that we always learned Kiswahili and we brought it to her that we wanted to
learn another language like French and Spanish, she made that possible too
(Personal Interview, 2005).

Several participants in the first graduating class recalled how the impact of
converting into a charter school and accepting a different clientele of students was the
impetus for executing leadership strategies as they attempted to maintain a modicum of
order within the school environment. The senior class formed a tribunal, which was the
governing body for the students. Kamau recounts the events, ‘er put together what was
called a tribunal. And it was basically students taking care of students.”

[The tribunal] just kind of evolved, it just kind of happened. It was like that was
the cool thing to take care of your school and be responsible. It eventually
became the higher grades. Before it wasn’t an official thing, it just happened.
Because everybody was so close we just kind of took responsibility for everything
and everybody, naturally. So over time as the school got a little size to it, it was
like, hey, this is a good thing. Let’s make it something official and it was more.
Because it wasn’t like you were elected so to speak, it was just a natural
progression, you just kind of . . . stepped into place somehow. And it worked . . .
. It just kind of evolved, it just kind of happened. It was like that was the cool
thing to take care of your school and be responsible. Then later on . . . the school,
everybody developed the rites of passage program. And the people who were the
leaders of that [rites-of-passage] became those heads of the tribunal (Personal
Interview, 2004).

When asked if the tribunal made decisions for punishment of students, his response was:

If somebody would do something stupid, we thought of their punishment because
it was our school and . . . just like you wouldn't let anybody into your home act up
at your house, you don’t let anybody act up at your school . . . . Fortunately, we
didn’t have to do it a lot because the attitude was “we ain't having it, don’t do
that!” In the school the most important thing to you is your peers. What your
friends think. We [weren’t] having the crap (Personal Interview, 2004).

One particular instance he recalled was when the tribunal decided that a student should

not continue in the school:

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In cases where people did do stuff, I mean it came down to a situation and I don’t
remember exactly what it was about. But we had to decide whether someone was
going to continue to go to the school. And they didn’t. Because they didn’t want
to respect what was going on. They just wanted to rant and rave and be out here
all wild. And it’s like okay for the greater good of the community of the school
and for our environment you can’t continue on, you have got to go (Personal
Interview, 2004).

When asked if the tribunal had the authority to make decisions independent of the F aizah
Shule staff, he explained:
When it came to stuff that big, it wasn’t like we could just make that decision and
that was it, we had input. It was like we really feel that this person — and people
got chances. It wasn't like we said, we don’t want him to go to school here no
more. Because it was never like someone is un-cool they can’t be here. It was

some serious allegations of something that was done or whatever (Personal
Interview, 2004).

The influence of the tribunal became most evident in day-to-day regulations of their
peers, particularly with school dress. Kamau related, “In uniforms that is when the whole
tribunal piece came into effect. You walked around checking people, tuck your shirt in . .
. Tie your shoes up. Don't walk around here all sloppy.”

The participants in this study considered the experience at F aizah Shule as
fostering student agency to promote self-determination, self-respect and self-advocacy.
These outcomes align with the goals of Afrikan-centered educational experience as
articulated in the educational philosophy of F aizah Shule.

The fourth outcome which came forth from the data analysis is the Shule provided
an educational experience for young people that developed their personhood. According
to traditional Afiikan culture, the family and community are responsible for assisting
members through life’s transitions, which is the process of becoming a person.
Fundamental to the evolutionary process of becoming a person is spirituality, the rites-of-

passage, and the acquisition of life values.

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Educational experience that developed their personhood

There is nothing about any traditional Afiikan society that comes to mind to me,

that isn’t or doesn’t have a very strong God or Spirit-center, very strong.

--Asma

Spirituality. The staff of F S/MGPA strongly emphasizes the importance of
spirituality in the holistic educational experience of Afrikan American young people.
The CIBI position statement posits that the Afrikan centered educational experience
“acknowledges Afiikan spirituality as an essential aspect of our uniqueness as a people
and makes it an instrument of our liberation” (2005, p. 6-7). The ideology of spirituality
at the FS/MGPA aligned with CIBI and the concept as put forth by Akoto (1992) in his
work Nationbuilding:

Spirituality in the reconstructed and revitalized cosmology of the Afiikan

nationality must take its impetus and substance fiom the traditional spiritual

formations of Afiika . . . . The essential substance and fundamental assumptions,
however, must be at the heart of the spiritual system. Principal among those
fundamentals are: everyone has a direct linkage to the creator, each must find
his/her own path; our ancestors dwell among us and are available to us; that
spiritual awareness; connectedness is a way of life to be celebrated daily in a
variety of forms; and the strength of the national collective grows out of its
spiritual foundations (pp. 30-31).

Participants shared how they experienced spirituality in this Afiikan centered
environment. Kamau stressed that spirituality was not defined for you by the school, but
that you were exposed to the concept of respecting the Creator. Kamau explained that
when you talk about “Spirituality, you are talking about the whole person.” He explained
that the concept of spirituality at the Shule was not based on a particular organized
religion because you had families of many different faiths attending the Shule.

[I]t wasn’t based in the organized religion; it was about respecting the creator.

Part of that is political you don’t want to offend people, but at the end of the day

that’s what it is all about anyway, at least in my thinking, respecting the creator
by whatever name you want to call him . . . . So spirituality was addressed like

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that because that is part of nurtming the person. But it was never defined for you
(Personal Interview, 2004).

Ancestor veneration, which is a ceremony in which the ancestors are remembered
for their efforts, struggles, and achievements in setting the stage for those who follow
them, is often misunderstood by Western scholars. Afiikans have been wrongly accused
of worshipping their ancestors through these ceremonies. Tedla (1995) explicates,
“Afiicans do not worship their ancestors . . . since departed relatives are believed to
continue to live, they are remembered at numerous events through the act of libation and
in prayers for blessings, guidance, and strength” (p.22). She clarifies that this is
veneration not worship.

Kamau gives his understanding of ancestor veneration, which he experienced at
the F S/MGPA:

Ancestors were a big part of things. And it wasn’t — I have heard a lot of people

say, well, you’re worshiping dead people. No, it wasn’t that. It’s showing respect

to those who were before you, and that’s it. I have seen in my lifetime a lot of
people get — and this is where I am different — get really confused with that whole
piece. It is like, well, that’s false worship and all of that other stuff. It is not
about that. Because when my mother passes one day, I am going to sit and think
about my momma and all of the things that she did for me, and I am going to talk
about it to somebody. And that is all it was. [It is] paying respect to the people

who did it before you, the same way when you think about your grandmother
(Personal Interview, 2004).

Asma explained that the Afrikan centered educational experience had a strong
spiritual component. Through this experience, she learned to acknowledge that there was
something bigger than she, and this something or someone deserved to be respected as
the Creator. She also recognized that her gifts and talents were divinely given and that
she should be thankful to God for them. She shared her perspective on spirituality within

the Afiikan centered school:

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I.

We said praise (prayers) everyday before we ate our food. There was a strong
spiritual element; you know libations before any activity or ceremony . . . .
[Giving recognition] that there was something even bigger and greater than you.
You had a responsibility to pray in your own faith and to be thankful. Which is
also something that “faith” is essentially African. There is nothing about any
traditional Afiican society that comes to mind to me, that isn’t or doesn’t have a
very strong God or Spirit-center, very strong. Everything comes out of that, if
you have a gift, you’re intellectual or something in particular, you know that’s
your purpose. But this purpose is a natural purpose. We don’t give birth to
ourselves, and think that, you know, we just sort of make up the idea. But it’s a
process. For me, its sort of osmosis for us as human beings, I mean, how does our
God work? He’s organized and planned and purposeful and intelligent and
purposed in the way it is meant to work. That’s God (Personal Interview, 2004).

Heimis shared his thoughts on the concept of spirituality; defining spiritual as

 

being both human and natural. He also noted in accordance with Afrikan thoughts on
spirituality that humans are not separate entities of spirit. Afiikan traditional religion
believes that humans are body, soul, and spirit united. Heimis explained further:

Spirituality is fun. Spirituality is human, nature. I don’t care what you believe in
. . . . I don’t think it is a separate entity. We’re not separate entities, we’re not . . .
. I’m not [Heimis] and then spiritual [Heimis]. I’m [Heimis] right here talking to
you from body, mind and soul. That’s who I am. I’m all; I’m all at that moment.
Just like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one team, with three aspects but one
team. I’m one thing and that’s how life is, you don’t go to school as a person and
then go home as a spirit. You don’t, I mean, I’m adult so I can talk about it, you
don’t have sex as a human body and then have a spirit. You’re a spirit in a human
body having sex and that’s what you are and then that’s taught to not be separate
(Personal Interview, 2005).

He also demonstrated his understanding of the potency of Afiikan spirituality:

We had to be spiritual to take crap from a whip; you had to be spiritual if your
daddy is hanging from a tree, that forbidden fi'uit. You have to be, you know. . . .
So that’s just the way I feel (Personal Interview, 2005).

Adofo shared his experience with spirituality through both the F S/MGPA and the
influence of his parents:

Well, if you go to ancient Africa, the way their religion is spiritual. The things

they did were spiritual. The gods, the kings, the rulers who ruled were viewed as

gods. People, like they were very spiritual, like incense. Everything has
meaning. My mom is a very spiritual person . . . . My father [believes that]

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certain incense, certain oils brings certain vibes. And certain vibes you let off are
how people, how people deal with you. And being spiritual . . . my parents
believe that there’s always someone looking over you. [If] my father had a bad
day, he’d say I must’ve disappointed the ancestors. [If] my father had a good day,
the ancestors are looking out for me. The ancestors [have] been good. He calls
them ancestors . . . . That goes back to ancient Afiica (Personal Interview, 2005).

The participants in the study recognized the importance of spirituality within the
framework of the Afrikan centered education. They articulated the necessity of
acknowledging the Creator as a power greater than themselves. It seemed apparent that
the emphasis on spirituality within FS/MGPA was an extension of the significance of
spirituality within the home environments. As they expressed their experiences on
spirituality, the young people infused their narratives with indicators of heir parent’s
religious influence.

For Afiikans, spirituality was the essence of human existence within the material
world. Afrikan cosmology maintains that spirits enter the material world as babies and
through family and community are developed into personhood. This human development
is acknowledged and advanced through rituals, ceremonies and celebrations of transitions
of life called rites-of-passage. The Shule understood the importance of life’s transitions
and incorporated the rites-of-passage within their students’ educational experience.

Well, rites-of-passage is. . .a basic meaning fiom my understanding. . .it’s not

really a rites-of-passage of the body, it’s really of the mind.

- Heimis

Rites-of-Passage. According to the CIBI’s position statement, one objective of an
Afiikan centered education is to:

ensure that the historic role and fimction of the customs, traditions, rituals, and

ceremonies — that have protected and preserved our culture; facilitated our

spiritual expression; ensured harmony in our social relations; prepared our people
to meet their responsibilities as adult members of our culture; and sustained the

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continuity of Afiikan life over successive generation — are understood and made
relevant to the challenges that confront us in our time (CIBI, 2005, p. 6-7).

In accordance with this statement, the Shule believes that young people must be taught
their roles in society for the reclamation and restructuring of Afrikan greatness, and the
Shule community has a responsibility to impart that knowledge to the students. One
vehicle that the Shule has utilized to integrate this ideology into the educational
experience of its students has been through the rites-of-passage program.

Participants in this study described their rites-of-passage experience. They spoke
of experiencing two rites-of-passage ceremonies dtuing their educational career at the
F S/MGPA. The first rites-of-passage was experienced around the eighth grade and was
considered by the young people to be the adult rites. The second rites-of-passage
program was around the ages of 14 to 16 years old and was called the Baba or Mama
rites. Drawing upon and adapting the traditions of Afrikan cultural rituals, the teachers,
parents, and community members created a rites-of-passage program specific to the needs
of these young men and women.

According to the participants, the first rites-of-passage was a week long
experience for both the males and females students. Naimah provided an overview of the
first rites-of-passage program for the girls:

the rites of passage program [was performed] when we were 12 and [when] we

were about to graduate [from high school], there were certain rituals and

procedures that were integrated into our curriculum as well as after school
programs, as well as assignments and tasks that we had to perform at home with
our mothers at the time, for the girls it was our mothers. So whether it was an
assignment in terms of keeping our rooms clean or interviewing an elder in our
family, the assignment that was going on at school, it related directly to what was

going on at home (Personal Interview, 2005).

According to the participants, entering into puberty was not a precursor to this

experience, it was simply an experience that you had when the elders felt that you were

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ready. Nina explained this process, “So when you get to the prep school, you go through
your first rites . . . and it’s supposed to bring you into young womanhood . . . and the
mamas start to . . . cultivate the woman in you, instead of the little girl . . . if they feel that
you’re ready.”

Heimis recounted his thoughts on the rites-of-passage experience, “People tend to
think it’s dealing with the body when you’re going through puberty and things like that,
but one thing the Shule always reflect was when you were mentally ready.” Heimis
mentioned that some students had been dropped from the rites-of-passage lines if they
were perceived as not mentally ready to go through the experience. Heimis stressed, “It’s
the transformation from boyhood to manhood. You don’t do rites-of-passage over . . .
though it might be a six month passage or a two month passage . . . it is preparation for
manhood.” He also pointed out that “in the rites-of-passage, you’ve got to be taught that
there are consequences for everything. And that there are things that you do now that
leads up to what will happen to you later.”

Heimis further stated that this experience was really about resocialization, “It’s a
re-socialization indeed. In fact, [that’s] one of the biggest parts of it; big because we
learn through socialization . . . . Oh yea, it’s a re—socialization . . . It’s a rethinking.”
Heimis stated that during the rites-of-passage program, the young men were involved in
both physical and mental activities.

When the rites-of-passage program was first developed, it was not a very
elaborate program for the students. The initiation usually only lasted a week, but as the
program continued through the years, it was refined and elaborated into several months.
Naimah acknowledged that “as the years went on, it became much more sophisticated

and . . . the preparation for the rites-of-passage starts months, months ahead of time.”

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Although, both males and females reported experiencing two rites-of-passages, the
second rites-of—passage, which was experienced in high school, was articulated upon with
greater frequency by both groups of participants.

During the latter rites-of-passage program, the males and females experienced this
ritual in some very different ways. The males experienced separation fiom the
community by being taken on a field trip for wilderness training. The male elders,
consisting of teachers, parents, and community persons, prepared and accompanied the
young men who were between the ages of 14 and 17 on a “camping” trip. At this
gathering, which lasted for a week, the young men were taken through a rigorous
program of values impartation, strength training, relationship building, bonding, and
explication of the expectations and objectives of manhood (i.e., sexuality, fatherhood,
provider, and community leader).

Female students experienced a symbolic seclusion. In most cases, the young
women were not taken on retreats away from the community, but were required to
participate in a “communication fast.” The young women were restricted from speaking
with their fathers and brothers during this time. Their time was spent in the presence of
their mothers and female elders where they received instructions, were counseled, and
were assigned tasks. As the program evolved and became “more sophisticated,”
according to Naimah, female participants engaged in hiking trips and formed drill teams
to establish discipline.

Both male and female participants were explicit about the lessons learned through
their rites-of-passage experiences. Asma expressed that through this experience, she was
able to link her role and place in the genesis of civilization, which is often negated in the

European ethos. She also pointed out that the rites-of-passage experience was

145

 

instrumental to her ascertaining an understanding of her womanhood and sexuality.
While attending a major university, she noticed that young Afrikan American women
were allowing themselves to be exploited as they attempted to enter into and maintain
relationships with a scarce supply of Afiikan American men. Asma adamantly refused to

get caught up in that game and explained that her attitude was shaped by her rites-of-

 

passage experience. “To a large extent . . . . How you think about desire, yourself as a
woman, as an Afiikan American woman.” She further expounded, “You know, we heard r~
a lot about being the mother of civilization, coveting the Black woman’s womb, L

everything that exists in the universe exists inside of you. Your womb is a microcosm for
the entire universe.” She affirmed that the rites-of-passage experience just helped her to
perceive herself as valuable, and she resolved not to allow herself to be exploited.

Kamau and his brother, Heimis revealed that while going through their rites-of-
passage program, they were the leaders of their groups. The young men were initiated
into the Akoben Sankofa Wanior Society and were considered to be young warriors. In
this group, they learned “the responsibilities of being a warrior” and Heimis continues,
“You learn the responsibilities that a man is generally supposed to have to at least be able
to survive.” Kamau added that the experience of accepting and operating as a leader in
the rites-of-passage group led to initiating leadership in the formulation of a student
tribunal to regulate and govern student behavior.

When asked if understanding sexuality was a part of the rites-of-passage training,
Heimis acknowledged that they were instructed about their sexuality. He stated that the
position taken on explaining sexuality was “You make sure you understand the
consequences, the responsibilities of what happens, statistically why it happens, when

and where . . . . You keep going with it, and you have rap sessions about it.”

146

Part of the rites-of-passage is to teach young people the importance of
community. The participants spoke about the ways the rites-of-passage program enables
the students to bond together as community. Nina shared how part of the program was to
teach young woman to appreciate other young women. In Western culture, women tend
to objectify each other and view other women as threats (hooks, 1993). Nina explained
that “so often when we get to a certain point, its like women become our enemies, and
it’s about trying to dispel that and make us accept one another as our fiiends.” “Because
we share some experiences, so women shouldn’t be your enemies,” she continued, “so
they want us to be strong women; they want us to be sisters.”

Heimis highlighted this effort of bonding and appreciating the collective also:

For those [that] I went through [the rites-of-passage with] ranged like fiom, I

believe the youngest one I’m sure, from 14 to about 17 [years old]. Then again,

that number gives you a broad spectrum of people, different minds, different
angles . . . and it is sorta like [family]. It builds a sense of unity because this is
one . . . group . . . . All different walks of life, different shades, different growth,

different financial everything and you become on one accord. Then you have a
line, a line of brothers who are supposed to be in sync (Personal Interview, 2005).

Once the participants have successfully completed the program, a celebration is
held in their honor, separately for males and females. Same sex family members,
teachers, staff, and elders in the community gather in ceremony to celebrate the
incorporation of the person into the community. It announces the symbolic resurrection
of the participant as a new person, an adult who now has all the privileges and
responsibilities bestowed on adulthood. In the Baba and Mama rites-of—passage, this
person is now referred to as Mama or Baba and is respected as such.

Overall the participants described their rites-of-passage experience as a positive
event in their lives. All of them clearly articulated the objective of the program as a

transforrnative event in which they would enter as a child and emerge from it as an adult

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person. However, in this study some of the male participants seemed skeptical to the
mystical powers of the transformation into manhood. Kamau opined that “rites-of-
passage was just a formalized situation . . . of showing young men and young women
what being responsible and being adults is . . . . True rites-of-passage is growing up,
period!”

Keeping in line with the concept of nation-building and the cultural focus of
F S/MGPA, the rites-of-passage provided the venue to pass on the customs, traditions,
rituals, and ceremonies to Afrikan American young people. The goal of this cultural
impartation is to transform non-persons into persons and to incorporate them into the Pan
Afiikan community in an effort to maintain and perpetuate the liberation of Afrikan
people on the Continent and the Diaspora.

In the development of personhood through the rites-of-passage and the Afrikan
centered educational experience, life values are imparted to the students. The values of
the Nguzo Saba and Maat are integrated into the educational experiences of the students
and often were not specifically articulated but were modeled through daily interactions

and rituals.

And sometimes when people hear Nguzo Saba they hear certain things; they think

of these very constructed definitions . . . . But it’s so much more than that,
especially when you accept them into your life and into the basis for the way that
you live.

---Nina

Life Values. In Afrikan traditional culture, the goal of education was social with a
mission of developing personhood. The family and community, collectively imparted
values to its members that would facilitate the development of virtue and character in

persons who would perpetuate righteousness, harmony, truth, justice, order, reciprocity,

148

and balance. This process of education is life-long because a person is considered to
always be in the process of becoming a person. In the community of the F aizah Shule,
the Nguzo Saba and the principles of Maat are incorporated into the day-to-day human
interactions within the school environment. The seven principles of the Nguzo Saba are
recited in song at the end of each day and oftentimes, monthly “themes” based upon these
principles are taught.

The participants were intensely aware of the principles of life which guided their
human interactions with members of the community. These principles were so
internalized that the participants, although mentioning the system of values, often did not
compartrnentalize the values into separate parts but spoke of them holistically. They
understood them to be so interrelated and interwoven that they were fundamental to their
life choices. Participants cited how values learned fi'om their educational experience at
the Afiikan centered school were manifested in their lives, particularly once they left the
environment.

Several of the participants graduated from the Shule and began their pursuit of
higher education at predominately white institutions. The following are accounts of their
experience at the higher education institution and the impact of their Afrikan centered
education upon that experience. Naimah asserted that because of her experience at the
Shule, she entered the university expecting to take on a leadership role:

So when I went to the [name of University], it was my duty to assume a position

of leadership whether that be through the Black Student Union or to create

another organization that was geared toward Afiican American women, Caucus of
the Sister. It was just somebody has got do it, and I have got to be the one to step

up to the plate or it won‘t get done. And if it does get done, it’s not going to get
done right. So I just have to do it myself (Personal Interview, 2004).

149

While attending a predominately white institution, Kamau decided that he would
pledge a Black Greek Fraternity. To some, including myself, this may seem initially to
be a contradiction of Afiikan centered values. Kamau presented the following rationale
for joining the fraternity. First, he attributed his educational experience at the Shule with
influencing that decision. He stated, “Yes, [the Shule influenced this decision] when you
think about it from a nation-building standpoint.” He further explained, “For one it was
about brotherhood, about positivity. It was about connecting, not so much networking,
but literally connecting with a band of people that are together for a reason. So from an
Afrocentric standpoint, I think that’s where that came into play.” Kamau recognized that
joining a Greek fraternity raised issues in the minds of some proponents of Afrikan
centered thought:

On the flipside of that a lot of Afiican-centered people, quote unquote, had a
problem with it. Like why do you want to join a Greek - da da da? And that’s
where again, that whole thing of wearing it on your sleeve versus it being internal,
[that’s] what you are . . . that’s where those things differ . . . . if you thought about
it, Afiican American people got together and formed these organizations the same
way that the school came together. It was unifying us and it was keeping
something that we can hold on to that’s ours, gives us identity and bonding
together as one. That’s what that was about. It just happened to be named with
Greek letters because we didn’t have [anything] else. It wasn’t —I am not a
Greek, Greek organizations don’t talk nothing about being Greek. We just got
Greek letters as the name. If you said it in Swahili would that help you? Would
that make it Afrocentric for you? Mama [Taraji] always said and this always
stuck with me is that we are a new African people; she said that all of the time.
We are a new African people (Personal Interview, 2004).

Asma perceived an Afiikan centered education as a lifestyle, not just a teaching
strategy. She spoke of the strategies that were implemented to impart values within the
students at Faizah Shule. Also, she noted that she considered the Nguzo Saba to be an

appropriate values system for imparting virtue and character within the students. Asma

150

 

gives an account of the values impartation, “Afiikan centered education is not a way of
teaching; it is a way of life.” She explained:

The way you think . . . the way you breathe. It is a way in which you engage the
world, the way in which you think about yourself and how you apply that
conception to your children . . . . As a child carrying that idea into adulthood is
the sort of thing that I was talking about, just being able to maintain my basic
dignity. Because being respected and being respectable was more important to
me than being popular (Personal Interview, 2004).

Asma offered more insight into the internalization of the values at F aizah Shule:

One of the really wonderful dynamics about the Shule was that it was very firmly
rooted in principle, and the principles utilize the Nguzo Saba. A lot of people like
to associate that with Kwanzaa, at a particular time of the year, particular days . . .
really we were taught to perceive that these were the seven principles that
Blackness [and were] actually founded on the Nguzo Saba . . . so we learn Nguzo
Saba, it wasn’t just umoja-unity, kujichagulia focus on me and myself . . .
kujichagulia: define ourselves, speak for ourselves, create for ourselves rather
than being named, defined and spoken for by others as Maulana Karenga has both
outlined and designed in a much more comprehensive way. So Kuumba to leave
our environment more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it, that’s what we
are responsible for doing. So when we were walking around in our black sole
shoes and scuffing up the floor . . . in morning assembly, we had to stand in
“angulia”, [which was about] discipline . . . . We might be standing there for a
half hour in angulia and you better not [talk] while Mama [Taraji] is talking. And
there is still something about that woman’s voice that just sort of calls you to
attention. But very much like a mother “What are you children doing leaving
these scuff marks all over the floor?” 80 we had to go around in a very simple
motion where we had to use the bottom of our shoes, so it wouldn’t scuff up some
more. What we couldn’t get up, she wouldn’t fret about the few that were left.
But it was like, they took complete ownership of everything relating to us
(Personal Interview, 2004).

Asma continued to expound on one of the values of Nguzo Saba, which enforce the
concept of collectivity and taking on your brother’s problems as your problem. Uj ima,
collective work and responsibility is the principle of Nguzo Saba emanating from the
concept of community:
But it is very interesting about this idea that everybody will take responsibility for
each other because if anybody is misbehaving than everybody gets in trouble.

That was how we learned. We had to chant when we would drill “Are you your
brother’s keeper?” or “Are you your sister’s keeper?” and the answer was “No, I

151

am my brother”, “No, I am my sister”. Not that there wasn’t individual
responsibility, but definitely out of that push for individual responsibility came a
larger governing responsibility to something bigger than you. I’m always saying
it started with you, but it always ultimately went to something that was bigger
than you (Personal Interview, 2004).

Heimis did not view this principle favorably. Heimis indicated that he understood
the underlying value of unity the principle promotes, but at the same time he felt that the
principle was taken to the extreme when everyone suffered the consequences of one or
two people’s actions. He offered his perspective:

Promoting unity is the [African] centered thing. Something they used to do. If
one person did [it], everybody did it and that brings the group together and makes
sure you’re whole. And the premise was to teach you to keep your brothers in
line . . . your boy . . . pull his coat tail. That’s excellent! That’s exceptional . . .
but at the same token, if somebody don’t do something and everybody gets sent
home for it, you can keep that (Personal Interview, 2005).

 

Yet another participant, Nina provided her understanding of how she felt that her actions
directly impacted others:

I know that my actions . . . have such a great impact on . . . people. People that I
know who are [going] to be directly affected by it but also people who are going
to be affected by itjust from the residual effects . . . . IfI make a mistake and I do
something and my mom has to . . . say for example, she has to take [Habibah] to
the Shule and it makes her late for work. That throws off what’s going on at the
Shule . . . that throws off their day and it throws off some of the students. The
students can’t get done. So . . . I’m just saying that every action has a reaction and
that’s something that we’re really forced to look at and really understand because
you can’t just go around in the world and decide that you’re [going to] do
something and expect it not . . . to be a consequence for it. So . . . it’s stuff like
that that I picked up from the Shule that has really impacted the way that I live my
life and the way that I view the world. Even . . . some of the world things that’s
going on right now . . . this whole war thing, I don’t feel like anybody’s really
looking at the impact that it’s having on the people . . . who live in these countries
that these armies are just going in and bombing. What about these children and
what about these people (Personal Interview, 2004)?

Mumbi explained how the Nguzo Saba principle of ujirna has been carried over in
the rearing of her children. She hypothesized an incident in which her son, who is three

years old, would have a friend come over to play. Before the friend could leave to go

152

 

 

 

        

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home, Mumbi insisted that she would have him assist her son in cleaning up the play
area. Speaking of her son, anbi explicated, “Sometimes he might have company, I
would tell his friends to clean up. They’re not going to leave my son with all this mess . .
. they’re little, but they help [to] make the mess. [His friend] is going to help clean it up
also.”

Several of the participants in the school were young mothers. Contrary to Western
culture in which fetuses are considered not to be humans and once pregnant, selecting to
give birth or not is a legislative right, Afrikan traditional culture promotes a different
orientation towards life and what is considered the origins of life. Afiikan culture
attributes the source of life to the Creator and understands babies as ancestors coming
back to the earth. Children are considered to be precious and valuable; also they are seen
as spirits that have just departed the Creator and entered into the earth realm (Mbiti,
1970)

In the rites-of-passage program, the young women in this study were taught about
their sexuality and motherhood responsibilities, as well as their roles within the
community. When these young women discovered themselves to be with child, they
made the choice to give birth and raise their children. Pregnancy for them did not mean
that they had made a mistake and now were experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, but
rather that the Creator had given them a gift. Mumbi shared her account of how her
understanding of Afrikan culture regarding children gave her a foundation to make her
decision concerning the pregnancy:

Once you find out you’re pregnant, that’s a live child. That’s a live human being.

That’s a person! That’s Afiican culture . . . that’s a person. Now you might did it

out of wedlock [or] you might not, but it’s still a person, so you keeping that

person because this person can do something that you won’t do, and it could be a
better person than you or anybody else. It is a person. That is the first thing that

153

 

 

 

comes to my mind with him, that he could be [and] do anything, and I wouldn’t
try to discourage him or make him try [to] be something that I want him to be. I
want him to be exactly who he is and what he wants to be . . . . Well, the African
culture always encourages you to have children and make more babies, so our
culture won’t die. Like now, they like to call us the minority, but we are the
majority and I tell you, we like to have kids. Can’t help it! It’s almost like it’s
part of us to be nurturers, to be mothers (Personal Interview, 2005).

Regarding her pregnancy, she acknowledged that he wasn’t a planned pregnancy, but she
explained, “but once I found out I was pregnant, it was nothing nobody was going to tell
me.” Mumbi was optimistic about her future; she didn’t see why her life had to stop
because of her pregnancy. In fact, she planned to go on to college. She gave a glimpse
into her thoughts at the time:

I did good at high school. I didn’t slack; I wasn’t bad, I didn’t run away fiom
home, I wasn’t that type of person . . . . I’m not a statistic, because most girls get
pregnant in high school when they are 16. I didn’t even start having sex until I
was 18. So when I found out I was pregnant, I said “Oh, I’m starting school.”
Peopletriedtotalkme outofit . . . . Theykepttryingtodiscourageme. . . . I’m
not trying to hear that, just because I’m having a baby doesn’t mean that my
whole life [has got to] stop. . . . When I got pregnant with him, it wasn’t on
purpose. I didn’t, like, oh yeah, I’m about to get pregnant, but I knew that was a
possibility. So when it happened, it was just like, okay. Got me a baby (Personal
Interview, 2005)!

Nina, also a young mother, recounted her experience once she found out she was
pregnant and the impact of her Afiikan centered education upon her decision to have the
baby. Although she indicated that she had issues with becoming pregnant so young, she
relied on her values learned fiom attending the Shule, “children are always welcom .”
The following is her account:

So you know, it [Afiikan centered education] has given us a foundation to be

secure African people . . . in my case, secure Afiican woman . . . I mean . . .

having ababy . . . out ofwedlock and . . . [was so young. Igotpregnant at 17.

But even though I have my issues with it and stuff like that, in my heart I knew it

was [going to] be okay. Children are always welcomed. You know, children are

always a blessing. So you know . . . that’s the way I was raised . . . in African-
centered space, children are always a blessing (Personal Interview, 2004).

154

Becoming pregnant so young was not without some negative experiences and some
unsolicited advise from her doctor. Asma shared:
I faced ridicule because I have a baby so young and I wasn’t married and . . . I had
to finish school. The doctor that I went to, a white lady actually advised me to get
an abortion and . . . it wasn’t like discussing my options. It was like if I were you,

if you were my daughter, if I was in this situation, this is what I would do, and
that’s the best thing (Personal Interview, 2004).

She acknowledged that the experience was difficult, but she had the support of her
mother to help her through it. Her mother even moved in with her on campus so that she
could provide child care while Nina completed her higher education program. Nina
spoke of the difficulty of the experience and her mother’s support:
It has been hard, you know what I’m saying, having a child and trying to finish
school and stuff like that, but my mom’s supported me and my family has backed
me up and, you know, she [her daughter] goes to the Shule some days. You
know, my mama has the fieedom, like she takes her to daycare, but if she can’t
take her to daycare, then she just takes her to Shule . . . [where] she runs around
with the kids and goes to Mama [name] classroom . . . it has given me a strong
foundation and the world is so much different. Just that one thing, I know that
she’s a blessing. And as long as I look at it from that perspective, every struggle
that I have is worth it. You know, because God saw fit . . . because he knew that I
could raise a child, I can handle the struggles (Personal Interview, 2004).
The life values imparted through the Afiikan centered education at the Faizah
Shule appeared to have an impact upon the participants in the study that continued into
their post-secondary lives. The young people spoke of moving into leadership roles when
they attended institutions of higher learning. They also related how the principles of the
Nguzo Saba were internalized and manifested themselves in their daily choices and even
in child rearing strategies. These life values also impacted the decision to have children,

especially when these young women were not married. Yet, their beliefs in the sanctity

of life and the blessings that children bring, which are Afrikan cultural traditions, coupled

155

 

with their spirituality anchored their resolve to adapt and reconcile an unexpected turn of
events into their life’s journey.

But to imply that all the experiences of the participants were in harmony with the
Shule’s philosophy and purpose would be misleading. In fact, many of the participants
shared experiences that at some point were counter to the “positive” experiences of their
peers.

Not all had a great experience.

Acquiring a positive self-concept and Afrikan identity is central to the Shule and
the Afrikan centered educational experience. Veritably, the young pe0ple in the study
asserted that the educational experience grounded them in their psychic space. Asma
affirms, “You always or at least almost always [are] able to maintain your identity
regardless of the space.” However, for one participant, Naimah, maintaining her Afrikan
identity was challenging. The source of this interpersonal struggle did not come from
those external to the Afrikan American community (i.e., non Afrikans) but rather from
those whom we would unabashedly refer to as “sisters.”

Naimah considered herself to be firmly grounded in who she was as an Afrikan
person and was confident nothing could shake her concept of herself. However, she
found that when she decided to join a Greek sorority at the university she was attending,
she was shaken to her very core. Naimah mentioned, “I made a lot of assumptions about
people who are in sororities . . . That they’re elitist,” even though, her mother had been
part of a sorority in college. She continued, I

I got involved in the Black Student Union and I had a very positive experience,

not with just one individual from a sorority but the sorority as a whole kind of

chippedinto helpmeinaneventthatwasstressingmeout. . . .AndImean, it

was the morning of and they were there. . .early and they chipped right in and they
were . . . just, I mean, really, really helpful and they seemed very genuine and in

156

that moment, I decided to try to be a little more fair in my assessment (Personal
Interview, 2005).

Naimah felt that she was in a tug-of-war. On the one hand, she didn’t want to be
associated with a negative organization, but also, as she did research on the Black
sororities, she discovered that they had a history of being a very influential and positive
organization within the Afrikan American community. She acknowledged this
discovery:

I started doing the research and understanding the history of the sororities and the
significant contributions and just [the] strides that they had made for African
American students in the university setting, which was never really explored at
[the Faizah Shule] school. So it was this new history [and] it was beautiful and
they struggled and they fought and that was right up my alley. So that sold me on
the sorority because it was culturally and historically significant (Personal
Interview, 2005).

Naimah thought that the pledging process for the sorority would be much like the
rites-of-passage program at the Shule. She thought that there would be sisterly bonding
with challenging tasks to perform, but she never dreamed that it would become such a
demeaning experience. Naimah felt that the sorority set up divisiveness between the
young Afiikan American women and encouraged competition between each other on
issues that had no substance, such as a name or personality. She commented, “It’s not
healthy for a young person who is coming into themselves, is learning who they are, and
deciding who or what they want to be.” Since Naimah felt that she was well grounded in
her identity and self-concept, she chose to have the experience:

I also had the attitude that I was only going to accept certain things . . . . I wasn’t

going to allow myself to be hazed. I wasn’t going to allow anybody to disrespect

me. And . . . not only was I not going to allow it to happen to me but I wasn’t
going to allow it to happen to anybody else in my presence . . . . And I also felt
like there are probably a lot of things that go on within the organization that are
not legitimate but I can change it . . . and especially because I was going through

itwithmybestfiiendand...wewerejustgoingtotakeitover...thatwashow
Iwas thinking when I was 20. . . . And so the idea was to kind of infiltrate the

157

 

organization . . . and turn it into this wonderful, powerful organization on campus.
But what I found was that . . . it’s difficult for anybody to sustain that type of
consistent . . . demeaning and defiling of your person without saying anything
back or without . . . . You’re thinking that you’re dealing with it . . . [but] it makes
you question who you are . . . and yeah, all I can say is that it made me question
the woman that I thought that I was. Like you know, if you’re this dynamic Black
woman, how did you end up here (Personal Interview, 2005)?

Naimah said that she felt so guilty for allowing herself to be in that situation. She
confessed that:

Thebiggestpartthatlhadto go through,whatlhadtoreallyheal fromwasbeing
upset with me. It wasn’t necessarily the women who I was angry at. It was me
that I couldn’t forgive . . . . Because I felt like . . . these other people, they don’t
have anything to lean back on. They don’t have a point of reference. They don’t
know who you are. You do. And you allowed this to happen . . . . It broke me
down . . . and that’s the idea. You hear anybody talk about the process, they say
[they] break you down, so that they can build you back up. They want to break
everybody down so everybody is at zero together, and then we all come up and
grow together. But I was broke down, I was broke down financially, emotionally,
mentally, academically, spiritually, physically. I lost all my weight. I mean any
way you can imagine; I was totally broken (Personal Interview, 2005).

 

Naimah expressed, “I was totally broke and that was the moment when I tried a lot
things.” She continued:

You know, I was ashamed so I couldn’t really go to my family about it. And I
couldn’t really explain it to my fiiends because it’s still hard for me to explain
how I ended up in that situation. And so it got to the point where I was feeling so
worthless that . . . I went to a psychologist at the school . . . they diagnosed me as
clinically depressed . . . . But you know, nothing helped and I decided to go to
church one day. They were having a youth chorale concert, a gospel concert. And
I went and from then on . . . the Lord really changed my life. It really showed me
what I went through and really gave me permission to forgive myself (Personal
Interview, 2005).

Drawing upon her spiritual foundation which she received both in her home
environment and at the Shule, Naimah was able to make sense of her experience with the
sorority. She offered this rationale as to how and why an Afrikan centered person would

join a fiaternity or sorority:

158

But I think that I convinced myself that it was okay because of the historical
significance that sorority had played. So that’s how an Afiican centered person
could possibly conceive of joining a fraternity or sorority. . .another part of it is
that. . .because my best friend who went to the Shule class with me and another
brother who graduated with us at the school, he went [to a PWI], too. So I think
another part of it is the fact that we were so isolated from our. . .mainstream

[Afiikan centered] culture. ..when we got to college. . .we didn’t want to be wild

because, we still had good judgment skills. But we wanted to have fun. You

know, we wanted to have a college experience. And we did not want to remain
isolated. So I think that that part of the reason why we gravitated towards those
organizations is because we wanted to belong and we wanted to have fim

(Personal Interview, 2005).

The rites—of-passage program was initiated into the Afrikan centered educational
experience as a means of assisting the transition of young people into adulthood. Most
participants spoke of the experience affirmatively. However, not all participants viewed
the rites-of-passage program as a positive experience. In fact, one participant, Adofo
provided an account of his discontent with the program.

Adofo explained that he participated in the first rites, which was the adult rites-of-
passage, but didn’t participate in the Baba rites because he was away at college. Adofo
explicated that “I didn’t do the Baba rites [because] I was in Alabama. But you can’t be
labeled a Baba until you go through your adult rites [meaning adulthood].” When asked
if he would go back and take his Baba rites, Adofo had prerequisites for taking that
action. “I would [do it] depending on if certain people came back and did it . . . so if
certain people came back, like the people who took me through my regular rites . . . . I’ll
do it.”

Adofo felt that many of the instrumental adult males (i.e., teachers and men of the
community) had became distracted with other issues in their lives and were not available

to oversee the rites-of-passage for young men. He commented that he feels the rites-of-

passage “is not as potent” today as when those before him went through it. So he

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considered himself to be in rebellion, “I don’t want to say I’m rebelling, but I don’t want
to go through it as it is right now because . . . you don’t get anything from it . . . I do rebel
against [it] because I’ve done it once and I don’t feel that you have to do that to be
labeled a man. In fact, contrary to the Afiikan cultural perspective of life transitions,
Adofo offered, “You shouldn’t have to go through this process every time you want to
progress in life . . . I’ve done it once and it’s not easy . . . . It’s demanding.” Adofo felt
that his transition into manhood had been apparent by his life choices and the positive
progression of his life.

Many of the participants acknowledged that they were perceived as different by
having attended an Afiikan centered school. The educational experience provided them
with a different lens to view events and the world. Asma shared that she felt that there
were very few people in the nation who could say that they had attended an Afiikan
centered school for most of their K-12 educational journey. Asma stated, “I tell people
that children who are now adults like me. . .tlrere maybe about 20 of us and I don’t mean
here in the city, I mean period. . .Maybe 25. I think that there are five that I have never
seen.” Kamau considered the students in his cohort to have been the “experimental kids”
because the school kept expanding its grades to accommodate their cohort. Another
participant, Nina spoke of being different, but explained how she felt like she was not
“normal” as a result of the educational experience. She offered this explanation:

But when you’re in high school and middle school, you really just want to be like

everybody else. You always want to be great. You know, [but] you just want to be

normal. You want to be like the rest of the kids. You want to fit with the pack
and roll with the punches. So while we’re going through that teenage thing of not

wanting to be great and wanting to be really normal, really regular, they [teachers]
are pushing us to be great (Personal Interview, 2004).

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She noted that the knowledge acquired and the critical thinking skills engendered
within her often made it difficult to communicate with peers in her neighborhood. Nina
felt that her experience attending an Afrikan centered school made her different and
created a world that was “in a box”, insulated from the “real world” and normalcy.
Speaking of the community in which the Shule existed, Nina commented, “You know,
the people outside in the community who were around us weren’t really into that [an
Afiikan centered education]. So we had to deal with the dynamic of being in our little ..

box.” She continued:

So we had to deal with going to the Shule and then going home and we had all
these things we had learned, all these ideas we had developed, but those weren’t
the ideas of our peers that we were hanging out with after we got out of school. I
mean as we grew older, we hung out with the people from the school . . . . But . .
. when you go home, you sit on the porch and you talk to your friends from the
neighborhood. These aren’t the same things that they were learning in school. I
mean, yes, we’re learning Afrikan culture, but it went so much beyond that
because . . . it wasn’t what they were learning in school every day . . . . Every day
you were confronted with the differences of the schools . . . . and of the
experience that we were having . . . . Even, sometimes it was on a small level, like
we wore uniforms. But sometimes it was on ground levels like we had to do this
science fair project every year and we had to apply the science fair project, how
were they going to help Afiican people (Personal Interview, 2004).

While congregating with friends in her neighborhood, Nina noticed that she would sit
back and listen to the conversations, often not commenting, but many times she
challenged the thinking of her peers:

They’d be talking about things or we’d be discussing things and I would . . . sit
back and listen to them and I would say okay, well, that’s not what I’m learning.
What’s the difference between what they’re doing and what we’re doing? Or what
. . . it’s kind of hard to explain because so . . . often you end up examining them as
a person and the ideas that they’re developing and the type of person they’re
developing into. And then you start looking at the experience that they had that’s
making them become this person . . . and I know hanging out with my fiiends
sometimes, I would just have to stop, like I can’t hang out with them right now . .

. the people fiom the block because I always feel like I have such a broader view
of things. I always am looking at things fiom so many angles and really

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examining and analyzing things as opposed to just taking it in. And just letting
somebody tell me that’s the way it is (Personal Interview, 2004).

Several participants mentioned the disadvantage of not having an athletics program at the
Shule. Naimah’s younger brother left the Shule in the tenth grade to pursue football at a
traditional public school. In her brother’s case, Naimah’s family had several uncles and
cousins who had made it to the NBA in basketball and family members were pressuring
her mother and father to allow him to pursue his interests in sports. Adofo who was a
good friend of Naimah’s brother, shared his understanding of Donald’s choice to transfer
from the FS/MGPA. Adofo explained the impact of not having an athletics program.
Adofo noted, “A lot of people, like [Donald] for example, he left to go to Renaissance to
play football because there was no football team [here]. We had a lot of good athletes
come through there, too. There were some people who are making their name; going to
college, right now” (Personal Interview, 2005).

The participants related incidents in which they felt that the educational
experience had not proved to be a great experience. One participate expressed her
difficulty in holding on to her Afiikan identity when she encountered a situation in an
institution of higher learning. She does not bring indictment against the educational
experience directly, but found that she was not able to maintain the grounded-ness in her
Afiikan woman-ness when she joined a sorority. Another participant spoke of his
rebellion against the rites-of-passage program. He did not understand the value in
participating in the second rites or the Baba rites and decided that he will not perform the
second passage program. Another participant shared that the educational experience
made her feel different than her peers, often to the point of not being able to

communicate with her neighborhood peers. Several participants shared how the lack of

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having an athletics program was an impetus for some young people leaving the Shule
seeking athletic opportunities.
In summary

Through the collective efforts of Afrikan American families, the F aizah Shule was
created and began instructing children fiom an Afrikan centered educational model in
1974. The Shule expanded to the F S/MGPA which was a K-12 institution in 1992. As a
member of the Council of Independent Black Institutions, the Shule collaborated with
other Afiikan centered institutions to develop guidelines, such as the CIBI Position
Statement in 1994 for operating an Afrikan centered institution. Integrating the position
statement with their Shule educational philosophy and purpose statement, the Shule
provided an Afiikan centered educational experience for Afrikan American students,
specifically, the young people in this study.

From the analysis, I discovered four outcomes for this educational experience.
The first outcome was that the Shule provided young people with an educational
experience grounded in the concept of nation building. For the Shule, nation building is
focused upon the reclamation and restructuring of the Afrikan American communities
and Afiikan reality. The participants in the study recounted their experiences in the
Shule that fostered their understandings of nation building. Nation building is supported
and made successful through the family and community. The Shule positioned itself as
family within the young people’s lives. As articulated by the participants, the Shule was
the extended family and there was no doubt in their minds that the staff’s interest in them
was genuine.

The Shule provided an educational experience for young people that cultivated

their cultural knowledge and identity was the second outcome of the educational

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experience. The F S/MGPA believed that their students must know their cultural history
and that “an Afrikan identity is embedded in the continuity of Afrikan cultural history”
(CIBI, 2005, p. 7). The process of cultivating students’ cultural knowledge and Afrikan
identity was undertaken through acquiring cultural proficiency, cultivating positive self
concept, fostering greatness by the Shule community, and developing higher order
thinking skills. The participants shared that they felt that they were grounded in their
Afrikan identity and appreciated the experience of examining phenomena from an
Afiikan centered perspective. The participants also, were appreciative of the Shule
community’s declared belief in their “giftedness” and their unwavering resolve to foster
their greatness.

Another outcome from the analysis was the Shule provided an educational
experience for young people which cultivated the principles of self-advocacy.

At the Shule, self-advocacy in students was cultivated through social and political
activism and student agency. Participants in this study recounted active involvement in
political protest events. The young people also mentioned performing Afiikan drum and
dance throughout the Afrikan American community as social activism. Student agency
was encouraged when the Shule began to accept a new clientele after becoming a charter
school. The young people agreed that they stepped into the roles of leadership to secure
and maintain the integrity of the Shule environment.

The fourth outcome was that the Shule provided an educational experience for
young people that developed their personhood. The staff at the Shule accepted
responsibility as a community in the holistic education of their students and to assist
students in evolving as responsible leaders within the Afrikan community. The means

that were employed to advance the development of young people as adults was through

164

 

spirituality, rites-of-passage, and life values. The participants understood that spirituality
was fundamental to the Afiikan ethos. They recalled the rites-of-passage program as a
ritual and ceremony which was necessary for passage into adulthood and shared how they
acquired values from Afiikan traditional culture which they have integrated into their
repertoire for decision making in their lives from the educational experience at the Shule.

Then finally, from the data analysis it was revealed that not all participants had a
great experience. Even though many of the young people in the study espoused a
positive educational experience at the F S/MGPA, there were accounts of discordance.
Some participants expressed difficulties that arose as a result of the educational
experience. For one participant, although the educational experience grounded her in
Afiikan cultural knowledge and developed within her a strong Afrikan identity, she
encountered a challenge in higher education that made her reevaluate her identity.
Another participant felt that the rites-of-passage program as required by the Shule was
not a necessary ritual for adulthood transition and refused to participate in the second
rites. Feeling different was noted by one participant as an uncomfortable consequence of
receiving an Afiikan centered education. She felt that the educational experience made it
difficult for her to relate to her peers who had not attended an Afiikan centered school.
Yet several participants spoke of the lack of intramural sports or an athletics program as a
disadvantage of attending the Afiikan centered school.

In Chapter VII, a discussion on the findings of the study is provided. The
tensions and challenges that the young people reported fiom the experience of attending
an Afiikan centered school are examined. Also, examined is the question of whether an

Afrikan centered educational model or aspects of it can be implemented within a

165

 

traditional public school setting. Finally, questions and suggestions for further research

are presented.

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CHAPTER VII
Discussion and Recommendations
Introduction
In this chapter, I provided a discussion on the findings of the study and
recommendations for firture research. The purpose of this study was to seek an
understanding of the experiences of Afrikan American young people who attended an
Afrikan centered school. Further, this study sought to discover and uncover nuances that :-

made the young people’s experiences turique to an Afrikan centered education. The

 

l!

questions that guided the research were “What are the educational experiences of Afrikan
American young people who attended an Afiikan centered school?”
The findings indicate that the young people experienced an education at the
F S/MGPA which focused on four themes. These themes encompassed the following
outcomes:
0 The Shule would provide experiences that advance the concept of nation building
0 The Shule would provide experiences that would cultivate the cultural selves and
Afiikan identity of their students.
0 The Shule would provide experiences that cultivate the principles of self-
advocacy within the young people.
0 The Shule would provide experiences that would develop the personhood of the
young people.
The Afrikan Centered Educational Experience
A review of the literature revealed that an Afiikan centered educational model can
be succinctly expressed as the “the codification or systematic expression of Afrikan

people’s will to recover, recreate, and perpetuate [Afiikan] cultural heritage” (Akoto,

167

1994, p. 320-21). In other words, an Afiikan centered education provides an education to
Afiikan American students which, first centers the students within their own worldview
systems (i.e., epistemology, ontology, axiology and cosmology). This is accomplished
by providing an experience which acknowledges and incorporates Afiikan culture and the
Afrikan historical continuum into the educational experience. Participants shared
experiences of learning from an Afiikan centered frame of reference in which Afrikan
people were subjects of history rather than objects and the most poignant question for
studying phenomena was “how will this help Afiikan people?”

Fundamentally, the aim and goal of this education “is to build commitment and
competency within the present and future generations to support the struggle for
liberation and nationhood of Afiikan people on the Continent and in the Diaspora” (CIBI,
1994, p. 6). The main goal of an Afiikan centered education is to “reconnect, confirm
and affirm students’ cultural and communal identities and empower them to [transform]
society through true education” (Shockley, 2003, p. 131). He further explicates that one
way this is achieved is through the concept of nation building and fostering communal
environments. As aforementioned, the broad scope of this educational experience was to
prepare young people for global participation and simultaneously, to provide experiences
in coursework commensurate with traditional public schools, such as mathematics,
history, English, science, and others.

From the findings, the participants’ articulated experiences which
overwhelmingly aligned with the espoused outcomes of the Shule. As to the extent of the
depth of these outcomes that are intended for competency in students, this topic would
have to be undertaken in another study. Within their narratives, the participants in this

study reflected on learning about nation building and understanding the importance of the

168

concept towards the liberation of Afrikan people from hegemonic oppression resulting
from White supremacy. Drawing from the Afrikan traditional culture, family
environment is essential to the community of the Shule and Afrikan centered education.
The young people discussed the importance of community and family in their educational
experience and told how the Shule community became their extended family with all the
benefits of a safe and stable environment.

In an Afrikan centered education, teachers must have knowledge of Afrikan
culture and also must be engaged in the perpetuation and liberation of Afrikan people.
They must believe in the greatness of Afrikan people and employ Afrikan centered
pedagogy in the instruction of Afrikan American students. Findings revealed that
participants in this study spoke of developing a positive self-concept from nurturing
teachers who were willing to invest time, energy, and love in them, and expected
“greatness” from them. Higher ordered thinking skills (see Chapter VI) were developed
within students to ensure that this greatness was achieved.

In Afiikan traditional culture, spirituality encompasses all that is in life and this
concept does not preclude education, whether formal or informal. Spirituality is essential
to individual progression through life, and the community is responsible for ensuring
those life transitions through rituals and ceremonies. The participants perceived
personhood to be vital to their experience at the Shule. They understood that spirituality
was central to Afrikan cosmology, and they expressed comfort in acknowledging a power
greater than themselves. The participants also cited the rites-of-passage as a vehicle in
which the Shule community assisted them to transition from childhood to adulthood.
They also acknowledged that their feelings of commitment to the Shule community were

fostered through the communal space which they had acquired while attending the Shule.

169

I“

Within this communal space, the participants discovered their roles to be pursued in the
mission of nation building.

Much like the concept of Sankofa, the Shule reached back and fetched the Afrikan
values system of Kemet, which was represented in the Maatian principles, and also
utilized the Nguzo Saba principles to impart traditional Afiikan values to their students
(see Chapter II). The young people in the study told how these values were integrated
and utilized in the decision making aspects of their lives. These participants shared that
they relied on these values as they interacted with their fellow peers while away in the
pursuit of higher education; also that they passed these values on to their children and
utilized these values and principles in contemplating decisions of daily living.
Challenges and Tensions of the A fiikan Centered Educational Experience

Yet, there were challenges and tensions that resulted fi'om the educational
experience reported by the participants of the study and were not found in the review of
the literature. Overall the participants spoke of the educational experience positively,
but some of the participants expressed dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the
experience. It appeared that this dissonance resulted from a lack of understanding of the
values, principles or even rituals surrounding activities in which the participants were
expected to engage.

For instance, when Adofo spoke about the rites-of-passage program, he
demonstrated a level of understanding of the purpose for participating in the rites
program; however, having undergone the first rites-of-passage program, he refused to go
through the second program. “I do rebel against [it] because I’ve done it once and I don’t
feel that you have to do that to be labeled a man. Underlying this rebellion is Adofo’s

frustration with what he perceived as the depreciation of the rites-of-passage program.

170

He asserted that the program “is not as potent” and cited that the fathers and elders, who
had been involved in providing the young men with the rites-of—passage experience, were
now distracted with the issues of life and he perceived the present rites-of-passage and
the people involved as not providing a quality experience.

Did Adofo understand the importance of the rites-of-passage experience? Did he
understand that in the Afrikan traditional culture that this experience was an essential
ritual for making transitions through life? Did he understand that in some cultures
missing this experience would mean that a person was stuck in that stage until he/she
made the passage? One could speculate that Adofo understood aspects of the rites-of-
passage, but he did not fully comprehend the importance of the rites for his development
into personhood. The Shule community apparently “missed the mark” in maintaining
their commitment and responsibility to assist this young person through his life’s
transitions at this point.

Another example which demonstrated tension with the educational experience
was Nina’s account of being different from her peers who attended traditional public
schools. Some of the participants in the study enjoyed thinking of themselves as different
from children who attended public schools. They considered their educational
experiences as granting the opportunity to acquire superior intellectual skills and a
broader perspective on the issues, locally, nationally, and globally. For Nina, being
different was a two-edged sword because it permitted her to acquire knowledge and
experience that many of her peers where not receiving in traditional public schools, but
yet it meant that she could not communicate readily with her neighborhood peers. She
noted that she was constantly challenging the thinking of her friends on issues because

she was encouraged and expected to analyze and deeply question events and observable

171

 

facts. She found that her propensity for deep thinking often would have her sitting
silently in the presence of her friends, and eventually, she just stopped hanging around
them.

One study that speaks to Nina’s dilemma was done by Amanda Datnow and
Robert Cooper (1997). These authors examined how Afrikan American students
attending predominantly White elite independent schools create formal and informal peer
networks to support their academic success in these schools. Although their study
examines the Afrikan American students’ experience in a White elite school, there are
several findings in the experiences of the Afrikan American young people that have
credence here. One finding in their study indicated that the Afrikan American young
people felt they were of a special group selected to attend these premier institutions and
were expected to perform well academically. Another finding was that this educational
experience often created a barrier of acceptance between them and their neighborhood
peers. These students found that adopting the Eurocentric norms and values of the school
made it easier for them to adapt to the school environment, but this cultural adoption
occasioned stigma from their neighborhood peers.

In light of Datnow and Cooper’s study, how does this “play out” for Nina? For
Nina, attending the Shule meant that she had a different educational experience fiom her
neighborhood peers. In an implicit way, it meant that she was “special” because she was
engaged in an educational experience that the majority of her peers did not have the
“privilege” of having, since it was a tuition-based private school. Also, particular to
Nina’s educational experience was the adoption of the Afiikan centered cultural
traditions, manifested in disposition, values, dress, language, and other aspects. This

cultural adoption was respected by the Afiikan American community and viewed in a

172

positive context as cultural consciousness. However, the skills that Nina developed for
interrogating and critically analyzing the world and her place in it became the “barbed
wire fence” that separated her fiom her neighborhood peers. She often questioned the
things that her peers took for granted and she constantly sought to probe deeper for
greater meaning in concepts that appeared to be obvious to her peers. Nina’s educational
experience provided and cultivated a broad base of knowledge on which Nina could draw
that her neighborhood peers could not.

Another situation that was emblematic of the tensions and challenges that arose
from this educational experience manifested when Naimah decided to join a sorority at
the predominately white institution she attended. Naimah’s education at the Shule
emphasized the values, principles, and traditions of Afiikan culture. Afrikan traditional
culture encourages the collectivity of Afiikan people and the importance of family and
community. Values imparted through the Nguzo Saba, provided Naimah with the
foundation to take responsibility for her brothers and sisters (fellow students). She was
encouraged to accept leadership positions in whatever environment that she found herself
and she felt she was “grounded” in her Afiikan womanhood and identity to maintain her
space in any environment. Yet, her educational experience at the Shule did not prepare
her for encountering people of Afiikan descent whose lives were not guided by the values
of traditional Afiikan culture.

Naimah was proficient in the historical heritage of the Afiikan and European
encounters and had been given political insight for navigating a predominantly white
institution, but she was naive and unsuspecting when she found herself emotionally

broken at the hands of her “sisters” in a Black sorority.

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In his work, A fiikan/Black Psychology in the American Context, Kobi Kambon
(1998) elucidates a disorder affecting the mental health of Afiikan American people
which he identifies as “Cultural Misorientation.” He posits that this disorder exists
among Afiikan Americans as a consequence of Eurocentric oppression and Afiikan
cultural suppression. The result of this disorder is the adoption of a Eurocentric
worldview and Eurocentric self-consciousness by Afrikan Americans that manifests in
anti-Afiikan behaviors and anti-Afrikan self-consciousness (Kambon, 1998).

Karnbon’s theory can be used to explain the behaviors of the sorority experience
that strived to denigrate and “break” Naimah’s self—confidence and identity on the
premise that the community of sisters would rebuild her and others in the attempt to
establish common ground and sisterhood bonding. On the surface, this act was
reminiscent of the Afiikan rites-of—passage experience where the spiritual, emotional, and
physical well-being of the young girls were entrusted into the hands of capable caring
adults of the community. Much alike on the surface, but under the illusion of a safe,
caring, familial environment, for Naimah, the results of this experience raped her of her
Afrikan grounding and left her “for dead” to find her own restoration.

In this educational experience, does the Shule have a responsibility to educate its
young people on encountering Afiikan Americans who have adopted anti-Afiikan
behaviors and provide strategies for negotiating these encounters? Should the values
gained through the educational experience provide the fortitude and intuitive base to
navigate these encounters? After a period of struggle, it seems that Naimah was able to
draw strength through spirit to regain her grounded-ness and refocus, pressing into her
purpose of establishing a literacy institute.

How is this Educational Experience Manifested?

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In an examination of the lives of the young people and their location in life
several years after graduating from the Shule, one could conclude that the young people
left the educational experience with a repertoire of skills, insights, and values.
Seemingly, at various decision points in their lives they extracted skills sets acquired
from the educational experience and employed them in ways that they perceived as most
valuable for their lives. However, as aforementioned some of the young people had
misunderstandings and challenges appropriating the skills and insights acquired through
the educational experiences.

Were their lives a manifestation of the espoused goals of the educational ‘
experience? These young people were in pursuit of higher education, created families,
and established careers. At first glance these activities appear to be no different fi'om the
activities of young people who graduated from traditional public schools. These
endeavors are the pursuits of life. Yet, what makes these undertakings different is that
the fundamental ideological impetus for these activities is grounded in Black Nationalism
and Pan Afiikanism. The majority of the participants acknowledged the understanding
that everything that they pursued was about nation building for Afrikan people on the
Continent and in the Diaspora.

Essential to nation building is the establishment of institutions. Some ways in
which these young people were obviously engaged in institution building were through
volunteering at the Shule and other Afiikan American organizations as a means to ensure
the Shule’s continuance. They were also establishing institutions through families
because family is considered one of the central institutions in nation building. Two,

Naimah and Heimis expressed plans for opening their own businesses.

175

These young people obtained higher education because they believed as the
ancestors believed that education would equip them with the tools to manage and
maintain an independent nation of Afrikan people. As Naimah shared, “I feel like I was
taught that education and everything that I do is about nation building. And if it’s not
about nation building, it is not about nothing.”

The concept of Pan Afrikanism was not apparent in the lives of the young people.
No one announced or demonstrated an overt economic or political link with Afiikan
nations, such as an exchange of commerce or Afrikan political affiliations. However,
several of the young people interviewed expressed an interest to create links in their lives
with Afrikans dispersed throughout the world. On a personal level, Naimah shared that
she had dated a man who was Puerto Rican. She expremed, “a lot of people feel like
well, he’s not black. Well, yes, he is . . . they [are] mixed with the Spanish and Afrikan
people, so his complexion may be not as dark as mine, but he has a history of slavery just
like I do.” Another participant Asma, not only dated but married a Bahamian. She
acknowledged that the Bahamians have experienced the same historical struggles as
Afrikans worldwide.

Concerns that Arose fi'om the A fiikan Centered Educational Experience

The F aizah Shule was created by a collective of Afiikan American middle-class
families who were influenced by the Black Power movement during the late 19603. As
these parents were developing in Black Nationalist and Pan Afiikanist thought and
ideology, they realized the importance of agency and self-determinism. For these
parents, an education immersed in Afiikan culture became a necessary component for the

educational experience of their children.

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Dijferent home culture. Throughout much of the Shule’s existence, it was an
independent Black institution with an Afrikan centered educational focus. It was a small
private school, and parents were required to pay tuition for their children to attend the
school. Parents who sought to enroll their children in the schools were of two types: 1)
parents who maintained Afiikan cultural practices within the home and wanted their
children to have that experience in school, and 2) parents who were dissatisfied with the
public schools and were looking for a “good” school for their children. The majority of
the parents were of the former type of parent. Parents who were of the latter type found
parental involvement to be part of the mandate for the child’s enrollment and this
involvement facilitated personal transformation as they gained knowledge of Afrikan
cultural traditions and identity.

When the Shule converted to an Afiikan centered charter school, enrolhnent
opened to all the students within the Westville Public School district. This open
enrollment meant that the Shule began to experience a different clientele of students. The
new clientele consisted of students whose parents were interested in immersing their
children in Afiikan culture, but now a majority of the parents were just interested in their
child attending a “good” school. Included in these two groups were parents who were not
interested nor had the time to be involved with the school in their child(ren)’s education.
The Shule requested parental involvement through volunteerism at the school and the
attendance of training sessions on Afiikan culture, but could not make it a condition of
their child’s continual enrollment at the school. The student enrollment increased from
approximately sixty students to nearly two hundred fifty students.

The Shule began to experience a mismatch of the school culture with the home

culture. That is, when the home culture was aligned with the Shule’s focus of an Afiikan
177

cultural tradition and values or when the home culture reflected Afiikan American middle
class values, the school community and the home environment experienced cultural
congruence. However, when the home culture aligned with the mainstream cultural
values, that is, a white middle-class values focus, then the Shule experienced a disconnect
in forming community between the home environment and the school environment.

Also, when the home culture did not reflect mainstream values or Afrikan American
middle class values or even Afiikan traditional cultural values, it was evident to the Shule
community that the home culture did not align with the school culture and hindered the
formulation of community with those families. As previously espoused, community is
fundamental to the Afrikan centered educational experience.

There is much research in the literature that speaks to the incongruence between
the home culture and the school culture regarding the traditional public schools and
children of color, immigrants and poor children (Irvine, 1990; Ladson-Billings, 1994).
This is an issue that is generally experienced in the traditional public school because the
culture of the school is reflective of mainstream culture that is established on white
middle-class values and worldview, while the home culture of Afiikan Americans is
established upon Afrikan American values and worldview. Some Afiikan American
students’ parents, particularly middle-class Afiikan Americans have adopted the
mainstream cultural values; consequently these children are more likely to experience
greater academic success in the public schools (Fordham, 1988; Irvine, 1990). However,
for most Afiikan American students, their home culture does not align with the
mainstream culture of the public school and misunderstandings and low academic

performance is the outcome.

178

Surprisingly, after the conversion of the Shule from a private school to a charter
school, cultural incongruence began to emerge as a pressing issue for the school. This
issue is dealt with lightly in this study, but is a topic that deserves further research. The
participants of the study alluded to the cultural incongruence when they recounted
situations in which they accepted leadership and responsibility for maintaining the
cultural integrity of their school. They spoke of students who had previously attended
public schools and were now attending the Shule. These incoming students had no
knowledge of Afiikan culture nor were they interested in learning about their Afiikan
cultural heritage. They were there simply because their parents were looking for a good
school.

The philosophy of the Shule acknowledges that family involvement in student
learning is essential to the formation of the community that is necessary for the academic
and life success of the students. Mama Taraji mentioned the difficulty that she and the
Shule staff experienced in attempting to convince some parents that their involvement
was critical to the success of their child(ren). It appeared that the lack of Afiikan cultural
knowledge or the desire to acquire it for themselves and their children has created a
major challenge for the Shule community to overcome in order to accomplish its goal of
Afiikan cultural reclamation and nation building for the liberation of Afrikan people.

All That A fi'ikan Stuflf The participants appreciated the experience of the study of
phenomenon from a position centered in their Afrikan cultural heritage. Participants
spoke of learning about world civilization originating in Kemet rather than Greece. They
learn about the institution of slavery from the perspective of the kidnapped Afrikans.
They studied the Afiikan classics, investigated solutions to problems affecting Afrikan

people, celebrated the lives of Afiikan and Afiikan American ancestors, were able to

179

openly acknowledge their spirituality, studied Afrikan nations, operated in and honored
the worldview systems of Afiikan people.

Some students and parents perceived the immersion into the Afrikan cultural
heritage and epistemology at the Shule as overbearing. The question arose, “Why do we
have to learn all this Afiikan stuff?” A parent of one of the participants stated that she
was concerned that her children (she had three to attend the Shule) would be ill-equipped
in higher education because they were not exposed to the classics of mainstream
education.

Some of those questions they have on tests that you take anywhere in society,

they are all based on their white culture. So my kids weren’t able to address that.

At one time I felt kind of bad about it because I felt they [her children] weren’t

well rounded (Personal Interview, Mama Mariama, 2004).

In fact, one of the participants acknowledged she felt somewhat handicapped when she
took a history course in college and was not familiar with some of the information on
European history. Should the Afrikan centered educational experience guarantee that
students are exposed to mainstream canons to ensure their academic success in higher
education? Can an Afrikan centered education maintain its cultural integrity and focus
while teaching mainstream canons?

As a pluralistic society, America’s borders are crossed every day by people from
other nations for various reasons. The pursuit of higher education is one attraction which
precipitates the influx of people fiom other nations. For most, instructions in the
mainstream canons are not a prerequisite for the successful completion of their degrees.

These students attend American educational institutions grounded in the educational

canons of their home country.

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Likewise for Afrikan American students who attend Afiikan centered schools.
The cultural imperative of an Afrikan centered education does not impede the academic
success of the young people whose education was delivered from an Afiikan worldview.
In fact, the majority of the young people interviewed attended major universities, of
which a large percent of the participants attended PWI’s and successfirlly completed their
degrees. The young people attributed their ability to navigate the mainstream educational
system to their cultural foundation cultivated and established in an Afrikan centered
education
C on these Educational Benefits be attained in Public Schools?

Can the participants of this study receive these educational benefits from
America’s public schools?

Maybe. The answer to that question is that certainly there are aspects of this
educational experience operating in some classrooms (e.g., effective teachers, Afrikan
American curriculum, small family environments, and others). However one hindrance
to this educational experience is a refusal to recognize the impact of culture upon the
education of children, particularly Afiikan American children. Ladson-Billings along
with other researchers recognize that the American educational public school system
refuses to acknowledge Afiikan Americans as a distinct cultural group (Ladson—Billings,
1994; Lee, 1992). She goes on to say “it is assumed that Afiican American children are
exactly like white children but just need a little extra help” (p. 9).

Certainly we know that Afiikan culture is not monolithic, since there are well
over a thousand distinct groups of people on the Continent and in the Diaspora.
However, research has revealed that there are many similarities among these cultures

such as cosmology, family and community relationships, and the importance of rituals,

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ceremonies, and traditions among the people (Mbiti, 1976; Tedla, 1995). Review of the
literature has indicated culture to be an essential piece to existence and gives meaning to
reality for people. To ignore the culture of a pe0ple is to create barriers to understanding
their needs and concerns and in effect to sabotage and hinder any effective
communications. Lack of attention to the culture of Afrikan American children has
perpetuated their academic difficulties in American schools.

Teacher and student interaction in public schools is where this disconnect of
culture is most notable, since these students receive instructions from a predominately
white middle-class female teaching staff. It is plausible that this teaching staff has had a
minimum (if any) training on how to teach students of diverse cultures. Teachers’ belief
systems are shaped by the racially hegemonic influences on knowledge that emanate
from within the dominant culture. So oftentimes, teachers hold beliefs about racial
groups and cultures that are influenced by America’s racist notions of designated
“others.”

Yet, in some classrooms within public schools across the nation, students are
experiencing a culturally relevant education. This experience is the result of teachers not
limited to the Afrikan American race, who are described by Ladson-Billings (1994) as
effective in creating academic success with Afiikan American children. These teachers
are advocates for social justice, parental and community involvement in the educational
process of students, hold high expectations of all students, and their abilities to learn. But
these pockets of effective instruction to Afiikan American children are the exception
rather than the norm.

The majority of Afrikan American students in public schools are not having these

experiences. Education for them is a process of marginalization, de-Afrikanization and

182

 

de-humanization. Afiikan American students graduate fiom public schools without the
knowledge of their cultural origins, historical contributions to civilization, the Afiikan
holocaust (Maafa), and contributions to American society as well as the global society.
Neither have they been given the political capital for navigating mainstream society.

Maybe Not. Education in society serves a functional purpose by providing the
conduit through which the national culture is maintained and perpetuated. According to
Akoto (1992), education “. . .lies at the very core of the nation, as it involves the
codification, perpetuation, interpretation and transmission of the national history and
culture...” (p. 41). Based on the aforementioned purpose of education, one should
expect that the objectives of the American public school are to promote the perpetuation
of American culture and society.

Within the literature, researchers have asserted that Afiikan American children
are culturally different from European American children. In fact, research supports the
premise that Afiikan people and European people operate from different worldview
systems which are fundamental to how these groups make sense of the world or their
construction of reality (Kambon, 1998; Hilliard, 1997; Akoto, 1992; Ani, 1994). Kobi K.
K. Kambon (1998) in his work, A frican/Black Psychology in the American Context: An
Afrikan centered Approach, clearly delineated these worldview systems into four
categories: 1) cosmological; 2) ontological; 3) axiological; and 4) epistemological.

Kambon posits that an Afiikan cosmological perspective is based on the
interdependence, collectivism, and human-nature oneness, whereas the European
cosmology is established upon separateness, independence, and human-nature conflict.
The Afiikan ontological perspective is that all things are spiritual and interrelated,

whereas the European believes that the essential nature of reality is material. Kambon

183

further theorizes that the Afiikan axiology places emphasis on interpersonal interactions
and relationships, while the European basic value system focuses on person to object
relationships. Finally, Kambon states that Afrikans utilize an affective-cognitive
synthesis as a way of knowing reality and the European’s epistemology was based on
cognitive over affective processes in knowing reality (1998).

Based on Kambon’s research, implementing an Afiikan centered educational
model similar to the one presented in this study would be at odds with the existing
worldview systems of the American public schools. The American public schools were
initially created and have been maintained through the European worldviews system.
This system mirrors the national worldview and fulfills the purpose of the perpetuation of
the American society.

In light of the fact that schools are machines employed in the continuance of the
American society, it is safe to conclude that some aspects of an Afrikan centered
educational experience cannot be found in the traditional public schools. These
components of the Afiikan centered educational model which reside in the concept of
Afrikan nation building, spirituality, and the impartation of life values may be in conflict
with the dominant cultures’ societal goals. It does not serve the self-interest of the elite
of American society to promote the nation building interest of Afrikan American people.
Seemingly, it would be a case of insanity for Americans to teach the concepts of nation
building for the development and liberation of another nation within itself. Particularly,
it would be insanity to provide this instruction to a people that they have historically held
in low regard and as an inferior people. Would not this action be equivalent to the nation
of Israel educating the Palestinian people in the concepts of nation building? How could

the outcome possibly benefit its national objectives?

184

 

 

I conclude that the concept of Afiikan nation building could not be taught in the
American public schools. It would not serve the interests of American society to educate
Afiikan American children for their liberation and advancement (F reire, 1976; Carnoy,
1974; Shujaa, 1994). Instructions in spirituality and imparting life values which are
fundamental to an Afiikan centered education are taboo within the American public
school system. Consequently, introducing an Afrikan centered educational model into
the public school would be like introducing a foreign agent into the bloodstream. This
action would disturb the equilibrium of the environment and the white blood cells would
attempt to adapt the foreign agent to the environment or destroy it. They could not co-
exist.

Recommendations

Fundamental to the Afiikan centered educational model presented in this study is
the concept of Afrikan nation building, spirituality, Afrikan cultural traditions, and
Afiikan values. These concepts proceed from the Afrikan worldview systems which
center Afiikans within their own epistemology, ontology, cosmology and axiology. This
centeredness, according to Asante (2003) places Afiikan people as agents of their history
rather than objects of it. This educational model must:

1. Proceed from the ideology of nation building

2. Be undergirded by Afiikan cultural history and identity

3. Be permeated by the spirituality of Afrikan people through traditions, rituals,

and ceremonies.

4. Be taught by people who themselves are engaged in re-Afrikanization and

who are actively promoting the advancement of Afiikan people.

5. Be Afiikan centered in both curriculum and pedagogy.

185

 

In contrast, the traditional public school model is a nationalist model which
promotes the concept of White or European nation building for American and other
European nations and its allies, particularly those that align with the ideology of the
primacy of Western culture. In public schools, federal legislation has prescribed the
separation of church and state, interpreted to mean that schools do not endorse religious
practices within the school environment (Cline, 2006). Specifically, the law states that
the government cannot endorse a particular religious dogma and mandate students to
practice it, but religion is not synonymous with spirituality in the Afrikan perspective.
Additionally, there have been ongoing debates within the educational community over
who should be responsible for imparting values to students in schools (Gibbs, 2006)
asking “Should character education or values be imparted solely through the home
environment or should the school be an integral player in passing values on to children?

The aforementioned educational ideology for traditional public schools reflects
the Eurocentric worldview systems of American society. The Eurocentric worldview
system guides the curriculum and the pedagogy in the educational institutions and would
present challenges and impediments to the implementation of the Afiikan centered
education model. In the classroom, the primary source of instruction is the teacher.
Research has revealed that teacher’s beliefs about the students they teach has impact on
student success or failure (Ladson-Billings, 1994; Irvine, 1990). As members of society,
teachers’ beliefs are shaped and influenced through the socialization of American society.
The historical legacy of racism and European hegemony of American society in its
relationship to Afiikan Americans is manifested in teachers’ beliefs and expectations.

The challenge for American schools interested in implementing an Afiikan

centered educational model would be to attempt instruction of this model with teachers

186

 

who do not believe in the academic and intellectual capabilities or the cultural relevancy
of Afiikan American children. According to prOponents of an Afiikan centered
educational model, it must be instructed by teachers who believe in their students
abilities, who respect and who are knowledgeable of Afrikan culture and are actively
working towards the liberation of Afiikan people.

An aspect of this educational model may be implemented successfully in the
traditional public school setting. This study revealed that teachers in the Afrikan centered
educational model were effective instructors of Afiikan American students. These
teachers demonstrated the following personal traits and attitudes that aimed towards their
students acquiring academic success which were similar to the research performed by
Ladson-Billings (1994). These effective teachers believe that all children can succeed,
create a personal connection to students and their communities, assist students in
developing and understanding their cultural identity, used students’ culture to facilitate
learning, and promote and encourage critical and creative ways of knowing.
Demonstrating these attitudes and traits, teachers were able to energize and motivate
Afrikan American students to achieve academic success. This study affirms Ladson-
Billings research and provides empirical evidence to substantiate the importance of
teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and expectations in impacting Afiikan American student
achievement.

There are challenges and tensions for Afiikan centered public academics in
implementing this educational model which need consideration by policymakers. The
Shule became a public academy during the attendance of the participants in my study.
During the interviews, the young people, parents, and the director mentioned the

struggles of this Afiikan centered charter school as it attempted to fulfill its mission to

187

 

provide an Afrikan centered education while meeting the mandate for achievement on the
state standardized tests. If policymakers are truly interested in creating a culturally
relevant environment for Afrikan American students by implementing an Afrikan
centered educational model, they must create and incorporate avenues for the
administrators and teachers of these schools to maintain the cultural focus while helping
students to successfully achieve on standardized tests. This may mean that policy is
created which allows these schools to be exempted fiom the mandated testing for a
prescribed period of time to allow for the complete implementation of the educational
model.

The intent of this study was not to conclude if this educational experience for
Afiikan American young people was better than the experiences of Afiikan American
young people having educational experiences at other school models (i.e., traditional
public schools or private schools). Rather, the purpose of this research was to gain
insight on how these young people perceive this educational experience and if that
experience aligned with the educational outcomes of the Shule.

Future Research

The participants highlighted the experiences of the Shule as: 1) the family and
community environment; 2) the pursuit of Afrikan nation building; 3) the experience of
spirituality; 4) the understanding of the Afrikan cultural heritage and history; 5) the
acquisition of positive self-concept; 6) the interaction with invested and concerned
teachers; 7) the development of critical and creative thinking skills; and 8) the attainment
of agency as well as activism. They also exposed some challenges and tensions with the
educational experience. The young people affirm that without this experience, they

would not be the people that they are today.

188

The findings of this study create a multitude of unanswered questions that need to
be further explored. What are the experiences of current students who attend the Shule in
which the majority of their school experience has been as a charter school? The
participants, parents, and school director in this study alluded to a cultural change in the
environment with the influx of new students. Future research should investigate how
current students perceive their educational experience at the Shule.

Another question needs to be explored: “When students educational experiences
of attending an Afiikan centered school are compared across different contexts are the
experiences similar?” Further research should compare the experiences of the young
people in this study with those reported by students in another Afiikan centered school.
The comparison could examine young people experiences in an Afiikan centered charter
academy, an Afiikan centered Independent Black Institution, or an Afiikan centered
immersion public school.

How do Afiikan American young people who have graduated fi'om a traditional
public school perceive their educational experience and its impact upon their lives? This
question can be explored by a study that examines the educational outcomes of this
Afiikan centered educational model for Afrikan American students with the outcomes of
Afiikan American students who attended a traditional public school.

For the purposes of assisting leadership in schools that primarily educate Afrikan
American students, research should be undertaken that examines the leadership attitudes,
values and strategies of people who commit their lives to the education of this
underserved population of students.

The insights garnered from firrther research in Afiikan centered education can

assist policymakers, educators, and parents in developing effective education of Afrikan

189

 

American children. In efforts to fulfill the American vision of a pluralistic democratic
nation in which all groups of people are benefactors of the Fourteenth Amendment
guaranteeing the right to “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” further research on
this educational model could provide the foundation on which to build equitable and
liberatory education. The virtues of democracy and movement into globalization
demand that America can not continue to ignore and marginalize the gifts and talents of

its entire people.

190

Retrospection

When I began this research, I was not aware of what little I knew about Afrikan
culture. I grew up in America and had been socialized to a large extent within the
dominant culture’s worldview. I “knew” that my ancestors were from Afiika, but I was
inwardly ashamed of that connection. As a young girl attending integrated schools, I was
taught that the origin of Afrikan existence was in slavery and that enslavement by the
European was the best thing that had happened to the Afiikan “primitive”. Yet
something inside my young being knew that was a lie. I joined the Black Muslim
movement as a young girl and in my youthful-ness, I didn’t realize that it was a Black
Nationalist and Pan Afrikanist organization. Within this organization, I learned Black
Pride and self-determination. I knew that I was a Black person in America and I knew
that I was Afrikan in my origins, but I still didn’t know what that meant. I never made
the connection between my being and Afiikan culture.

I discovered that this research engaged me in a transformative process. As I
sought to uncover and understand the experiences of the young people were who attended
an Afiikan centered school, I came face-to-face with my Afiikan cultural heritage. I
realized that my lack of knowledge of Afiikan culture and my own learning phase in
which I was now engaged, placed me in a position in which I could not trust my
interpretations of what I observed. I needed to verify my interpretations with members of
the culture. My worldview of Afiikan phenomenon was distorted by my socialization
within this Eurocentric cultural perspective. My informant, who had been an instructor
within the school became a valuable asset to my study and helped me to interpret the data
from the cultural perspective of the participants. Also, I received assistance from a

scholar who had recently completed his dissertation. He had performed a critical analysis

191

 

on the implications of Eurocentric discourse upon Afiikan American males’ educational
experiences, particularly in Special Education. He shared his expertise and critical eye to
my research, as well as his experience with Afiikan centered education.

To give further enlightenment on the transformative process of this research, I
will share a reflective passage from my journal which I kept as I engaged in this work. It
clearly denotes my spiritual, emotional and intellectual journey towards re-
Afiikanization.

My own transformation: 1 am excited today, for I realize that I am evolving as an
Afiikan person. Before I began this research, I knew myself to be a Black person
in America whose history was linked to a once enslaved people, which in my
mind was a position of degradation. It was as though I rose fiom shit rather than
deep rich black soil. I cognitively understood that I was an Afiikan. . .but what
did that really mean? It was an abstract concept to me because I really did not
know about Afiika. I only knew what I had been told by those whose ancestors
had ripped my ancestors from their native lands. What was it to be Afrikan? I
realize that as I began this work, I was so totally ignorant. So in the dark. . .the
Dark Continent is not Afiika, but the Dark Continent is in my mind. . .nothing of
light exists in my mind about my homeland. It’s as though I am lost and I can’t
see to find my way home. As I began this study, a pinhole size measure of light
began to penetrate my mind and illumination began to come. I am excited. . .I
have a culture that precedes slavery. I am excited. . .my ancestral lineage goes
back to the beginnings of civilization. I am excited. . .I have a worldview that has
always been with and in me, but I didn’t recognize it, I didn’t know. My
worldview had been pushed to the background of my being, although subtle signs
of it were present, but I had been convinced by the children of my ancestors’
kidnappers that I should adopt their worldview systems, which were
fundamentally opposed to my nature. Oh, what insanity! Allow me to use a
metaphor to clarify my thinking. It was as though, I had been a cat living among
dogs. I had claws and fur. I had whiskers and I saw enough similarities to
convince me that I was a dog. But, I was different...1meowed instead of barked
and I enjoyed chasing and catching mice. I could climb trees, which was a
behavior that the dogs did not value and constantly berated me for, but secretly
they kept trying to climb trees themselves. I always felt somewhat inferior and
intimidated by the dogs because no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t seem to
be an effective dog. Then I discovered that I was actually a cat!

From this research, I hope to provide illumination to the stakeholders of this

educational experience through the voices of the young people who experienced it.

192

 

Perhaps there will be elements of this educational model that can be refined, changed, or
simply left alone and employed in the effective education of Afiikan American children.
Through this research experience, it has become apparent to me that knowledge of
Afiikan cultural heritage and Afrikan identity is fundamental to locating, claiming, and

maintaining one’s space (as an Afiikan in America) in the world.

193

APPENDICES

194

 

APPENDIX A

APPROVAL LETTER FROM THE UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON
RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS

195

[UCRIHS APPROVAL LETTER]

196

 

APPENDIX B

CONSENT FORM

197

 

Consent Form

This study, entitled: Out of the mouths of babes: African American students’
percermons and experiences of attending an African-centered school, developed by Joyce
Piert, Doctoral Student in K-12 Educational Administration at Michigan State University,
considers the perceptions and experiences of African American students who have
attended an African-centered school. It is perform as a study which will contribute to the
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the researcher’s Ph.D. in Educational
Administration at the Michigan State University.

Your participation in this study will consist of an in-depth interview not to exceed
sixty (60) minutes of your time. The interview will be conducted by Joyce Piert, PhD
student and investigator under the primary researcher and advisor, Dr. Christopher
Dunbar, Jr. With your permission, your interview will be audio-taped and at any point
during the interview, you can request not to be recorded. Your participation is entirely
voluntary and you may terminate your involvement at any time without penalty. All of
your data is confidential and will be stored in a locked cabinet for at least five (5) years
after the study, at the end of this period; all research materials will be destroyed. To
protect your privacy, 3 pseudonym will be given to you and your school, as well as, the
location. Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extent allowable by law.

There are no foreseeable risks with this research. The main potential benefit is in
contributing to scientific knowledge on this topic. No costs or payment are associated
with participating in this study. If any discomfort should arise regarding material
addressed in the study, participants can call the number listed below to ask questions or
discuss their feelings. A more complete statement of the nature and purpose of the
research will be available when the data collection is completed.

Should you have any concerns or questions regarding the rights of subjects and
the duties of investigators, you may contact the primary investigator, Dr. Christopher
Dunbar, Jr., Associate Professor at the K-12 Educational Administration Department,
419A Erickson Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, email: dunbarc@msu.edu, phone: (517)
353-9017, fax: (517) 353-6393. If you have questions or concerns regarding your rights
as a study participant, or are dissatisfied at any time with any aspect of this study, you
may contact — anonymously, if you wish — Peter Vasilenko, Ph.D., Chair of the
University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) by phone:
(517) 355-2180, fax: (517) 432-4503, email: ucrihs@msu.edu, or regular mail: 202 Olds
Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824.

 

 

Your signature below indicates your voluntary agreement to participate in this study:
Participant name (please print):
Contact Information: (address)

(Phone number and email)

 

 

198

 

Participant’s Signature Date

Your signature here indicates that you agree to the audio-taping of your interview:

 

 

Participant’s Signature Date

199

 

APPENDIX C

INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS

200

 

Protocol Questions for African American students who attended an African-centered
school.

1. Tell me a little bit about your family history. . .where you were born; family,
mother and father’s occupation and education; siblings; extended family.

2. Tell me a little bit about your school history...

What is the name of your school?

How did your parent/s locate this school?

What qualities attracted your parent/s to the school?

How would you compare your performance at the African-centered
school?

e. If you attended a public school, how would you describe your
performance at the public school?

999‘!”

3. Tell me more specifically about your educational experience at an Afiican-
centered school.
a. How old were you when you began attending an African-centered school?
b. How many years did you attend?

4. What makes your school an African-centered school? (How do they define an
African-centered school, from their perspective) Explain the context of the
school.

Location

Decorum

Culture/climate

Attitudes of administrators/teachers

Curriculum

.we-99‘s»

5. Describe your perception of difference between an African-centered school and a
traditional public school, if you have attended a traditional public school?

6. Describe the persons and/or events that impacted you the most while attending an
Afiican—centered school.

7. Describe the influence of attending an Afiican-centered school upon the way you
view the world? (Looking for intrinsic values here).

8. Described any shortcomings that you experienced as a result of your exposure to
an Afiican-centered school?

9. When reflecting back, do you feel that there is an area in your life in which your
Afiican-centered education either handicapped/empowered you?

201

Protocol Questions for the parents of Afiican American young people who attended an
African-centered school.

10. Tell me a little bit about your family history. . .where you were born; family, your
and your child’s father occupation and education; marital status, extended family,
political perspective.

1 1. Tell me a little bit about your sense of identity and what did that look like in your
daily living. [community activism? Volunteerism?]

12. Tell me why you sent your children to an African-centered school

a. How did you locate the school?
b. Philosophy of the school that attracted you?

13. What makes this school Afiican-centered to you? (How do you define an
Afiican-centered school, from their perspective) Explain the context of the
school.

Location

Decorum

Culture/climate

Attitudes of administrators/teachers

Curriculum

9999’!”

14. Do you feel that your children experienced education differently than they would
have had they attended a traditional public school? Please explain.
[nationbuilding community, values]

15. Describe how this educational experience influenced you as a parent and
personally?

16. Do you think that your child(ren)’s attendance of an Afiican-centered school has
affected the way you view the world? Please explain. (Looking for intrinsic
values here).

17. Describe one disadvantage that you perceive your child experienced as a result of
attending an African-centered school.

Subquestions:

0 Do you believe that your child has acquired a self-sustaining Afiican-
centered perspective through attending an Afiican-centered education?
Please explain.

202

Protocol Questions for Afiican American Administrator at the African-centered school

1. Tell me a little about you. . .where were you born, family, educational history, and
what brought you to this school (where did the vision come from?)

2. Tell me about your school history...

a. How did you come up with the school’s name?

b. How was the vision for the school formed and what was the process that
you underwent to bring the school about?

c. Describe your educational philosophy.

3. Your school is considered to be an African-centered school, what makes it
African-centered?

Philosophy

Decorum

Culture/climate

Attitudes of administrators/teachers

Curriculum/pedagogy

Spiritual

engage

4. Describe the context of your school ten years ago.
5. Describe the differences in your school today.

6. Describe a student that you remember the most. What made that student so
memorable?

7. Tell me how attending an Afiican-centered school has affected the way your
students view the world.

8. Tell me what you are most proud of about the educational experiences of students
who attend this school.

9. If there was anything that you could change concerning your students’ experience
at the school, what would it be and why?

203

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