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Reaching African American Students: Profile of an Afrocentric Teacher

Kmt Shockley Journal of Black Studies 2011 42: 1027 originally published online 27 March 2011 DOI: 10.1177/0021934711403739 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jbs.sagepub.com/content/42/7/1027

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03739ShockleyJournal of Black Studies The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

JBS42710.1177/00219347114

Reaching African American Students: Profile of an Afrocentric Teacher

Kmt Shockley1

Journal of Black Studies 42(7) 10271046 The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0021934711403739 http://jbs.sagepub.com

Abstract In the public school systems of America, what gets attention is that which is trending at any given time. However, one trend that seems to be maintained (while piles of money are made off fads and mostly worthless professional developments) is that Black children are at the bottom of all of the tiers that are measured. Although Afrocentric education has received largely negative press from the mainstream, no argument can be defended against the notion of designing an education that is centered on the needs of those children who come from communities that have been intentionally disorganized by America (and Europe) for many years. Much is known about the problems that have come from the aforementioned historical happening, yet little is known about solutions such as Afrocentric education. This article presents a profile of an Afrocentric teacher who is dedicated to educating the children in his community. Findings include the need to focus on teacher transformation as opposed to students simply learning the Three Rs. Keywords Afrocentric education, African centered education, Black education, Black children

Morgan State University

Corresponding Author: Kmt Shockley, Morgan State University, 1700 Cold Spring Lane, Banneker Building 315E, Baltimore, MD 21251 Email: kmt.shockley@morgan.edu

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The inability of the American system of public education to meet the needs of its constituency is one of the most perplexing problems in U.S. society today. Scores of researchers, policy makers, school administrators, and teachers have been trying to figure out what to do about the entrenched problem of a largely ineffective school system (Hale-Benson, 1982; Kozol, 1991; Lomotey, 1978). Researchers and the like have been searching for solutions to the problem of a system that is ineffective overall and that now has trouble producing students who can compete with global peers (such as other Western nations). But researchers who are concerned about the miseducation and diseducation of first-language Spanish speakers, African Americans, and Asians are doubly miffed because the system appears unyielding to the many voices that have attempted to seek substantive change for those students (Ali & McWhirter, 2006; Contreras & Valverde, 1994; Lee, 1996; Orfield & Eaton, 1997). Whereas the concerns of all groups are equally important, it is a consistent fact that as a composite group Black children in U.S. schools are experiencing extreme difficulties (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004). In fact, Black children in the United States have experienced major difficulties since being allowed to be educated in U.S. schools (Anderson, 1988). The poor academic performance of such a large number of children of African descent is disgraceful. What is even more insidious is that even if the children began to perform better in the system, they would only be performing better in a system that at best miseducates them (Akoto, 1992). That is, the problem that Black children have is that they are between a rock and a hard placeon one hand, they are not performing well in U.S. public schools; on the other hand, Black students who do perform well are being trained away from the needs and interests of their own community. Perhaps the high drop-out rates of Black students in some parts of the country speak to the following conundrum: if you do not study or if you do not get good grades you fail, but if you do study and you do get good grades and you will be miseducated. Could it be that such a conundrum is felt by many our students, so they exit the system or treat it like it is a joke? In many states, half the Black students leave high school before getting their diplomas. For example, in 2006 Black students in South Carolina experienced a dropout rate near 50% (South Carolina Department of Education, 2006). In that same year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation conducted a study that found that the number one reason why Blacks were dropping out of school in South Carolina was because classes are not interesting. Several studies have discussed the lack of interest Black students have toward U.S. schooling. Instead of aiming to understand why many African American children do not value their schooling in the United States, many authors and

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scholars have chosen to focus on what some believe is a phenomenon called acting White. In short, acting White consists of a set of negative anti-intellectual behaviors exhibited by Black students toward their Black peers when those peers decide to study and learn. The problem with such an analysis is that acting White is obviously a symptom of a much larger problemthat Black children feel disconnected from U.S. schooling. Whereas much time and even media attention has been given to the acting White phenomenon (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Cook & Ludwig, 1998), scant work has been done that highlights the type of teaching that inspires children of African descent to become excited about learning and being intellectual. The purpose of this study is to investigate the broad practices, pedagogy, and demeanor of a teacher named Brother Ture, who uses Afrocentric methods to teach and reach his students. While he teaches them, virtually all of his students are engaged in the lessons, and the students connect with Brother Ture on a deep levelthey want to make him proud. Anti-intellectual behavior does not appear to be an issue for students in his classes. In fact, not only is anti-intellectual behavior a nonissue for these (all Black, mostly poor, and urban public charter school students), they become almost giddy when he stops them in the hallways and asks them facts about African, European, and American history. Throughout the day they come to him to share new things they learn outside his eighth-grade social studies/history classroom. This is an in-depth study of a teacher who has attracted much attention for his Afrocentric methods. In terms of the organization of this study, I first present a background that discusses Afrocentric education as a potential agent for change in U.S. schools. Second, I define Afrocentric education as a combination of culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1994, 2001) and Afrocentric ideology (Asante, 1998). Third, I present the Africalogical ethnographic biographical case study methodology used for this study. Fifth, I present the findings of the many observations, interviews, and analyses of biographical information related to Brother Ture. Sixth, I lay out implications of what this study could mean for public school educators, specifically in terms of their dispositions toward students. Finally, the conclusion section advises meaningful actions that could help to make the ideals of Afrocentric education more popularly known and authentically used.

Background
I have spent more than 15 years working in some capacity in the U.S. public schools (either as a classroom teacher, counselor, coordinator, presenter, researcher, school board member, consultant, etc.) in the following regions:

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Indianapolis, IN; Cincinnati, OH; Fairfax County,VA; Prince Georges County, MD; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Houston, TX; Aiken, SC; Chicago, IL; and Los Angeles, CA. I have spent the past 10 years in the position of being able to observe those public schools while charting the experiences of teachers, students, and administrators in African centered schools (some of which have been private and others public charter). I have noticed differences between Afrocentric educators and nonAfrocentric educators. I have never seen Afrocentric educators teaching to get through lessons regardless of students responses to what was being taught. Additionally, I have never seen an Afrocentric educator yell at a student or call him or her names. Conversely, while working as a fourth-grade reading and math teacher in Cincinnati, among the many degrading epithets I heard teachers say to students, one of the worst was when a teacher said to a student, Boy, youve got the brains of a dead gnat! My formal and informal observations of teaching practices around the country are not able to be summed up to a simple matter of small school versus big school or public school versus private school. Instead, my formal and informal observations of Afrocentric versus non-Afrocentric individual teaching has more to do with what I observe as the difference between teaching for students to learn (non-Afrocentric) and teaching for students to lead (Afrocentric). Often, Afrocentric teachers concern themselves with preparing students to be positive and proactive members of the Black community and because they have that as a goal, they teach with a certain passion and desperation in hopes that the students can understand the immediate urgency of the moment, which is filled with a need to regain dignity, security, and a strong sense of community among Blacks. I believe that it is with a sense of desperation that many Afrocentric teachers teach with such passion. They call the students kings and queens and sometimes brother or sister. They are desperate to regain in the Black community a sense of safety and security, dignity, and communal behavior. For example, Afrocentric teachers use accomplished historical figures such as the worlds first mathematical genius named Imhotep to encourage students not only that they can do math but that math was invented by their ancestors, so they can even change or improve mathematics. Afrocentric teachers often teach about Imhotep while showing pictures or busts of him. They also bring in history lessons during math class, and they might begin talking about the various monuments Imhotep engineered. When students meet content of this type of teaching, they become engaged in the subject matter that is being taught because the passion is met with math, social studies, art, and discussions all within one class.

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As mentioned before, most Afrocentric teachers are impassioned and desperate, and they mix those emotions together with their deep passion for African history and their knowledge of the reality of the global situation in which Africans now find themselves. What results from emotions and knowledge is an investment in the well-being and development of students, which in turn attracts the students to these teachers and creates a family atmosphere within schools wherein personal relationships are formed. Afrocentric teachers find creative ways to learn things about students families so they can tether those things in when they need to remind a student of the school-home connection. Considering that Afrocentric teachers such as Brother Ture are able to connect somewhat deeply with students and keep them engaged, it is a wonder why there are not more studies conducted on the pedagogy of Afrocentric educators. This case presents an Afrocentric teacher who brings immense amounts of passion, energy, African cultural knowledge, and diverse teaching styles to the classroom. Students report learning more from his class than from all their other classes put together. Whether they are exaggerating or not, they pay very close attention to what he is saying while he teaches them, they cooperate with him in every way imaginable, and they call him by phone late in the evening and early in the morning to discuss things that are happening in their lives. Brother Ture works as a public charter school teacher in a in a mostly Black, urban area of Boston. He is dedicated to the idea of being an Afrocentric teacher. This study poses a broad question: What can we learn from his example as an Afrocentric educator?

What Is Afrocentric Education?

Afrocentric education is the act of placing the needs of Black children at the center of their education. Rather than teaching Black children unneeded facts and unusable information (such as uncentered perspectives on historical matters, such as the Columbus story, which serves to confuse Black children), in general, Afrocentric education attempts to equip Black children with selfknowledge for the purpose of instilling in them a sense of agency for the purpose of nationbuilding (literally teaching Black children of their responsibility to reproduce and build families). More instructively, Afrocentric education is a process: 1. Teachers must become informed of who they are as African people. This includes learning about African cultural groups (such as Akan, Ewe, Hausa, Zulu, etc.) and adopting some of the practices of whichever

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group he or she chooses; however, the teacher must become familiar with the group through its indigenous practices and beliefs, not modern practices and beliefs. The eventual goal of this learning is to be initiated into an African cultural group. 2. As the teacher becomes evermore familiarized with the African cultural group, he or she uses aspects of what he or she is learning in the classroom. For example, if the teacher learns about how Africans greet one another, he or she might introduce the greeting (e.g., Habari Gani?), what is meant by the greeting, when it is used, the etymology behind the greeting, and so forth. 3. The teacher is consistent and understands that he or she is not doing the students a favor by being Afrocentric; he or she is simply doing the job of someone who teaches Black children. Afrocentric education theory and scholarship is outlined by seven constructs that are the building blocks of Afrocentric education. The constructs are as follows: identitythe importance of identifying the Black child as an African; pan Africanismthe idea that all Black people in the world are Africans; African culturethe long-standing tradition of Blacks using African culture to sustain themselves and bring order to their lives and communities; African values adoption and transmissioninclusion of an African ethos into educational process for Black children; Black nationalismthe idea that Blacks, regardless of their specific location, constitute a nation; community control with institution buildingthe ability to make important decisions about the institutions that exist in ones community; and education as opposed to schoolingeducation is the process of imparting upon children all things they need to provide leadership within their communities and within their nation, while schooling is a training process (Shockley & Frederick, 2010). Afrocentric teachers are observed in relation to their understanding and implementation of the seven constructs.

Method
Because the purpose of this study is to investigate the broad practices, pedagogy, and demeanor of a teacher named Brother Ture, who uses Afrocentric methods to teach and reach his students, the study is enhanced and supported by the Africalogical critical ethnographic biographical case study. Afrocentric scholarship is supported by the Afrocentric research methods that constitute Africalogy. Asante (1990) defined Africalogy as the Africentric study of

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phenomena, events, ideas, and personalities related to Africa (p. 14). Asante provides insight into the shape of the discipline of Africalogy: Centrism, the groundedness of observation and behavior in ones own historical experiences, shapes the concepts, paradigms, theories, and methods of Africalogy. In this way Africalogy secures its place alongside other centric pluralisms without hierarchy and without seeking hegemony. As a discipline, Africalogy is sustained by a commitment to centering the study of African phenomena and events in the particular cultural voice of the composite African people. Furthermore, it opens the door for interpretations of reality based in evidence secured by reference to the African world voice. (p. 12) Both ethnography and Africalogy require that researchers become familiar with the phenomena being studied. Cultural and social immersion is preferred over scientific distance. Asante explains that this [immersion] process in itself is extremely difficult because it means that the researcher must have some familiarity with the history, language, philosophy, and myths of the people under study (p. 27). In addition, ethnography requires prolonged engagement with participants in the study. I have spent 3 years tracking Brother Tures teaching and community outreach. In this research I advocate for what I identify as the imperatives of Africentric theory and education, and I employ reconceptualized critical theory as a basis for examining Afrocentric education practice. Critical theory is best understood as an attempt to confront the injustice of a particular society or public sphere within society (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2000, p. 291). This investigation was served by components of critical theory, namely I examined the teachers practice to see if he seemed to want to . . .serve students well and responsibly (Fine, Weis, Weseen, & Wong, 2000, p. 122), by adhering to the imperatives of Afrocentric education as advanced by Afrocentric educationists and scholars in the development of the constructs (which were laid out earlier). Biography includes writing about the life of another person and paying specific attention to the story they are trying to tell with their life. Stakes posit that the qualitative case study is characterized by researchers spending extended time, on site, personally in contact with activities and operations of the case, reflecting, revising meanings of what is going on (2000, p. 445) creates a perfect union between the characteristics of ethnographic and this biographical case study research. That is, I developed an understanding of the

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natives point of view by spending extended quality time with Brother Ture. In that same vein, I was also open to participate in various cultural activities that gave me a great deal of insight into the case. This study was guided by the following central question: What are the broad practices, philosophies, and community outreach work of Afrocentric educator Brother Ture, and how do those practices, philosophies, and outreaches help create an Afrocentric classroom where students are deeply engaged in what he is teaching?

Participant Selection
Brother Ture has been teaching at Boston Charter School (BCS) for 3 years, before which he taught for 2 years at a high school in Boston. He was 28 years old when this study began, and has already gained a reputation as an outspoken advocate for Black youth who is unapologetically Afrocentric in his beliefs. Before meeting him a few years ago, I was told by everyone that knew him about his energy and vitality. I wanted to find an Afrocentric educator who was a relatively young so I could track growth and development over the span of years. This study is ongoing and has been for about 3 years. Brother Ture was chosen for three major reasons: (a) He is very well known in his community for his work with children. (b) He embraces the notion of being Afrocentric and uses that label to self-describe; he also believes that Afrocentric teaching is the best type of teaching for Black students. (c) He was accessible for observation and interviews throughout the study. Perhaps I also wanted to choose a teacher that was not far from me in age (although I am older than Brother Ture is); I wanted to have great access to him for discussions and questions without having to worry about being disrespectful or inappropriate. Brother Ture was an excellent choice because he was very accessible, and fortunately he saw my research as an interesting addendum to his already busy lifestyle.

Data Analysis
Brother Ture provides mounds of data because he is so active and vital. To document his philosophies, practices, and community outreach, he first agreed to participate in both formal and informal interviews as well as classroom and outside-of-classroom observations. During the interview phase, I asked questions such as the following: What is an Afrocentric teacher and do you self-identify with all of the precepts of being Afrocentric? What kinds of things do you do in your classroom to create an Afrocentric learning

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experience? Why do you teach from an Afrocentric perspective? How do you describe the way you are? How do you become the way you are? How do you think your students see you? What do you think about Africa? Why do you think the way you think about Africa? What can you say to help me to understand the person you are? Observations were conducted over a 1.5-year period with more than 30 visits (most in Boston, but I did observe him when he relocated to Washington, DC, as well). BCS is a public charter school in Boston that is not billed as being Afrocentric. Brother Ture is the only Afrocentric teacher in the building, but he recruits incessantly. This work is part of is an ongoing, broad study of Afrocentric education that began in 2002. This specific line of inquiry began in the fall of 2006. Data were retrieved by means of classroom observations; attending Afrocentric education meetings and conventions; attending Brother Tures countless community meetings; invited guest speeches; organizational leadership cadre meetings; informal interviews of the students themselves; interaction and informal interviews with BCS faculty, staff, and administration; participation in African rituals and events with Brother Ture; and joining an Afrocentric parent community collective started by Brother Ture, which met after school hours at BCS. Data were secure in an electronic notebook, audio interviews and visual productions were also secured, and The Ethnograph v. 5.0 was used to assist with coding and data management.

Profile of an Afrocentric Teacher

I got my consciousness around eighth grade. I attended an all-White private school where I was called nigger so much that I began to think that was my name. Literally, just like in the movie, you know. Brother Ture, October 2008 Brother Ture is from Boston, Massachusetts. When this study began he was 28 years old and lived in an apartment in Roxbury, a mostly Black and urban area of Boston. One year after this study began, he moved back to Washington, DC, where he had lived before for 4 years while completing his undergraduate degrees in business and psychology at an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). He enjoys reading books by and about people of African descent; he is particularly impressed by the work, speeches, and personality of Asa Hilliard (the late educational psychologist and professor of education at Georgia State University). He regularly quotes Hilliard.

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He also quotes Khallid Muhammad at times (Muhammad is the late national spokesperson for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan). For example, Brother Ture constantly uses Muhammads saying, [Black people] lost their land, language, and our culture, and many of us, by the way we act, have even lost our mind! People are constantly asking Brother Ture how he is able to remember so many quotes. He uses the quotes throughout each day, especially when he is having difficulty dealing with students. The principal of BCS gave Brother Ture some special duties because, as she said, He is very talented at what he does, so why not let him use those talents? Particularly, she was talking about his ability to interact, empathize, and be in community with the students, parents, and other members of the community who come through the schools doors. Also, many of the teachers ask him to help with students they are unable to handle. When students are having difficulty they may come and talk with him in his office. On his desk in his office cubicle are pictures of Malcolm X, a sketch picture of a Black man fighting off some wolves as he protects his wifeon the picture it says, The Maroons. Also on his desk are statuettes of African kings and Imhotep. There is a calendar of Black women, and on the same picture is a quote from professor Naim Akbar that says, Whatever we can do to facilitate learning on the one hand and loving on the other is important, because those are the most healing forces available to us. The desk is cluttered, but also on the cubicle walls are pictures of him and his students, African masks, and a Blueprint for freedom. There are also pictures on the back wall of Afrocentric education consultant Jawanza Kunjufu, Khallid Muhammad, Afrocentric historian John G. Jackson, Afrocentric investigator Ivan Van Sertima, Afrocentric psychologist Amos Wilson, African centered scholar ben Jochannan, Afrocentric cultural critic Marimba Ani, Afrocentric historian Theophile Obenga, Afrocentric psychologist Bobby Wright, African centered historian John Henrick Clarke, Afrocentrist Molefi Asante, and Afrocentric anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop. Atop all these pictures is a photo of him and Asa Hilliard on a study tour in Egypt. There are student papers on the walls with grades on them. There is a notice for a parent meeting on his desk, written by him. It reads, Parent Meetings: Please join us for our next parent meeting. We will discuss fundraising, school policy, community outreach and other topics. Future meetings will be held every second Tuesday of the month. Brother Ture is founder and coordinator of an Afrocentric parent group at BCS. I was fortunate that Brother Ture found me to be a person of trust because it opened doors for me that otherwise would have been closed. For example, I was able to capture elements of his beliefs and practice because he made

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himself available to me on most occasions. In what follows, I offer a portrait of a typical day with Brother Ture. I begin the evening before upon my flight landing in Boston. My observation trips there were all marked by the extraordinary energy of Brother Ture and his passion for his work with Black students.

The Gifts of Brother Ture: Energy, Knowledge, and Relationship Building for Transformation
Bostons Logan Airport is not the most interesting sight to see. After adamantly refusing to let me rent a car or take public transportation, on most occasions Brother Ture would get up extra early to pick me up from the airport and drive me to the school; I arrived in the evening, he would drive me to my hotel or to any one of his many meetings. When he would pull up, the airport would become more interesting. He drove a small maroon Honda Civic with red, black, and green seat covers and cultural displays on the outside of the car. Inevitably someone would ask, How are you gonna get in that car? because I am of rather large size and the car is miniature! I would always make due. As we drove haphazardly through the streets of Boston to the school, I was constantly frightened at the way the drivers seemed to see one another as nuisances with which to share the roadthey drive with reckless abandon, and Brother Ture is no exception. The fear was real. I sighed with relief when we finally pulled into the school parking lot. As we walked into the school, other teachers would say, Hi Brother Ture! He would answer, Habari Gani? (Kiswahili for What good news do you have?) They would respond, Habari Gani! and smile. Getting in the door of the school took at least 15 minutes every time I visited, even when it was ten degrees below zero outside. The reason it took so long is because Brother Ture found a reason to stop and talk with every person he saw before entering the building. Sometimes it would be a student; sometimes teachers would be trying to hurry into the building because it was freezing outside, and Brother Ture would talk with them as if he did not feel the cold. On one occasion I said, Why dont you all carry it inside? The other teacher said, Yea! Brother Ture said, Uh, hold on, just one more question. All of his discussions were always about something related to a student. Before classes begin each day, students must line up outside on the playground in an orderly fashion. Before the day begins, Brother Ture might be offering me a tour of the school or something of that sort, then he would say, Hold up brother, I gotta go get my warriors! Then he would literally skip down the stairs to go back outside to greet the students. On many occasions

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it was so cold my tear ducts would let the water stream. Once the students said to him, Ah, you were late today! He was about 2 minutes later getting outside than normal. When he got out there he would say things like, Okay, lets get our minds Black! Who said, We can accomplish what we will! The students yelled, Marcus Garvey! The students looked somewhat cold. I was extremely cold. Brother Ture appeared to not feel the cold at all. He went on and on, asking students to recite things, such as the school pledge. They said it. What did Malcolm X say about chickens? They said, They come home to roost! Approximately 65 middle school students all knew him and responded to him; they were not talking to one another. More students began trickling in the later it got. When the bell finally rang, the students looked at Brother Ture. He held one finger up in the air and almost all of them got quiet. He put up a second finger and they straightened up in the line. He then put up a third finger and they turned to the left, then a fourth one and they turned to the right. I thought about the Malcolm X story where he had such control and organization over members of the Nation of Islam. Then he pointed at the door, and they all quietly quietly up the steps into the school. Before breaking the threshold, however, they shook hands with Brother Ture and the school principal. Sometimes the principal was there for those greetings and sometimes she was not. When she was not, he would ask me to stand in and shake hands. While greeting them he would say, Habari Gani! Welcome back home. I know youre gonna have a great day today, right? They would answer affirmatively. After they got into the building, Brother Ture would inevitably have to deal with a situation. For example, on one morning a student who had attended the school had been shot and killed the evening before school. BCS administration worried that some of his friends were planning to retaliate against the shooters. The administration did not know how to talk with students about the situation, so they asked Brother Ture to see what he could find out. Brother Ture intervened and found out that a retaliation was planned. So he told the administrators, If yaw dont want these students to shoot nobody, dont get the police involved just yet. They obliged. Brother Ture called the parent of the student at most risk for retaliation. For two weeks after the incident Brother Ture drove that student in his car to and from school. While in the car, Brother Ture would say, Do you know why the Hutu and the Tutsi people of Rwanda fought and killed one another? The student would say no. He told him, Because the Europeans told them that they were different, but really they were the same. He would continue, You know why Biggie Smalls and Tupac are both dead? Because one was from east of the plantation and one was from west of it. He would ask questions and dialogue with the

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student. One day the student said, But you look like a punk when your boys get shot and you dont do nothing about it. Brother Ture said, Most of the young Black kids your age who are under the ground right now six feet under are there because they didnt wanna look like no punk. The student seemed to be in deeper reflection every day for those two weeks. As of the end of this study in Boston, no retaliation took place. Brother Ture has a very in-your-face way with students. But he gets in their face and ostensibly says, I care about you and I love you. He never interacts with a student without tethering in some information about Africa. Students respond to him by first acting as if they do not understand where in the world he is coming from. But often, by the end of the interaction, they are on board. When he walks down the hallway and sees students, he says things like Tell me one thing about Queen Hatshepsut or Who was Mama Queen Nzingha? or Who wrote Blueprint for Black Power? Sometimes students stop him. For example, Imani stopped him and said, Brother Ture I bet you dont know what today is! He answered, What is it? The student said, Today is Harriet Tubmans birthday! He relishes in those moments and then begins a quiz session with student.

Transformation and Teaching

Brother Ture teaches social studies and history. Moments before class, the students stood in the hallway quietly waiting on his instructions. He spoke to them as they waited to enter saying, I know youre all going to be strong today in class right? He asked the class what the first thing was they were going to do when they entered the classroom. One male student answered, Sit our ladies down first. He said, Right. After they entered the classroom, he said, Ladies, do you feel safe? They replied affirmatively. Then he said, You can not learn if you dont feel safe. He also told the students, I have to present at a prison this weekend, and you know whatI have to sneak this information in to them. He was referring to a packet of Malcolm X readings. In the packet it outlined and talked about a Black tradition of excellence. The students worked quietly on their reading. He said, You gotta read to lead. He asked, Whats the best way to keep a secret from a Black person? The students replied, Put it in a book. A student wanted to elaborate and he let her stand up and talk. He asked, How did Frederick Douglas learn how to read? She explained his study of the alphabet. The packet had a number of different Black leaders in itMartin Delaney, Ida B. Wells, and so forth. It emphasized Malcolm X. The students read for the first 15 minutes of class.

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After reading, he told the students to get up. They moved some of the desks. A girl was lifting her desk. He said to one of the male students, You aint gon help the sista out? The student took the desk and helped. He had a ball. He said, If youre gonna be a revolutionary you gotta be able to speak to the people. He bounce passed the ball a few times. The students stood in a circle for the activity. He said, Give me three things a circle represents in our culture. A student said, unity and peace. Another one said, love. Then he said, Heres what were gonna do, Im gonna ask you some questions about Malcolm, Ill pass the ball to you, you have to catch the ball and answer. Ashe? (Ok?) They responded, Ashe. He passed the ball to a student and said, Who can tell me something about Malcolm? She replied, He used to be called Detroit Red! Then that student passed to another student and asked a question. They continued the game. He kept it lively with lots of interjections of things like Defense! Defense! Defense! He called students names out with enthusiasm and a little silliness. He would ask questions like How do European and African cultures differ? He would also ask, How are they similar? He smiled and grinned as he watched the students saying excellent! when they offered information. The students laughed but were focused on his questions and their answers. He told the students to all sway from side to side as they waited for the ball to be thrown to them. Students discussed Betty X Shabazz; Malcolm Little; one student mentioned that Malcolm was shot 19 times. They struggled to remember Betty Shabazzs maiden name. He played this ball game with them about other history factsa few of them were related to the Boston public school standardized assessment tool. The students recalled many things. One said, When Malcolm X was in jail he came under the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He told the students to raise their hands if they have had a teacher who put them down or hurt their feelings. Some raised hands. He said, What did Malcolm do when that happened? A student said, He learned from it. Brother Ture said, We know from history we shouldnt let a teacher do what? They replied, Take us down. A student mentioned that Malcolm X lived in New York. Next he said, You guys are gonna be news reporters and heres what were gonna do, were gonna go back to 1963, youre in a public forum and back in the day when news reporters had paper and pencil. Set your chairs up around the projector. He said, Are you news reporters for NBC, ABC, or CBS? They said no. He said, Right, youre news reporters for the Black newspaper. He continued with a quote from Afrocentric reporter Listervelt Middleton: Minute by minute, hour by hour . . . Finish the quote. They could not. He helped them: as you lose your history you lose your . . . They responded, Power! They moved the desks around again,

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this time for the reporter exercise. He continued with the lesson by saying, I have a question for you guys: When news reporters talk, do they stand up? They said, Yes. He replied, Okay, lets keep that same norm for this. The students sat around the LCD. Desks were out of the way. One student pulled the shades down. He got his PowerPoint prepared. Because the unit was on Malcolm X, the presentation was called The Dynamic Leadership of Malcolm X. He announced that in the last class one of his students had 13 pages of notes. He said, If your hand starts to hurt you know youre doing something. He said when youre in college others will be sitting next to you and their hand will hurt, but will yours hurt, no, because youll be like, We did that with Brother Tures class. When the PowerPoint was almost complete, he put on a pair of glasses like Malcolm Xs and read some of the information on the slide as though he was Malcolm X with some call and response. All in the same class, as demonstrated above, Brother Ture incorporates critical thinking, cultural relevancy, Afrocentrism, critical questioning, reasoning, discussion, analysis, call and response, soft technology, and has students intensely engaged in the topic. Most Afrocentric educators do the same; that is, they incorporate multiple pedagogical styles of instruction into the classroom, but all of their stylistics are relevant to the Black childrens culture and learning styles. The level of student engagement and care about what is being learned is high. Students bring in their prior knowledge of the topics. Information that relates to the standardized test is intermitted throughout his lessons. He does not complain about the standardized test, nor does he use it as an excuse to not teach African information. His interactions with students demonstrate that he really wants to be doing what he is doing. He is motivated and revived when the students demonstrate they have learned information that he sees as, in his own words, what warriors need to know in order to survive the war. His belief is that Blacks are in a war with the White supremacist educational system, which is miseducating Black children. I asked Brother Ture why he uses so many proverbs in his daily practice. He said, Proverbs can be used for so many different things. Proverbs are so powerful that you can correct an elder with proverbs. You can use them when things are good, you can use them when things are bad. Then he joked, saying, With proverbs its like a liquor storewhen times are good you use them, when times are bad you use them. Then I asked him why he let the students call him on his cell phone regularly. He said, Because they may

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need me. His answers to things are usually short and to the point. He likes to stay focused on all of the daily happenings in the school and finds little time to shoot the breeze. He is a dedicated worker. After his afternoon social studies class, the Dean of Students (who is actually in charge of discipline) brought a student to Brother Ture and said the student was behaving badly. Brother Ture said to the student, Whats the problem? Every time I pull you over (have to reprimand you) I invest power in you so whos failing? The student responded, Both of us. The student began to explain what happened. He said to the student, I think youre brilliant beyond any test we could possibly give you, but because you cant practice your word for the week, which is what? Student said, Positive behavior. Brother Ture said, Exactly. But I think you and I are soon gonna be separated because you keep getting into trouble. He reminded the student of the trouble he was in yesterday. He said, Yesterday you said you were doing your work but you were not doing it. I think thats an integrity issue. He asked the student why hes not becoming better. He told the student, Come here. Brother Ture stood up holding his right hand next to the wall as high as he could raise it and said, Thats my expectation of you. Then, he said, Is that where your behavior is? The student said, No. Brother Ture said, Where is your behavior? Student placed his hand low to indicate low behavior. Next, Brother Ture showed Her em Akhet (the Sphinx) and explained that it was Heru on the Horizon. He explained the Her em Akhets symbol of the human head on the lions body signifies that you must rise above your beastly instinct. He worked with the student so that the student could understand that the brain rises above and we use our brains to control our actions. He said, In order for us to reach higher levels of intelligence our brain must go above our bodies. Because if we dont were animals. I was surprised at what the student said next. He said, This is what I expect to learn like in college. Im getting a head start. Brother Ture said, Do you get it? The student responded affirmatively. Brother Ture said, Then I dont want you doing things that are going to violate our ancestors. Brother Ture has energy, knowledge of Africa, and close connection with the community by being in a number of organizations; he started one called Awake Your African Mind (AYAM)! He does not seem to tire because he enjoys working with the students so much that it actually gives him energy. When they behave well, he finds a way to get them to think of their behavior as an example of African excellence. When they behave badly, he uses Africans who did the right thing (such as Dessalines or Rosa Parks) as an example of good behavior that should be followed. He is able to constantly pull in examples related to Africa because he reads incessantly. While many

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teachers are talking negatively about students during their lunch hour, Brother Ture pulls out a book and completely ignores the conversation. Some of the teachers are annoyed by his dedication to the cause of Afrocentric education and his decision to be an advocate for students. He uses his community connections to expose the students to a number of different people. He invites guest speakers from the community into his classroom on a regular basis. Brother Tures work at BCS can serve as an example of the type of workers needed in public schools all around the United Statescommitted and consistent workers who do not try to thwart Afrocentric efforts, those who try to enhance Afrocentric efforts, and people who are lifelong learners.

Implications
Afrocentric education is marginalized in mainstream discussions because some people are uncomfortable with the notion of dealing with Black peoples reality for prolonged periods of time. In other words, reminders of the atrocities that African Americans have faced (such as slavery, lynching, Black codes, etc.) make many educators (of all races) very uncomfortable. But the problem is that by not dealing with the atrocities, people simultaneously operate outside of a land of reality. In the make-believe world where Black people are simply members of a minority group just like others (such as Asians, Indians, etc.), Black people suffer continuously because they are not in the same reality with other groups. Not only are Blacks involuntary minorities (Ogbu, 1993), they were subjected to codes and laws that no other group ever had to experience. One such law was that in some states a Black person could not look out the same window as a White person (Anderson, 1994). The history of discrimination and racism against people of African descent has placed them in a special circumstance, and standardized education ignores that circumstance. This study highlights a teacher who is doing excellent work with the children in his classroom. What would happen if teachers expressed more energy and more knowledge of Africa and were able to demonstrate that they cared about and love Black people? How would such teaching and relationship building make a difference for the children? It certainly could only turn what is happening now into a positive direction. What if teacher education programs emphasized the kind of teaching and relationship building Brother Ture accomplishes so that teachers who are going to be working with urban, inner city, Black children could have an example of a type of teaching that works for Black children? Many of Brother Tures students have said to me that he is the only teacher who has ever really taught them something. What

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does that say about the rest of what is going on in the classrooms where those students sit every day? Teacher education programs seem to wish to repel against anything Afrocentric, and this is not to the detriment of anyone more than it is to Black children. Furthermore, education policy should reflect the fact that Afrocentric education is one of the only truly sensible approaches to educating Black children. This is true because Black children are not sitting in Americas classrooms as members of the society whose ancestors decided that they wanted a better way of life. Instead, African American children sit in classrooms representing a group of people who had virtually everything (including their culture, their language, and their folkways) stolen from them. Hence, they need an education that is reminiscent of their own special situation. It is unscrupulous that Afrocentric education offers a resolve for the miseducation of Black children, yet no real efforts to understand it and make sure that Black children are exposed to it exist en masse anywhere in the United States today.

Conclusions
Education researchers and the like should spend more time trying to make sure that Afrocentric education is no longer trivialized. The trivialization is in statements such as Well, dont you think all children should have the same education? If askers of that question were serious, they would ask themselves first whether all children get the same treatment in this country. Are there disproportionate numbers of Blacks represented in almost every negative sphere one can think of (from health problems to unemployment)? The answer is yes, so if different things are happening to Blacks for whatever reason, then their education should be delivered in such a way that they can address those issues. Another trivialization that is discussed is whether Afrocentric education works. I know many readers will initially wonder how that trivializes, but to ask if an education that is centered on the very people it is trying to reach works is an intellectual sleight-of-hand. Whereas Afrocentric education has much growing to do, no other education will suffice because there must be an accounting for Black childrens knowing who they are so they can fulfill their missions. Simply put, Afrocentric education is a type of education that forces teachers to exist inside the African reality during the time they are teaching Black studentsits a simple thing that for some reason keeps getting missed.

Shockley Declaration of Conflicting Interests

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The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

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Bio
Kmt Shockley, PhD, is a professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, USA. Kmt Shockleys research interests include African centered education, education leadership, and teacher education.