Considering the Texas Textbook Scandal, is there a national Pan African American history curriculum for K-12 and college level? There should be.
Contained within the organizations of the National Urban League and the NAACP are many, many educated professionals who know how and what
components comprise a proper school curriculum for all levels. Why not create a joint task force/partnership between the two organizations and create a national Pan African American history curriculum?
When we take leadership seriously and control our own history and information as a group, no one will change it, no one will challenge it.
No one changes Jewish and Hebrew history. They send their children to school to learn it. They are in control of keeping their cultural identity alive.
They take responsibility for it. African Americans should mimic that and control our historical identity so that no one does it for us.
On the TJ Holmes CNN blog website, a woman who said she writes textbooks
for a living pointed out that textbooks can be made to order as to highlight each state's contribution to American history or whatever.
On May 22nd, "maryann warren" said, "I write textbooks . . . and the major
publishers make an edition ONLY FOR TEXAS! Everything in that edition is NOT put into the National Edition. Other states also have their own
editions to meet their specific standards and "play up" their state history. So please don't panic people nationwide about good old Texas and
their unique material in social studies. science, and even health..."Additionally, any information disseminated within a textbook
should be made as accurate as possible by passing through a system of checks and balances. That history, in turn, can be taught in our churches
and community groups; made available to parents to read and teach to our children; placed into books at every reading level so that whosoever is
willing, can learn about our African American history, with African Americans serving as gatekeepers.
Those outside the race will continue to use us and any other group to their advantage and our disadvantage--that is just the way it is. What are
we doing that we cannot properly monitor our own history and information pertaining to it? Managing African American history alone is capable of creating a new commerce in which to employ people full-time to manage it.
Is the management of our historical information worth it? Are we worth it to ourselves?
I guess the first hurdle will be making the agreement or commitment to
work with ourselves, amongst ourselves.
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