Success for Black Boys

In my attempt at thinking of a possible way that communities can support schools… (without being aware of the current research and literature), I would propose that community members focus on what Black males ARE reading and writing and recommend that the gained knowledge be integrated in school curriculum to promote literacy. It is my assumption that literacy (reading and writing) becomes challenging to Black males (mostly) when it comes to writing. Some scholars will note the connection of masculinity to academics (e.g. reading, writing) and I believe it is important to emphasize especially when it comes to writing. Because writing is such a personal practice (hence – it utilizes the body when practiced, is created by the individual based on what he has learned, comes from within, penmanship is considered – motor skills, etc.) it has the potential to leave damaging and long lasting effects & affects (if you will) on a Black male if his efforts are thwarted by negative criticism, low motivation, and failure. I believe there is much room for research when regarding masculinity formation and the writing curriculum. The subject of reading may hold more promise in integrating aspects of community involvement. A focused community effort on aspects of reading (with future goals of being fully literate) and its connection with writing may lead to further interest sparked to create initial curiosity for Black males to become competitively literate. It is my hunch that if one were to compare the subjects of reading and writing and its use by Black males, one would probably find that reading is more utilized based on its visual attributes etc… In short, Black boys are reading a lot (especially with the advent of technology…) and if we – as a community can spark some interest in the importance of what is read and its possible connections to writing, we will have a more literate Black male population.

The word SCIENCE isn't mentioned in that article but GOOD science fiction books make science more interesting than most teachers. Now the internet provides access to some of it really cheap.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24161/24161-h/24161-h.htm

That story is from 1959 and about finding water on the Moon. NASA just bobmed the Moon to find water in October of 2009.

Now these $400 netbooks are more powerful than 1980 mainframes that cost $3,000,000 back then but how does a 9 year old figure out what is truly productive to do with one?

As a librarian, I have encouraged young black males to read books of experience and literature that will encourage them to become productive citizens. Having a strong library with a Librarian who is vested into the promotion of reading will help encourage this goal. Genres from fiction to historical ficition should be at thier reach. Young Black males should have conversations with african-american male authors and writers and use this experience to encourage them to read more.

But now we have devices like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCHHAFyp9I0

So how do we decide what to do with them? Just using it as an e-book reader is a good idea.

Black Man's Burden
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32390/32390-h/32390-h.htm
Border, Breed Nor Birth
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30639/30639-h/30639-h.htm

Those stories are from the 60s. Before Star Trek even. But they are more relevant to Black Americans today than most science fiction. But is our educational system making the most use of this technology to educate children as efficiently as possible? I think not. Why don't we have something as simple as a national recommended reading list after all of these decades? Can grade school kids learn more with a $400 device than they can with that. It is more powerful than a $3,000,000 mainfram from 1980. It just isn't as cool as a $400 netbook.

Malcolm X could have read those stories. I wonder what he would have thought of them.