Yearly Archives: 2020

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

Posted on February 3, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Long Walk to Freedom: The autobiography (1994) of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), the first black president of South Africa, who, under the apartheid regime, had been jailed for three decades, largely on Robben Island. The title is said to have been inspired by the words in ‘From Lucknow to Tripuri,’ and essay (1939) by Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), who was to become the first prime minister of independent India:

There is not easy walk-over to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow again and again before we reach the mountain-tops of our desire.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Everyday Edit: Tuskegee Airmen

Posted on February 3, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is an Everyday Edit worksheet on the Tuskegee Airmen. As I say every time I post one of these documents, if you and your students like them, the good people at Education World generously give away a yearlong supply of them.

And if you find typos on this document, well, that’s the purpose of them; edit and repair as needed!

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Malcolm X on Self-Defense

Posted on February 3, 2020 | Leave a comment

“There is nothing in our book, the Koran, that teachers us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That’s a good religion.

Message to the Grass Roots” (Speech), Detroit, Michigan, 10 November 1963″

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

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Independent Practice: Mali

Posted on February 3, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here, to start the week on a Monday morning, and in observation of Black History Month 2020, is an independent practice worksheet on Mali.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (and Paul Laurence Dunbar)

Posted on January 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A volume of memoirs (1970) by the African-American writer, singer, and actress Maya Angelou (1928-2014). Angelou borrowed her title—a metaphor for the African-American experience—from the US writer Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906):

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore—

When he beats his bars and he would be free;

It is not a carol of joy or glee,

But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—

I know why the caged bird sings!

Paul Lawrence Dunbar: ‘Sympathy,’ in The Complete Poems (1895)

Dunbar may have been inspired by an earlier line:

When caged birds sing, when indeed they cry.

John Webster: The White Devil (1612), V.iv

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

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Cultural Literacy: James Weldon Johnson

Posted on January 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

Allow me to close out this Friday afternoon, and a difficult week, with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on James Weldon Johnson. He was a highly influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and it is nearly impossible to underestimate his influence on that efflorescence of culture in the United States.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar

Posted on January 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

[The beautiful Dunbar Apartments in Harlem are named for Paul Laurence Dunbar. Let me mention editorially that I am mildly uncomfortable with this entry’s association of Dunbar with Thomas Nelson Page. Dunbar, in my own view, was sui generis as a poet. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia has a tendency–especially in older entries like this one–to discount the originality of African-American writers.]

“Paul Laurence Dunbar: (1872-1906) American poet. Dunbar is noted for his highly skilled use of black themes and dialect. Writing at a time when literary regionalism was in vogue, he was undoubtedly influenced by Thomas Nelson Page. Dunbar was the son of a slave, but became the most famous African-American poet of his time. He exercised a great influence on later writers. Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896) is his most famous collection. It was followed by Lyrics of the Hearthside (1899), Lyrics of Love and Laughter (1903), and Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow. He also wrote novels, including The Uncalled (1898) and The Sport of the Gods (1902).”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Posted in Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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Everyday Edit: Hank Aaron

Posted on January 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

Here is an Everyday Edit worksheet on Hank Aaron. If you and your students like this worksheet, the generous proprietors of Education World, who give away a year’s supply of them at their website.

If you find typos on this worksheet, that’s the point of the work. Ask students to proofread for errors, and then repair them.

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Muhammad Ali on Maintaining His Busy Schedule

Posted on January 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

“Not only do I knock ‘em out, I pick the round.”

Muhammad Ali

Quoted in N.Y. Times, 9 December 1962

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

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Independent Practice: Songhai Empire

Posted on January 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

OK, folks tomorrow begins Black History Month 2020. Circumstances impel me, as they do every February, to editorialize briefly in saying that if Americans are honest with themselves about the history of the United States, then every month is Black History Month. That said, I am distinctly uncomfortable second-guessing the founders of Black History Month, particularly Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

So, let’s start the month off with this independent practice worksheet on the Songhai Empire.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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