"The Undefeated" Rating: 5 of 5
"That is My Dream!" Rating: 5 of 5
"I, Too, Am America" Rating: 4.5 of 5
Overview
Happy Thanksgiving! For some, this holiday evokes feelings of patriotism. For others, it serves as a sore reminder of our country's history of oppression. For me, it is a time for celebrating family.
Those of you who read my "Tribute to Toni" post know that I come from a multi-racial family. My father is half black and my mother is white. For my dad's side of the family, holidays are a time of great pride, a time in which we honor the stories of our black (and white) ancestors who labored ceaselessly for racial justice. This year, I happened to come across a text, titled "The Undefeated," that captures my own feelings of pride and indebtedness to the African American heroes that have fought and continue to fight for racial justice. Reading "The Undefeated" brought me to reflect upon the incorporation of black history into year-round curriculum. In this post, I shine the spotlight on three picture books that celebrate black history; next, I examine how books such as these can be integrated into grades 6-8 of the Michigan Social Studies curriculum.
A Brief Introduction to the Texts
"The Undefeated" by Kwame Alexander
- contains breathtaking illustrations by Kadir Nelson, Caldecott and NAACP Image Award winner. The illustrations include images of notable African American historical figures.
- is written in free verse. The verses allude to key African Americans in history.
- contains a glossary in the back of the book that lists the African Americans alluded to in the text and provides brief descriptions of their accomplishments.
- holds a somber yet hopeful tone as it references times of devastation, as well as times of victory.
- parallels atrocities done to African Americans of the past (e.g. the four young girls killed in the 1963 Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham) with more recent atrocities (e.g. the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice)
- references words of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.
- works well with jigsaw grouping activity. Pairs of students could be assigned to different pages in the book and could use the glossary to build deeper meaning of their assigned pages. Then groups could present their understanding to the class, working chronologically (i.e. the pair assigned to pages 1 and 2 would share, then the pair assigned to pages 3 and 4, etc.)
Check out this book trailer!
"That is My Dream"by Langston Hughes
Illustrated by Daniel Miyares
- was composed in honor the poem by Langston Hughes titled "Dream Variation." The entirety of the text in the book is lines from this poem.
- contains stunning watercolor illustrations that make the racial message of the poem more explicit. They truly make Hughes' words come alive! These provide a great tool for students who are building skills in poetry analysis; they can support skills of identifying allusions and analyzing figurative language.
- provides insight into the experiences of African Americans prior to the desegregation of Civil Rights Movement and the hopes many black people held for fair treatment and inclusion.
"I, Too, Am America" by Langston Hughes
Illustrated by Bryan Collier
- is inspired by Langston Hughes' poem titled "I, Too." The words are all lines from the poem. The illustrator endows the poem with new meaning by taking its far-reaching message of racial oppression and applying it to the specific example of the Pullman porters, black railway workers who served white passengers on luxury railcars. Their work on the luxury railcars made them ever-cognizant of the distinct privileges afforded to white people on account of their race.
- subtly shows how Pullman porters resisted racial oppression by acting as "distributor[s] of knowledge" by "gathering newspapers, magazines, blues and jazz albums, and other items left behind by traveling passengers" and giving them "to those who couldn't afford these items on their own" (Hughes & Collier 29). As they traveled around the country, the Pullman porters caught wind of radical new ideas— ideas that could bring about justice for African Americans— and spread those new ideas to other parts of the country.
- conveys how the ideas they spread still influence us, how the vision for racial justice possessed by many of the Pullman porters is beginning to be realized in the present day.
Teaching These Texts Together
"The Undefeated," "That is My Dream," and "I, Too, Am America" form a text set that is effective for instilling in students a due sense of pride and indebtedness towards African Americans for the work they have done in our country to build a collective understanding of the principles of compassion, respect, and justice.
These texts complement each other. "The Undefeated" provides a broad vision of the sacrifices made by black individuals and their resilience and courage in the face of injustice. "That is My Dream" provides deeper insight into some of the pre-Civil Rights references in the "Undefeated," and captures the longing many African Americans felt for a solution to the racial exclusion. "I, Too, Am America" zooms in even further, by providing an example of one group's labors for racial justice.
Incorporating Black History into 6-8 Social Studies Curriculum
Black history and contemporary race-related issues need to be taught throughout the year, not just during the month of February. Teaching black history and following state-mandated curriculum guidelines can go hand-in-hand. Below are social studies standards for grades 6-8 that align with teaching black history and current race relations.
6th Grade Standards That Invite Race Talk
- "Identify global issues" (6 – G6.1.1)
- "Develop a plan for action: • share and discuss findings of research and issue analysis in group discussions and debates. • compose a persuasive essay justifying a position with a reasoned argument. • develop an action plan to address or inform others about the issue, at local to global scales" (6 – G6.1.3)
- "Demonstrate knowledge of how, when, and where individuals would plan and conduct activities intended to advance views in matters of public policy, report the results, and evaluate effectiveness" (6 – P4.2.1)
- "Participate in projects to help or inform others" (6 – P4.2.3)
7th Grade Standards That Invite Race Talk
- "Identify the role of the individual in history and the significance of one person’s ideas." (7 – H1.2.6)
- "Describe and use themes of history to study patterns of change and continuity." (7– H1.4.2)
- "Use historical perspectives to analyze global issues faced by humans long ago and today." (7 – H1.4.3)
- "Identify factors that contribute to conflict and cooperation between and among cultural groups." (7 – G4.4.1)
-"Clearly state an issue as a question of public policy in contemporary or historical context, or as a contemporary/historical comparison. Trace the origins of an issue, analyze and synthesize various perspectives, and generate and evaluate alternative resolutions. Deeply examine policy issues in group discussions and debates to make reasoned and informed decisions. Write persuasive/argumentative essays expressing and justifying decisions on public policy issues. Plan and conduct activities intended to advance views on matters of public policy, report the results, and evaluate effectiveness" (7 – P3.1.1)
- "Engage in activities intended to contribute to solving a national or international problem studied." (7 – P4.2.2)
8th Grade Standards That Invite Race Talk
*Below are just a few examples; since 8th grade narrows in on American history post-Revolution, countless standards center on race and, particularly, on the treatment of African Americans and their gradual gaining of rights.
- "Describe the major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention, including... the enslavement of Africans as a regional and federal issue" (8 – U3.3.3)
- "Comparing the Northeast and the South – compare and contrast the social and economic systems of the Northeast, the South... and the development of: • agriculture, including changes in productivity, technology, supply and demand, and price. • the labor force, including labor incentives and changes in labor forces. • race relations" (8 – U4.2.1)
- "The Institution of Slavery – explain the ideology of the institution of slavery, its policies, and consequences." (8 – U4.2.2)
- "develop an argument based on evidence about the positive and negative consequences of territorial and economic expansion on Indigenous Peoples, efforts to maintain and sustain the institution of slavery, and the relations between free and slave-holding states."(8 – U4.2.4)
- "Describe the formation and development of the abolitionist movement by considering the roles of key abolitionist leaders and the response of southerners and northerners to the abolitionist movement." (8 – U4.3.2)
Supplementary Reading
...About the Modern-Day Enslavement of Blacks:
Teacher Read: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Student Read: "Visiting Day" By Jacqueline Woodson
... About Learning to Talk About Race:
Teacher Read: White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Student Read: "Say Something" by Peter Reynolds
All of these book selections seem like great, informational texts. It is very important that we not only learn about some heroes of African- American culture but we celebrate a group of people that are not recognized as much as they should. I have not read any of these texts but after reading your reviews I can tell that they would be fantastic books to have in the classroom and plan a lesson around. I cannot wait to read some of these. I was intrigued the most by "The Undefeated". I had learned about the first example you gave about the church bombing and was always intrigued by that story. It is important to not only look at the pos…
I have read The Undefeated recently and to relate it to present day America with the Black Lives Matter movement continuing to grow is something so powerful. As I sit here writing this comment, I am discovering the news that Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of all counts against the killing of George Floyd, and to read this book and tie in into what is happening in 2021 is very emotional, frustrating, yet humbling. I love this book because it discusses how America was oppressed for quite some time, yet it also discussed the positivity within and where we have grown in some areas. There is definitely more that needs to be done, but change and reform is the…
I just finished reading The Undefeated because I picked it up as I was out at the library grabbing another book for this class. It was absolutely awesome to have your information delve me deeper into the references this book gave. Now I understand the four broken picture frames were a representation of the four girls lost at the bombing in Birmingham. I recently read the Watson's go to Birmingham. I think The Undefeated book would connect well with that one. I think your jigsaw activity would be very fitting for a book like The Undefeated as it holds so much meaning behind every single page. That is such a practical way to teach the book, so thank you very…
I have not read The Undefeated yet, but after reading your post and watching the short trailer, I put it on my list to read. I believe that there are so many great minorities who have done so much for their race and culture in the past and this book seems like a great informational piece on some of them. At least where I am from we did not spend much time talking about the bad times of American history, but this book seems like it will show the struggles these individuals faced before accomplishing small and eventually great things. Also, learning to appreciate and have pride in not only African-American history, but all races would help to appreciate one…
I truly appreciate the depth and analysis that you went into for each of the books listed! I think it is so important to continue discussing African-American history and how others are still fighting today to end modern day racism. As an ally to the Black Lives Matter movement, I hope that I can inspire my students to continue to remain knowledgable on the racial issues occurring today, as well as the history that got us here. In my current English class we are working on a project to put together a text set based around a central theme that they share. The theme that I am working with is slavery. I'm excited to begin reading books surrounded with African-American…