Status and Trends in the Education of Blacks -- an Oct. 2003 report by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The Economic Mobility of Black and White Families -- a 2007 report by the Pew Charitable Trust Foundation comparing the economic progress of Black and White families -- the data show that the gap is widening.
Unequal Opportunity Lenders: Analyzing Racial Disparities in Big Banks' Higher Priced Lending -- a 2009 study showing that "Among high income borrowers in 2006, African Americans were three times as likely as whites to pay higher prices for mortgages -- 32.1% compared to 10.5 %. Hispanics were nearly as likely as African Americans to pay higher prices for their mortgages at 29.1%."
A Good Credit Score Did Not Protect Latino and Black Borrowers -- this 2012 study of mortgages signed during the years 2004-2008 shows that African American and Latino borrowers with high credit scores were three or more times likely to be inappropriately "pushed into" high cost, high risk mortgages than whites with the same credit scores.
The Mis-Education of the Negro -- this is an online copy of Carter G. Woodson's still vital 1933 book, The Mis-Education of the Negro, with an excellent Introduction, "History Is a Weapon," by Charles Wesley and Thelma Perry, who write: "The most imperative and crucial element in Woodson's concept of mis-education hinged on the education system's failure to present authentic Negro History in schools and the bitter knowledge that there was a scarcity of literature available for such a purpose, because most history books gave little or no space to the black man's presence in America. Some of them contained casual references to Negroes but these generally depicted them in menial, subordinate roles, more or less sub-human. Such books stressed their good fortune at having been exposed, through slavery, to the higher (white man's) civilization. There were included derogatory statements relating to the primitive, heathenish quality of the African background, but nothing denoting skills, abilities, contributions or potential in the image of the Blacks, in Africa or America. Woodson considered this state of affairs deplorable, an American tragedy, dooming the Negro to a brain-washed acceptance of the inferior role assigned to him by the dominant race, and absorbed by him through his schooling."
Racial Divide Runs Deep in U.S. Schools, Study Finds -- a short article about a 2012 report of data from 72,000 schools in the U.S. that reveals many racial disparities in U.S. schools, especially disproportionately high suspension and expulsion rates for African American youth. The report also includes information about schools that are breaking these patterns and achieving success in addressing the achievement gap.
Big Racial Gap in Suspension of Middle School Students -- a 2010 report that documents the racial disparity in school suspension rates, raising serious questions about discipline policies and how they are implemented.
School Discipline: Tougher on African Americans -- an editorial exploring racism in schools, particularly in the fact that black students are written up and disciplined more often than white students.
A Girl Like Me -- an excellent short film by Kiri Davis about issues of racial stereotyping, identity, and appearance, especially as these relate to the experience of African American girls and young women -- includes footage of a recent implementation of an experiment in which African American children are asked to choose between and show their preference for either a Black or a white doll (YouTube).
Souls of Black Girls -- a video trailer for the longer film of this name -- a goup of Black women discuss ways in which media images of Black women are frustratingly demeaning and limiting.
Closing the Racial Achievement Gap: The Best Strategies of the Schools We Send Them To -- a very good article by Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor of Education at New York University.
Creating Schools Where Race Does Not Matter: The Role and Significance of Race in the Racial Achievement Gap -- another excellent article by Dr. Pedro Noguera, professor of Education at New York University
The Trouble with Black Boys: The Role and Influence of Environmental and Cultural Factors on the Academic Performance of African American Males -- a very good article by Harvard scholar Pedro Noguera -- valuable for all who are interested in addressing the education/achievement gap.
Shawn Ginwright Webpage -- the home page of scholar activisit Shawn Ginwright, a leading expert on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. He's author of a number of good books (including Black in School: Afrocentric Reform, Urban Youth, and the Promise of Hip-Hop Culture, and Black Youth Rising: Activism & Radical Healing in Urban America) and co-founder of the Institute for Radical Healing, a newly formed institute dedicated to pioneering research and wellness practices that build the capacity of individuals and communities of color to sustain social change efforts.
The Politics of Children's Literature: What's Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth? -- an article and lesson plan by Herb Kohl about the problems inherent in how the story of Rosa Parks is often told and taught in schools and about the importance of teaching the truth about her life of committed activism.
Racial Bias Built Into Tests -- a 2000 article about a successful case brought against a statewide Texas aptitude test that was found to have racial bias built into its design -- the article also explains that the test construction methods used in designing this test are common.
Barack Obama's Speech on Race -- as a candidate President Obama delivered this speech on issues of race in America -- read the transcript and listen to it here, or, go to this link to see and hear the speech.
Black Agenda Forum -- video of a March 2010 panel discussion with many key African American leaders, scholars, educators, community activists, and others -- the discussion focuses on challenges facing the African-American community and the nation, the question of whether America is in a "post-racial" era after the election of President Barack Obama, and the future of race relations in the U.S. and world.
Boundary Crossing for Diversity, Equity and Achievement: Inter-District School Desegregation and Educational Opportunity -- a 2009 study that "provides an overview of the educational and social benefits of eight inter-district school desegregation programs – from Boston to East Palo Alto, CA -- that have enabled disadvantaged, Black and Latino students to cross school district boundary lines and attend far more affluent, predominantly White and privileged suburban public schools. These programs, some of which date back to the Civil Rights Movement, grew out of grassroots struggles for social justice and are aimed at reducing inequality by assuring that students who have traditionally had the fewest educational opportunities would gain access to the “best” schools. Despite the fact that these programs are out of sync with the current political framing of problems and solutions in the field of education, the research on these programs to date suggests that they are far more successful than recent choice and accountability policies at closing the achievement gaps and offering meaningful school choices."
The Little Rock Nine: 50 Years Later -- seven of the nine African American students who first integrated Central High School in Little Roc, AK, speak about their experiences in this media presentation of interview clips and photographs -- listen and make the connections to current events.
ERASE Racism -- an organization that "develops and promotes policies and initiatives to end the perpetuation of institutional racism in arenas such as public school education, housing, health care, and economic development."
The Sounds of Silence: Talking Race in Music Education -- a 2007 article about the importance of creating an approach to music education that's anti-racist in its goals and practices.
Breaking Down Barriers -- a report on a high school program in Michigan that successfully brought students together across racial and other social and cultural divisions.
National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) -- an organization "dedicated to improving the educational experiences and accomplishments of African American youth through the development and use of instructional and motivational methods that increase levels of inspiration, attendance and overall achievement".
Race and the Schooling of Black Americans -- an insightful article, from 1992, by Stanford Professor, Claude Steele.
"Stereotype Threat" and Black College Students -- another valuable article by Stanford Professor, Claude Steele, from 1999 -- explains the concept of stereotype threat and related research -- very useful to educators and teachers.
Black Students Are Not Culturally Biased Against Academic Achievement -- this study about African American students' attitudes toward school and academic achievement shows that where an anti-achievement attitude develops, it is "over time and is most likely to occur in schools where blacks are grossly underrepresented in the most challenging courses" -- i.e., oppositional attitudes are "not learned in the black community, as some have suggested, but are instead constructed in schools under certain conditions, the product of life and experience in school, not the home culture."
Supreme Court and School Diversity -- a radio program about two 2006 Supreme Court cases that call into question the efforts of many school districts to integrate their schools -- includes tape of the Supreme Court hearings on Dec. 4, 2006.
The Supreme Struggle -- a series of articles in the New York Times about the Brown v. Board of Education case and where we are now on the issues the case addressed.
The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative -- a program designed to help educators address the education gap "by providing research-based resources for improving the teaching of racially and ethnically diverse students." Includes a set of online tools that can be adapted for use in schools and classrooms.
Uri Treisman's Faculty Home Page -- read about Prof. Treisman and access some of his publications.
Brother Author: Writings from the African American Male Summer Literacy Institute-- an article by Alfred Tatum about an excellent summer writing institute he runs for African American young men.
The Algebra Project -- an exceptional math education program, now nationally recognized, created by Civil Rights activist and Harvard Ph.D., Bob Moses -- a creative and culturally responsive approach to teaching African American and other youth algebra -- algebra is a major gatekeeping course that often determines whether youth are placed on the college prep path -- the program works, and the website includes lesson ideas and other useful information.
The AVID Program -- a program that "places academically average students in advanced classes and supports them for success there" -- it has been very successful as measured by college admission rates of program participants, most of whom are students from groups with a history of high dropout rates and underperformance in school.
National Center for Accelerated Schools -- an approach to school reform based on the idea of providing students of limited resources with accelerated, rather than remedial, instruction -- accelerated schools use ideas from gifted and talented education to improve the education of students of limited resources, and it works!
Minority Student Achievement Network -- a national coalition of multiracial, urban-suburban school districts across the United States that works "to discover, develop and implement the means to ensure high academic achievement for students of color, specifically African American and Latino students."
Writings on the "Ebonics" Issue -- published writings and public presentations by John Rickford, a professor of linguistics at Stanford University.
Do You Speak American? African American English -- part of the PBS website which includes an essay written by Walt Wolfram, who specializes in language and culture at North Carolina State University.
Consigning the "N" Word to Personal History-- a 2006 radio essay by an African American young man (at the time of the piece a first year student at Howard University) who has decided not to use the n-word.
A Roundtable Radio Discussion of the N-Word -- from NPR's News and Notes program, 2006.
N.J. Communities Debate Use of the N-Word -- listen to a 2007 news radio segment about how a number of communities and city councils haver asked their citizens to voluntarily refrain from using the n-word.
N****r and Caricatures -- a good presentation about the history of the n-word and its use as a racial slur and demeaning caricature of African Americans.
New Word Order -- an essay about use of the n-word in popular culture.
Racial Conflict in School and Community of Jena, Louisiana -- a radio story about the racial tension and incidents in Jena, Louisiana that have led to six African American youth being charged and incarcerated.
A Book Examines Towns That Forced Out Blacks -- a radio interview with journalist and author Elliot Jaspin, who's book, Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America, presents history and analysis of 12 incidents in the U.S. of towns driving out blacks -- and the counties these towns are in remain almost entirely white.
News and Notes -- an excellent national radio program, no longer being broadcast, that explored important events and issues "from an African American perspective." You may listen here to past shows and segments.
A Close Bond Sheds Light on Race Relations -- a radio segment about two young women, H.S. seniors and friends, one black and one white -- discussion of their friendship, similarities, and differences in experience.
Mathematicians of the African Diaspora -- important information and teaching resources.
Voices from the Gaps -- a great website about "women writers of color" -- good bios and links.
Race: The Power of an Illusion -- an online resource for an excellent documentary about race in society, science, and history -- includes background readings, a discussion/activities guide, and other good materials for teachers.
ColorLines -- an excellent magazine about issues of race, ethnicity, and racism.
Education in Mississippi, 1954-1982 -- a good radio segment about failed attempts to desegregate schools in Mississippi.
African American History (The History Net) -- an excellent African American history site, with primary documents, photos, biographies, and much more -- lots of great links and resources.
The Souls of Black Folk -- W.E.B. Du Bois' classic and important book, published in 1903. Du Bois wrote in his introduction: "Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line."
African American History List -- links to many of the best African American history sites and museums.
Digital Schomburg -- an online archive of manuscripts at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in NYC -- lots of good materials for classroom and other use.
African American Odyssey -- African American collections of the Library of Congress.
Frontiers in Civil Rights: Dorothy E. Davis, et al. versus County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia -- this is an important 1951 court case that led to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case that finally brought down the "separate but equal" Jim Crow laws and apartheid of the U.S. -- this website provides good primary source documents and lesson plans for teaching about the Dorothy Davis case, in which a group of courageous Black students protested the inferior nature of their school.
Doll Cultural Study Had Impact on 'Brown v. Board' -- audio segment from NPR that describes the impact the doll studies conducted by Kenneth and Mamie Clark had on the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
PBS Ask the Experts: Are We Ready for a Colorblind Society? -- website discussing the pros and cons of colorblindness.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) -- one of the nation's largest civil rights organizations -- its mission is to promote equality and eliminate prejudice among all people.
The Internet African American History Challenge -- questions, at different levels of difficulty, about African American history -- take the quizzes yourself and use them as teaching tools.
African American History Site -- another good site with historical information.
African American Historical Museum & Cultural Center of Iowa -- useful information and some good lesson plans and teaching ideas.
Hip Hop: Today's Civil Right's Movement? -- a good radio program about the political nature and power of Hip Hop.
The Hip Hop Education Guidebook: Vol. 1 -- a site where you can order this book full of lesson plan ideas using hip hop.
Educators Use Rap as a Teaching Tool -- a radio broadcast about teachers who are using hip-hop effectively to make connections between contemporary music/poetry and the classics -- scroll to the bottom of the page, click and listen.
The History of Hip Hop -- a brief and useful overview article.
Hip Hop History 101 -- more good articles and links.
Transcending Poetry, Jazz, Rap, and Hip Hop for the Classroom -- a lesson plan.
The Original Hip Hop Lyrics Archive -- a large archive of lyrics to many important hip hop songs.
Nuttin' But Stringz: Hip Hop Violin -- a radio segment about a pair of Julliard-trained, violin playing African American brothers who are making their own music.
The Hip Hop Violin and String Quartets of Haitian American Composer, Daniel Bernard Roumain -- a radio segment about Roumain and his hip hop compositions -- includes audio clips of his work, as performed by the Lark String Quartet.
Exploring African Hip Hop -- a radio review of CD's by two African hip hop groups whose music "embodies ways that Africans are debating their cultural identity through music."
Rokia Traore, Zap Mama and Erykah Badu -- an interview with Rokia Traore, an incredible singer from Mali -- the segment about polyphony is an excellent musical example of a deep African and African American cultural value.
National Public Radio's Website about Jazz -- includes historical material, audio clips, and more.
Intersections: August Wilson, Writing to the Blues -- a National Public Radio site and program about Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson who has spent more than 20 years writing a cycle of plays that chronicle black life in 20th-century America, decade by decade. Wilson says he first discovered the language of the black experience in Bessie Smith's blues.
The Etta Baker Project -- The mission of the Etta Baker Project is to promote and preserve the rich musical legacy of Etta Baker. The Etta Baker Project web site provides information and links to articles, audio, video recordings, and guitar tab for those who want to delve more deeply into Etta Baker’s musical expression and contribution.
Jazz Party Video of Stuff Smith -- a YouTube video of Stuff Smith, one of the all-time great jazz violinists.
Black Violin Link -- an excellent source of information and websites about Black violinists, composers, and more -- jazz, classical, and other forms of music represented -- did you know Frederick Douglass, the great orator and activist, played violin?
Black History and Classical Music -- a great website devoted to composers of African descent -- includes samples to listen to and lots of good links.
Composers of African Descent -- more good information about composers of African descent.
Blackbaseball.com's Negro Baseball League -- history and memorabilia
Beyond the Playing Field - Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate -- Jackie Robinson not only broke the "color barrier" in major league baseball, but he was a life-long civil rights activist. This site provides some great primary source materials and lesson plans about this important aspect of Jackie Robinson's life and character.
Black Facts Online -- an online searchable database of facts about Black history.
The Official Kwanzaa Website -- site by the founder of Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa On the Net -- lots of good explanatory information and materials in support of the celebration of Kwanzaa.
Stereotypes of African Americans -- a Wikipedia discussion of the many ways in which negative stereotypes of African Americans have been presented and reinforced, both historically and in the present.
The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America -- a good book from 2001, by Robert Entman & Andrew Rojecki, almost all of which is available here online -- the book presents a critical analysis of stereotypes and how they reinforce White assumptions about and reactions to African Americans.
The Anti-Racist Alliance -- an organization committed to bringing "anti-racist structural power analysis to social service education and practice." They "move beyond a focus on the symptoms of racism to an understanding of what racism is, where it comes from, how it functions, why it persists and how it can be undone."
Center for the Study of White American Culture -- the homepage for this organization that encourages whites to better understand their own cultures and their role in helping create a fair and just multicultural society.
The Identity Development of Multiracial Youth -- a 1998 digest about some important issues and considerations concerning the experiences of interracial youth.
Seeing Black -- a "funky, alternative site for black reviews, opinions, and voice" -- good articles on a range of topics and some good links to other interesting sites.
Black Press USA -- an "independent source of news for the African American community" -- news items that come from a wire service made up exclusively of black journalists and press outlets -- also includes links to local black press websites.
Black Commentator -- an online publication that offers commentary and analysis on issues facing the black community -- smart commentary on important social and political issues.
The Indianapolis Recorder -- a weekly newspaper that is "preparing a conscious community today and beyond" -- it started in 1897 and focused initially on local news -- it has since expanded and has been called an "advocate for and reporter of the Black community" by historian Richard Pierce.
African American Entrepreneurs -- a website created by the organization Fight for Hope. The site is dedicated to telling the stories of successful African American entrepreneurs in order to inspire youth within the community.