Foreword: The Impact of Media on Black Male Scholar Identity Development

Abstract

4 | BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN Vol. 77, No. 1 77 No.1 FOREWORD: THE IMPACT OF MEDIA ON BLACK MALE SCHOLAR IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT By Alicia L. Moore and La Vonne I. Neal “We co-habit this world with the ghosts of our histories.”1 The history of the struggle for scholar identity development of African Americans includes movements (e.g., the Niagara Movement); legislation (e.g., civil rights); court decisions (e.g., Brown v. Board), and executive orders (e.g., the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans). Executive Order White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans President Barack Obama To reach the ambitious education goals we have set for our Nation, as well as to ensure equality of access and opportunity for all, we must provide the support that will enable African American students to improve their level of educational achievement through rigorous and well-rounded academic and support services that will prepare them for college, a career, and a lifetime of learning.2 How do we transition from mis-education of African Americans to sparking genius and developing scholar identity? How do we counter hundreds of years of false narratives regarding intellectual capacity? We remain haunted by the narrative of Frederick Douglass, who in 1845 wrote about how his life depended on hiding his scholar identity. It was necessary to keep our religious masters at St. Michael’s unacquainted with the fact, that, instead of spending the Sabbath in wrestling, boxing, and drinking whisky, we were trying to learn how to read the will of God; for they had much rather see us engaged in those degrading sports, than to see us behaving like intellectual, moral, and accountable beings.3 Media sometimes conjures ghosts that continue to haunt African Americans in the twenty-first century by forming a public curriculum on diversity. Carlos E. Cortes noted that we “use the term ‘media’ in a comprehensive sense to mean all of the major forms of media including newspapers, magazines, film, television, radio, and the new cybermedia.”4 How do we counter the public curriculum of African American male scholar identity that has fragmented images of success? For this special issue, co-guest editors Chance W. Lewis and Jerlando F. L. Jackson feature four research studies by African American scholars that contribute to the canon for Black male scholar identity development. Their research studies provide data for counternarratives to the negative media portrayal of African Americans. Using qualitative and quantitative analyses, these scholars discuss (1) how to cultivate student identity development curriculum, (2) Black male students’perspectivesofmedia,(3)Blackscholaridentity development, and (4) the effects of online education on African American students’ perceived learning. Additionally, we have designed one companion lesson plan that complements the studies. Grounded in critical pedagogy, the lesson plan that follows guides students to determine how media can create racialized narratives that confirm and reinforce stereotypes of Black males. Inspired by the authors who contributed to this special issue, we conclude with a tweet—“Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline by sparking genius.” BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN Vol. 77, No. 1 | 5 77 No.1 Notes 1. Mark. Angela Y. Davis, “Keynote Address NAME conference” (speech, Oakland, CA November 9, 2013). 2. President Barack Obama, “White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans” (2013). 3. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (New York: Dover, 1845), 45. 4. Carlos E. Cortes, The Children are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity (New York: Teachers College Press, 2000), xvii. Teacher Resources Publications 1. Jason Hayes, Manjah Fernandez, Aaron Bowser, and La Vonne I. Neal, “A Razorsharp Analysis of the Movie Barbershop,” Multicultural Education, Winter 2002, 61. 2. Gwendolyn Y. Cartledge, Ralph Gardner III, & Donna Y. Ford, Diverse Learners with Exceptionalities Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Inclusive Classroom (Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2008). 3. Donna Y. Ford, The Recruitment and Retention of African-American Students in Gifted Education Programs: Implications and Recommendations (Darby: Diane Publishing Company, 1994). 4. Donna Y. Ford, Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students, 2nd ed. (Waco: Prufrock Press, 2010). 5. Donna Y. Ford, Multicultural Gifted Education, 2nd ed. (Waco: Prufrock Press, 2011). 6. Henry Louis Gates, In Search of our Roots...