African American Book Club & Discussion Group

Do you want to expand your child’s curriculum by including African American literature?  Do you want your child to discuss African American literature from an insightful perspective? Come join our monthly book discussion. No written papers or long literary precis, instead students will engage in critical thinking and intelligent discourse. 

Book discussions will center on the overall themes of the books, character motivations and the prevailing ideas given the historic backdrop of the literature. 

There will be lively discussion and students will learn how to share their ideas and give and receive constructive feedback. Each month we will choose a manageable portion of literature  or book for students to read; readings should take no more than about 1-2 hours a week and will be posted in the Outschool classroom. 

 Our discussions will be sparked weekly by a thoughtful writing prompt related to the month’s reading. Students may join the class at any time because the instructor will review the previous week’s reading and discussion points from the previous week. The discussion and teaching will spiral concepts, ideas and content each week.. 

Students will leave the class with an appreciation for Black literature. Participants will also be able to identify ways African Americans have made grave contributions to the American literature landscape in a meaningful way. For instance, by reading and discussing the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, students will learn the strengths of narrative writing. It is hoped students will actively seek out other narratives. 

The class format will be as following:


Class Format:

•	Instructor will review the content of the monthly reading and identify key themes for the week. Small segments of passages, poems, books, etc. will be explained and insight on literary material will be given.

•	At times students will be introduced to a poem, and students will respond to a writing prompt related to the month’s reading. Each week a different prompt will be responded to in a creative manner: the prompts will help students think deeply about the poems, prose, essays and literature. The prompts will be extracted from the instructor’s prompt book.

•	Students will engage in conversation using simple questions and their writing prompt responses to discuss the literature. Socratic questioning will be used.

*****Students will grow to appreciate the beauty and significance of African American literature. As an African-American mother, college professor, and avid reader, my heart is to help others love and appreciate some of the most beautiful literature in the world. I also hope to inspire students to read beyond the books chosen for the book discussion club. ***** 

Proposed books/ materials include:

For the September 2022-June 2023, the class will be using the book;
Crossing the Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-American Writing 1st Edition by Deirdre Mullane (Editor) This inexpensive, yet extensive, anthology chronicles important and memorable African American writers.

The anthology lists individual books so learners can start (or stop) classes at any time during the school year. Reading for the class is minimal. The use of the anthology makes it easy for learners to join at any time. Some learners may opt to do different weeks.

Proposed reading schedule: to be posted
_
Table of Contents From the book: 
Introduction
_
THE FIRST AFRICANS IN NORTH AMERICA_
____________from They Came Before Columbus
_
OLAUDAH EQUIANO_
_____________from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah_
_________________Equiano_or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789)
_
EARLY SLAVE REVOLTS
___________ Report of Governor Hunter on the New York Slave_Conspiracy_
_______________(1712)
_
LUCY TERRY_
_______________Bars Fight (1761)
_
JUPITER HAMMON
___________ An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential_
_______________Cries (1761)
_
AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
___________ Petition of the Africans, Living in Boston (1773)
___________ The Declaration of Independence (1776)
___________ Emancipation of Slaves for Military Service During the American_
_______________Revolution (1783)
_
PHILLIS WHEATLEY
___________ On Being Brought from AFRICA to AMERICA (1773)
___________ On Imagination (1773)
___________ To the Right Honourable WILLIAM, Earl of DARTMOUTH, His_
_______________Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for North America (1773)
___________ Letter to Samson Occom (1774)
_
BENJAMIN BANNEKER
___________ Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1791)
_
SLAVE REVOLTS
___________ Testimony on Gabriel's Revolt (1800)
___________ Testimony on the Vesey Conspiracy (1822)
___________ Letter from a Slave Rebel (1793)
___________ Letter from a Slave Rebel in Georgia (1810)
_
THE FOUNDING OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESS
___________ Editorial from the First Edition of Freedom's Journal (1827)
_
THE COLONIZATION DEBATE
___________ The Argument For (1829)
___________ The Argument Against (1827)
_
DAVID WALKER
___________ from Walker's Appeal in Four Articles . . . (1829)
_
NAT TURNER
___________ from The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831)
_
GEORGE MOSES HORTON
___________ _The Slave's Complaint (1829)
_
THE AMISTAD CASE (1839)
___________ United States Appellants v. the Libellants and Claimants of the_
_______________Schooner Amistad (1841)
_
THE CONVENTION MOVEMENT, 1830-1864
___________ An Address to the Colored People of the United States, from_the
________________Colored National Convention of 1848
_
HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET
___________ An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America (1843)
_
MARTIN DELANY
___________ from The Condition, Elevation, and Destiny of the Colored_
_______________People of_the United States, Politically Considered (1852)_
____________Declaration of_the Principles of the National Emigration_
_______________Convention (1854)
_
THE CASE OF DRED SCOTT
___________ Dred Scott's Petition for Freedom (1847)
___________ Reaction of the Dred Scott Decision (1857)
_
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
___________ from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)
___________ Letter to Thomas Auld (1848)
___________ What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (1852)
_
HARRIET JACOBS
___________ The Jealous Mistress_
____________from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)
_
WILLIAM WELLS BROWN
___________ From Clotel: or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of_
_______________Slave Life_in the United States (1853)
_
HARRIET E. WILSON
___________ from Our Nig (1859)
_
SOJOURNER TRUTH
___________ Address to the Ohio Women's Rights Convention (1851)
___________ Address to the First Annual Meeting of the American Equal Rights_
_______________Association (1867)
_
HARRIET TUBMAN
___________ from Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People (1886)
_
FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER
___________ Bury Me in a Free Land (1854)
___________ The Slave Mother (1854)
___________ A Double Standard
_
JOHN BROWN'S RAID AT HARPERS FERRY
___________ Letter from John A. Copeland (1859)
___________ Letter to John Brown for Frances Harper (1860)
___________ On John Brown's Raid (1859)
_
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
_
THE NEW YORK DRAFT RIOTS
___________ An Eyewitness Account (1863)
_
HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET
___________ A Memorial Discourage Delivered in the Hall of the House of_
_______________Representatives (1865)
_
AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE CIVIL WAR
___________ Men of Color, to the Arms! (1863)
___________ Camp Diary (1863)
___________ The Struggle for Pay (1864)
___________ Farewell Address to the Troops (1866)
_
FOLK CULTURE AND LITERATURE
___________ Slave Song
___________ Promises of Freedom_
____________Slave Marriage Ceremony Supplement_
____________Plantation Proverbs_
____________Aphorisms_
____________All God's Chillen Had Wings_
____________John Henry_
____________The Signifying Monkey_
____________Stackalace_
____________Shine and the Titanic_
____________Easy Rider_
____________Joe Turner_
____________St. Louis Blues_
____________Joe Turner Blues_
____________Beale Street Blues
_
SPIRITUALS
___________ Go Down, Moses
___________ Who'll Be a Witness for My Lord?
___________ Joshua Fit de Battle ob Jerico
___________ I Got a Home in Dat Rock
___________ Roll Jordan, Roll
___________ My Way's Cloudy
___________ Steal Away to Jesus
___________ I Know Moon-Rise
___________ Deep River
___________ Down in the Valley
___________ Swing Low Sweet Chariot
___________ Ride In, Kind Savior
___________ My Army Cross Over
___________ Many Thousand Gone
___________ We'll Soon Be Free
___________ I Thank God I'm Free at Las'
_
THE CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS
___________ The Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
___________ The Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
___________ The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
_
RECONSTRUCTION
___________ Freedmen's Bureau (1865)
___________ South Carolina Black Code (1864-1865)
___________ Frederick Douglass' Speech to the Thirty-second Annual_
_______________Convention_of the American Anti-Slavery Society (1865)
___________ Blanche K. Bruce's Speech to the United States Senate (1876)
___________ Henry M. Turner's Speech to the Georgia Legislature (1868)
___________ Petition from Kentucky Citizens of Ku Klux Klan (1871)
_
THE EXODUSTERS
___________ News Accounts from the Black Press (1879-1886)
_
CHARLES W. CHESNUTT
___________ Po' Sandy ______
___________ The Wife of His Youth
_
PAUL LAURANCE DUNBAR
___________ We Wear the Mask
___________ Sympathy
___________ A Negro Love Song
___________ The Poet
_
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
___________ from Up from Slavery (1901)
___________ The Atlanta Exposition Address (1895)
_
W. E. B. Du BOIS
___________ from The Souls of Black Folk (1903)_
___________ The Talented Tenth (1903)
_
IDA WELLS-BARNETT
___________ from A Red Record (1895)
_
MARY CHURCH TERRELL
___________ What Role Is the Educated Negro Women to Play in the Uplifting
________________of_Her Race? (1902)
_
ANNA JULIA COOPER
___________ _from A Voice in the South (1892)
_
PLESSY V. FERGUSON (1896)
_
THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT (1905)
_
THE FOUNDING OF THE NAACP
___________ Principles of the NAACP (1911)
___________ The Crisis (1910)
___________ Agitation (1910)
_
JACK JOHNSON ___
___________ The Prize Fighter (1941)
_
JAMES WELDOM JOHNSON
___________ Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing (1900)
___________ from The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man (1912)
___________ O Black and Unknown Bards (1917)
_
THE GREAT MIGRATION, 1910-1920
___________ Letters and Articles from The Chicago Defender
_
RED SUMMER OF 1919
___________ A Directive of French Troops (1918)
___________ Returning Soldiers (1919)
___________ Three Hundred Years (1919)
___________ Claude McKay, If We Must Die! (1919)
_
MARCUS GARVEY
___________ Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World_
_______________(1920)
_
ALAIN LOCKE
___________ The New Negro (1925)
_
CLAUDE MCKAY
___________ The Harlem Dancer
___________ Spring in New Hampshire
___________ The Lynching
___________ Tiger
___________ The White City
___________ The Tropics in New York
_
LANGSTON HUGHES
___________ I, Too (1925)
___________ The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1926)
___________ The Negro Artists and the Racial Mountain (1926)
___________ Harlem (1951)
_
JEAN TOOMER
___________ from Cane
_
COUNTEE CULLEN
___________ Yet Do I Marvel (1925)
___________ Heritage ( 1925)
___________ From the Dark Tower (1925)
_
ZORA NEALE HUSTON
___________ Sweat (1926)
_
THE SCOTTSBORO CASES
___________ Appeal of the Scottsboro Boys (1932)
_
JOE LOUIS
___________ Joe Louis Uncovers Dynamite (1935)
_
STERLING BROWN
___________ Strong Men (1932)
_
ROBERT HAYDEN
___________ Frederick Douglass
___________ Middle Passage
_
RICHARD WRIGHT
___________ The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch_
_______________(1937)
_
PHILLIP RANDOLPH AND THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON MOVEMENT
___________ Program of the March on Washington Movement (1942)
___________ Executive Order 8802 (1941)
_
TRUMAN INTEGRATES THE MILITARY
___________ Executive Order 9981 (1948)
_
PAUL ROBESON
___________ Statement to the House Un-American Activities Committee (1956)
_
GWENDOLYN BROOKS
___________ The Mother
___________ We Real Cool
___________ The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
_
RALPH ELLISON
___________ from Invisible Man (1952)
_
JAMES BALDWIN
___________ Notes of a Native Son (1955)
_
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA
___________ NAACP Brief (1953)
___________ Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
_
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
___________ Letter from Birmingham City Jail (1963)
___________ I Have a Dream (1963)
___________
SONGS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
___________ We Shall Overcome
___________ O Freedom
___________ Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
___________ Ain't Gonna let Nobody Turn Me 'Round
_
KWANZAA
___________
MALCOLM X
___________ from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)
_
ELDRIDGE CLEAVER
___________ from Soul on Ice
_
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
___________ Black Panther Party Platform (1966)
_
AMIRI BARAKA
___________ Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
___________ State/ment
___________ Ka 'Ba
_
THE KERNER COMMISSION
___________ from The Kerner Commission Report (1968)
_
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE VIETNAM WAR
___________ Selections from Bloods
_
MAYA ANGELOU
___________ from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970)
_
ALICE WALKER
___________ from In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose_
_______________(1974)
_
JESSE JACKSON
___________ Address to the Democratic National Convention (1984)
_
RAP MUSIC
_
THE CLARENCE THOMAS CONFIRMATION HEARING
___________ Clarence Thomas' Second Statement to the_Senate Judiciary_
_______________Committee (1991)
_
THE L.A RIOTS
___________ Congresswoman Maxine Waters' Testimony Before the Senate_
_______________Banking Committee (1992)
_