From the moment that African-American Studies Literature Professor Dr. William Maurice Shipley uttered the question of

“Don’t you have your own traditions and stories? Or will you simply rest on the creativity and imagination of Europeans?”

I realized the unbridled power the piercing inquisition held.

Dr. Shipley’s inquiry was a recitation of a similar call poised by W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey to Black writers, musicians, and artists who would create a glorious era that historians today term the Harlem Renaissance. This call to arms remains for Black writers, musicians, and artists to this day.

As an African-American Studies Professor, I cannot tell you how disenchanting it is to encounter students whose limited exposure to books, thoughts, and ideas can be traced to haphazardly created reading lists that are absent every Black writer. Making matters worse is the reality that if these students were left to their own devices that they would not have engaged a single Black writer. Hence, it is understandable when not a single student of mine has ever heard, let alone engaged the works of any of the following writers.

• Richard Wright
• Toni Morrison
• Walter Mosley
• Alice Walker
• James Baldwin
• J. California Cooper

Obviously, my sadness and disappointment at this deplorable situation will never address this issue.  

I will not spend this space addressing indefensible “school reading lists” devoid of a single Black writer. I’ll leave such tasks to others who choose to waste their time arguing with foolish educators. Better use of this space and my time is the issuing of potential solutions to address the systematic erasure of Black writers from the alluded to “reading lists.”

My path is a straight one whose success hinges on the involvement of parents and the larger Black community; please understand that this issue, along with so many others, requires neither White approval nor participation.

While addressing the plight of young Black males, noted educator Jawanza Kunjufu posited that “What you do the most you will do the best.” In many ways, Kunjufu’s observation refutes the familiar refrain that there is something intrinsically wrong with the minds of Black children and shifts the narrative toward a more productive argument that our youth must turn their attention toward academics versus narrower paths of success such as sports and entertainment.

Kunjufu’s succinct assertion explains why professional sports leagues such as the NBA and NFL are predominantly Black. There is no room to debate that historically it has been the sports arena where Black youth have spent the bulk of their time. It therefore makes sense that it is what they “do the best.” Although many bemoan the concentration of Blacks in the sports and entertainment industries, such criticism blocks a silver-lining regarding this matter. A person devoid of the baggage of bigotry will realize that success in that arena definitively proves that Black excellence is possible against even the extremest of odds.

When one considers that Black youth are no different from others in the following way. They have been gifted with various interests and abilities that need to be planted, nurtured, and eventually harvested by a loving community. There is no more assured path to the success desired for Black children than their immersion in the works of Black writers who have illuminated a glorious past and point toward a yet to be written future.

Towards developing the minds of Black children, it is imperative that every Black parent develops a reading list of Black literature for their children and actively participates in the reading process. I can attest that such is the path to producing lifetime readers possessing an inextinguishable intellectual curiosity.

If nothing else, the inundating of Black schoolchildren with Black writers will save educators such as myself from moments where we wonder if we are making any progress in this uphill battle to uplift Black America via education.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.