Books That Teachers Of Color Should Read

Kam’s Corner

Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee.

Between Good and Ghetto:

African-American Girls and Inner-City Violence

by Nikki Jones

The lives of the inner-city girls and young women profiled in this book are deeply influenced by violence of various kinds. It is not uncommon for adolescent, inner-city girls to witness or directly encounter gun violence associated with drug dealers disputes, threats of interpersonal violence, or sexual and dating violence. The everyday world that shapes their ideas and actions is not, however, likely to be familiar to many readers…

Although Jones limits her focus here to Philadelphia females, the sample she relies on is really representative of what you’re likely to encounter in a typical slum area anywhere around America. There, residents must abide by ‘The Code of the Street’, including a credible reputation for vengeance that works to deter aggression and disrespect. These unwritten rules are a set of people’s laws, which come into play where the influence of the police ends.

Accountable:

Making America as Good as Its Promise

by Tavis Smiley

Created as a companion text to Mr. Smiley’s 2006 best seller, The Covenant with Black America, each chapter delineates Obama’s campaign promises in terms of such areas in dire need of attention as health care, education, justice, the economy, and so forth. It also lays out an assessment checklist (including boxes) which will enable the reader to keep track of just how well the administration is doing. For example, when it comers to health care, it asks whether the President made implementation of a health care plan a priority within the first 100 days.

It is important to note that while Accountable does expect Obama to deliver, it very well concedes that to do so he will need the support of not only Congress, but also governors and other state officials, community leaders, faith-based organizations and ordinary citizens.

Last year, Tavis Smiley took a lot of heat over his reluctance to rubber-stamp Barack Obama’s candidacy simply based on its symbolism in contrast to demanding to know exactly what the substance of a victory might potentially mean for black America. Tavis hesitancy ostensibly came from a reasonable expectancy that Obama would have to deliver on his campaign promises, for his historic win to be of palpable value to the masses of black folks who had turned out in record numbers to support him at a rate of 93%.

Family Affair: 

What it Means to be African American Today

by Gil Robertson

Who am I? It’s a fundamental question for everyone, of course, but for African-Americans, it has particular resonance. Since our history in America is filled with grand contradictions, marginalization, and grotesque lies, African-Americans have largely been left alone in the dark to grapple with the issue of who we are.

Our shared experience as people of African-American descent have been marked by an endless wave of mixed messages, leaving questions that lack finite answers. How do we declare our humanity? How do we begin to construct healthy environments for our lives, families, and communities in the face of chaos and confusion?

Now, that Barack Obama is, indeed, President, Mr. Smiley has decided it’s time to hold him accountable to his constituency for those pledges made to get their votes.

Gil Robertson, author of Family Affair, recognized that, although Obama has generated considerable hope for change, the fact remains that most African-American communities still exist in a state of almost perpetual crisis… in terms of health disparities , political injustices , crime statistic, and a plethora of social ills. So, he naturally started wondering how could the country have its first African-American President while the masses of blacks continue to struggle with so many of the same issues the Civil Rights Movement had attempted to address a half-century ago?

Rather than attempt to answer that question himself, the veteran journalist opted to pose it to a host of prominent African-Americans leaders from all walks of life.