New African-American Literature Ranges from Oral Epics to Contemporary Hip Hop

       African-American voices from the medieval griots of Niger to present-day lyricist Stevie Wonder come together in a new edition of African American Literature © 2009 from Holt McDougal (www.hrw.com - formerly Holt, Rinehart and Winston).
This new edition of African-American Literature was developed in partnership with the National Civil Rights Museum and Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. These partnerships also provide online resources to complement the text for students.
In addition, significant updates to the content make it easier to grasp the impressive span of the African-American literature, which is arranged chronologically from oral epics out of Africa to contemporary hip hop culture.
“The youth of today see African-American artifacts and culture, but they don’t understand how these pieces are part of a long literary tradition,” said Allen Wheatcroft, president of Holt. “We want this anthology to help educators reach and inspire the next generation with names like Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, and Queen Latifah. These are names that students recognize and teachers can use the works of these authors to pull students into other literature.”
Holt also elected to craft African-American Literature into a student-friendly work text, so that students interact directly with the pages, unlike a traditional textbook. As part of their exposure to African-American literature, students learn analysis skills and vocabulary, and then are provided with creative assessment alternatives to allow them to demonstrate their understanding of the content.
Holt African-American Literature is designed for a class on the topic, but it can also be used as a supplement for a traditional language arts course. It complements Holt’s African-American History program so schools can use both to encourage cross-curricular connections.

— Teachers of Color