Argues that Africana Studies can play a leadership role in the future by integrating its "scope of inquiry" with the full range of human endeavor. It explains why the field of Africana Studies needs to include science and technology, global political economy, and educational theory and praxis as areas of inquiry and intervention. (GR)

Examines questions arising from concern for Africentric and multicultural education, including the nature of diversity and the relationships among cultural hegemony, cultural diversity, and cultural pluralism. Changing conceptions of intelligence, knowledge, and education are considered in relation to the treatment of cultural and ethnic…

This collection of 29 unusual and interesting articles in 19 chapters addresses the issues of urban education from several provocative angles. The book outlines how cultural traditions of minority groups can be the fulcrum for positive educational change, and the special challenges of growing up as a male from a minority background. Some articles…

Discusses background issues and defines relevant terminology related to Africentrism. Curriculum issues surrounding innovative approaches to infusing African and African-American content into the public school system are discussed. The diverse multicultural society in the United States must represent the histories and contributions of minority…

An African centered curriculum has two parts. It is both a process that centers around the cultural heritage of African Americans, and the infusion of content that will stimulate and/or reinforce the growth and development of African and African-American mental and ethical traits. The scholars who are the main proponents of an African centered…

The cult of ethnicity in general and the Afrocentric campaign in particular do not bode well for U.S. education or for the future of the country. The debate over ethnocentric curricula is traced. Commentaries by R. Walters and D. D'Souza elaborate on issues of multicultural education. (SLD)

Examines aspects of an African-centered pedagogy that should let children understand their identities as people of African heritage. Data are from an ethnographic study of "liberatory" pedagogy that was used by four black women teachers. Three vignettes illustrate liberatory practice as it explicitly addresses issues that are often…

Introduces a special section containing three articles and six commentaries, which discuss the form that multicultural education should take and consider whether children are well-served by a unified curriculum for all or ethnocentric curricula for various ethnic groups. Provides several examples of a multicultural approach. (SLD)

Outlines some equity problems still existing in the cultural thrust of the public school curriculum and instructional materials, discusses the political context of materials and curriculum selection, and proposes some strategies for resolution of curriculum and instructional materials problems. Equity must become the political will of the American…