This essay offers reflections on Black consciousness and Afrocentrism in the United States, especially as movements in education. The paper opens by recalling the history of oppression and rejection that influences the African American heritage. Next, the essay traces some highlights in the development of ideas of race consciousness from the early…

This paper reports on the third year of a longitudinal evaluation of the Visions for Children preschool program. An early childhood education demonstration program, the Visions program aims to facilitate the intellectual development and academic achievement of African American preschool children while strengthening their self-esteem and identity…

Examined the interaction of social class and racial identity in urban school reform. Presents a case study of reform at one urban California high school which used an Afrocentric curriculum to help improve academic performance, arguing that the effort was ineffective because it failed to consider ways in which poverty influenced the identities of…

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…

To improve urban schools, we must create a culture of success for African-American students. A multicultural education that infuses African and African-American history and culture throughout the curriculum is appropriate at this time because problems have reached such critical proportions. (SLD)