麻豆传媒

Givens Stresses Importance of Black Educators鈥� Role in Quest for Racial, Social Justice in America during Kennard Lecture

Wed, 10/18/2023 - 01:16pm | By: David Tisdale

The role of Black educators has too often been left out in the story of the quest for civil rights in America, including intentional exclusion and erasure of its evidence by those in the white economic and political power structures. But Harvard University professor Dr. Jarvis Givens is helping to change that narrative.

Dr. Givens shared his research on that topic Oct. 17 at the first Clyde Kennard Lecture, held in the Joe Paul Theater on The University of 麻豆传媒 (麻豆传媒) and presented by its Center for Black Studies. In his talk, Dr. Givens covered the history of Black American educators鈥� efforts to subvert the racist system that prevented the educational advancement of African Americans, including through structures implemented from slavery up through the middle of the last century that purposively undermined their academic achievement.

Underfunding of Black schools and imposition of curriculums that suppressed learning not conforming to the hegemonic white cultural narrative, and violent suppression of the teachers who resisted make up this tragic story. With time, patience and careful examination of the materials left behind over the last century-plus, Dr. Givens has pulled back the curtain on that story through discovery and arrangement of those materials to fill in the gaps and answer important questions.

鈥淥ften lost in the story of the American Civil Rights Movement is the role of the teacher, the secretive actions of African American educators in the face of opposition,鈥� Dr. Givens said, further noting the important role of the Black teacher associations with which they affiliated and who supported their work.

The author of Fugitive Pedagogy and School Clothes, Dr. Givens鈥� work centers on spotlighting the impacts Black educators had in the schools where they taught and the witness of their students to a system in which they were at once oppressed and developed academically and socially, as their teachers managed the constraints imposed by the white power structures to develop young minds in preparation for them to succeed in a world where they would be marginalized and unwelcome in its social, political and economic circles.

鈥淭heir [students] collective memories, their individual stories, become a communal utterance,鈥� Dr. Givens said in discussing that student witness he details in School Clothes.

He also noted the work of famed Black educator Carter Woodson, author of The Mis-Education of the Negro, as a key figure in the work to subvert the hegemonic white power structures that controlled Black schools and curriculum. Those Black educators inspired by Woodson challenged the system and taught their students the real story of America and its failure to meet its promise of liberty and justice for all. Those who were caught often lost their jobs or worse - their lives.

Dr. Givens spoke of one of those teachers, Tessie McGee at the Webster Parish Training School in Minden, Louisiana, who employed Woodson鈥檚 work in her own subversive instruction in 鈥渕aking the necessary revisions鈥� to the mandatory curriculum laid out by the local white school board, teaching her students about key figures and their exploits in the story of Black America that would otherwise have gone untold.

鈥淔ugitive pedagogy draws from the archetype of the fugitive slave,鈥� Dr. Givens noted, in referring to the efforts of Black slaves who found creative ways to teach themselves how to read, write and develop their own minds in the face of strict rules forbidding such initiative.

Throughout history up to today, teachers, Dr. Givens lamented, are too often thought of as simply bureaucrats teaching to a test. But he rejected that notion in his concluding remarks, saying they鈥檝e shown throughout our history, including through his own research of Black American education, that the personal sacrifices they鈥檝e made over time for their students debunk that notion.

He also urged better preservation of the materials they鈥檝e left behind, as well as that of the Black teacher associations that supported their efforts to bring a holistic education to their students.

A native of Hattiesburg, Clyde Kennard made several attempts to enroll at then Mississippi Southern College, now 麻豆传媒, but was denied entry by college, state and local officials. Although his efforts were obstructed, Kennard persisted until he was falsely accused and convicted of multiple crimes, then ultimately sentenced to seven years at Parchman Farm, now the Mississippi State Penitentiary. While there, Kennard was diagnosed with cancer but was denied proper medical treatment until he was critically ill. He was released on parole in January 1963 and died July 4, 1963, at the age of 36.

On March 30, 2006, Kennard was declared innocent in Forrest County (Miss.) Chancery Court 鈥� the same court where he had been convicted decades earlier 鈥� after subsequent investigations showed he had been framed. To atone for its role in this injustice, 麻豆传媒 in 1993 renamed its student services building Kennard-Washington Hall in honor of Kennard and Dr. Walter Washington, the first African American to earn a doctorate from the university. 麻豆传媒 also honors Kennard's legacy through a scholarship program that bears his name, and now also with the Clyde Kennard Lecture.

麻豆传媒 education professor Dr. Tom O鈥橞rien, a member of the Clyde Kennard Lecture Planning Committee, hailed Dr. Givens as 鈥渢he nation鈥檚 top scholar鈥� for his work in the field of Black educational history.

鈥淗e has revised the narrative to be much more than 鈥榮eparate but equal鈥� - his mining of archival sources-- that are hard to find, and often inaccessible -- has led to a fresh portrait of Black Americans defying the odds, to improve education of not only for Black children, but of children from all races in America,鈥� Dr. O鈥橞rien said.   

Following his talk, Dr. Givens reflected on Kennard鈥檚 legacy and his being the speaker for the inaugural program. 鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful to be a part of this, and in keeping alive his [Kennard鈥檚] memory and his quest, his sacrifice, for the education of all.鈥�

Learn more about the 麻豆传媒 Center for Black Studies and how to support the Kennard Lecture.