Black sons to mothers : compliments, critiques, and challenges for cultural workers in education / edited by M. Christopher Brown II and James Earl Davis.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Brown, M. Christopher.

Davis, James Earl, 1960-

Series:

Counterpoints (New York, N.Y.) ; vol. 107.

Counterpoints ; v. 107

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American young men--Education--Social aspects.

African American young men.

African American young men--Family relationships.

Mothers and sons--United States.

Mothers and sons.

United States.

Home and school--United States.

Home and school.

Physical Description:

x, 237 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : P. Lang, 2000.

Summary:

Black Sons to Mothers is the critical site where African American male scholars explore the meanings and connections of the lives of black boys/men. This book offers literary, scholarly, and personal space to interrogate the seemingly elusive intersection of race and gender. Each chapter in the book is offered in one of two voices--one that speaks to teachers as cultural workers and one that represents individual transformation into the cultural space of mothering. This book's intent is to both question black men's constructions as sons (cultural offspring) and to engage in the project of representing mothering as cultural work and, specifically, the role of black men in this work.

Because the discourse on the role performance of black boys/men is steeped in the hegemonic rhetoric of traditional constructions of masculinity, that discourse fails to sensibly represent and elaborate on the diversity and complexity of their lives and relations, particularly in the academic enterprise. As such, Black Sons to Mothers attempts to recontextualize the discourse surrounding the cultural places where the identities of black boys/men are shaped and explores how the politics and constructions of manhood are informed and enforced in school settings.

In Black Sons to Mothers, the research subject of extrapolation is the oppressed and/or marginalized group. In opposition to deficit model inquiry, the research on white males is not being applied to black boys/men, but the research on black boys/men is being applied to all students. The black male student is at the center of a discourse that is not about a pathology, dysfunction, "at-riskness," or "special education." This book's discourse is epigenetic in that it advances a more complex understanding of schooling and cultural work. This understanding is not solely about black boys/men, but about the cornerstone of cultural work--(un)learning.

Contents:

They Call Her / Shirley M. Washington xi

1. To Be or Not to Be a Mother: Introducing the Conversation / M. Christopher Brown II, James Earl Davis 1

Part 1 Compliments on Mothering

2. Matriarchy, Malcolm X, and Masculinity: A Historical Essay / William Eric Perkins 15

3. From Son to Mother? Intellectualizing the Personal / Edward Underwood 35

4. Mothering for Manhood: The (Re)Production of a Black Son's Gendered Self / James Earl Davis 51

Part 2 Critical Commentary for Cultural Workers

5. School Violence, Black Masculinities, and a Mother's Love: Reflections on (In)Formal Urban Pedagogies / Garrett Albert Duncan 71

6. Education 101: Thoughts on Teaching and Race / Karl Bell 93

7. Brains, Brawn, and Pigskin Balls: Racism and Athletic Manifestation in Society / C. Keith Harrison 103

8. A Talk to Teachers / James Baldwin 123

Part 3 Challenges to Educational Practice

9. "Black Schools for Black Children": Black Males, Milwaukee, and Immersion Schools / Christopher M. Span 133

10. Reconceptualizing Multicultural Education: Design Principles for Educating African American Males / Tyrone C. Howard 155

11. Cultural Guardianship? A Model for Supporting Gay-African American Boys/Men / Michael Mobley 173

12. When "At Promise" Black Males Meet the "At Risk" School System: Chaos! / Vernon C. Polite 193

Part 4 The Commencement

13. Prophets of Power in the Professoriate: A Sermon for Cultural Workers / M. Christopher Brown II 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0820442925

OCLC:

40776768