African Americans On Education : Malcolm X On A Homemade Education

In America, we are told that it is the land where everything and anything is possible. For many years, it wasn’t like that for African American. With many hard work, strength, and courage African American manage to earn the right to an education. To the African American community education became more of a need than a want. We’ve learn that education is such a powerful asset that with it you are unstoppable. You can do so much if you put your time and energy to it. Having an education to African American is the one hope for a brighter and better

In the article, Education and Schooling: You Can Have One Without the Other, Mwalimu J. Shujaa of the State University of New York discusses the importance of learning that there is a difference between schooling and education. Can education exist without schooling or vice versa? Shujaa’s article gives an insight into the conjunction of schooling and education and how they impact the culture of African Americans.

The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what ought to be...and...when we call for education we mean real education,” he effectively made his audience view the logic in his claim about racial equality with a specific emphasis on the education of adults and more specifically children (DuBois 2). Mr. DuBois, being the well-educated man that he was, understood that by presenting his claim of educational importance in a logically and sound way, his audience would be exponentially more likely to agree with his view and act on his cause, which is exactly what transpired after his speech. In Mr. Washington’s attempt to persuade his audience in favor of educating the African American population, he chose to appeal to his perverse audience 's sense of desire and ambition. He stated that by “casting down [their] bucket among many people, helping and encouraging them as [they] are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, [they] will find that [African Americans] will buy [their] surplus land, make blossom the waste of places in [their] fields, and run [their] factories” (Washington 2). In stating his claim the way he did, he hoped that his audience, which was comprised primarily of white, land-owning southerners, would realize the possible economic benefits that would result from educating the black population, and that their innate desire for material wealth would drive them to

Education has always been valued in the African American community. During slavery freed slaves and those held captive, organized to educate themselves. After emancipation the value of education became even more important to ex-slaves, as it was their emblem of freedom and a means to full participation in American Society (Newby & Tyack, 1971). During this time many schools for African Americans were both founded and maintained by African Americans. African Americans continued to provide education throughout their own communities well into the 1930’s (Green, McIntosh, Cook-Morales, & Robinson-Zanartu, 2005). The atmosphere of these schools resembled a family. The

Malcolm X was one of the most influential leaders of the civil rights era, along with Martin Luther King

There have been many people throughout United States History who have greatly influenced the nation, including Malcolm X. Malcolm X both positively and negatively affected American society. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history, while being a tremendous public speaker and human rights activist, specifically advocating for the rights of African Americans. However, numerous individuals view him as controversial figure due to the widespread portrayal of Malcolm X as a violent and racist character often considered to be the opposite of Martin Luther King, Jr. Overall, it is clear that Malcolm X is one of the most significant people in United States history because of his various positive

Historically, race and class have been the defining factors in determining the quality of education received by people in the United States ( Gordon, 1990; Williams & Land, 2006). The western curriculum serves the cultural interest of whites, who have their roots in the European countries. It does not favor the cultural interest of African Americans, but it would only make sense that African American people are educated on true African history. The African American quest for education has been discussed by many African scholars and the struggles that African communities face since slavery. Dating back years ago, the African American communities have been suppressed, given only limited knowledge of their people, history, and

Education can only take you so far in the world, until realizing that the color of your skin affect everything you want to achieve in the world. Ellison narrator thought that he was better than other blacks, when he had the dreams that him and his grandfather was at the circus, noticing his grandfather was not laughing, showed that the clowns represented the black man performing. In the story Ellison narrator said “I felt superior to them in my way, and I didn’t like the manner in which we were all crowded together in the servants’ elevator” (1). W.E.B DuBois felt the way to for African American to help themselves, was to educated some of the race, so that the a few educated blacks can represented other midlevel educated blacks against whites.

Education is a significant tool that is utilized in the current world to succeed; the knowledge gained through education enables an individual to live a respectful life in today’s society. Various events have occurred, and several documents have come to existence to promise freedom from slavery and educational fairness for African Americans. Nonetheless, it took a century of labor and struggle by establishments, several people, and government leaders to bring forward the hope of liberty and equality to everyone in the grounds of education. Still after so many fights and even more heartache, Blacks in America are still facing some many problems in the education system.

Education and literacy are very important and play many roles in everyday lives. Over many years, education and literacy have been viewed as something to be proud of and something to strive towards, this can be seen back in the mid-20th century, while in more recent times, the views have changed to almost the polar opposite of the original views. Today, they aren’t as cherished or valued as they were back in the day. In the time of Malcolm X, the mid-20th century, education and literacy were valued much more because of the perceived difficulty of gaining them. The ease of access now a days, due to technology, to education, such as books, makes the value of education and literacy go down much more than how it was valued back in the times

Education is arguably one of the most important foundational assets one could invest in. The business of self investment and being aware of one’s situation and applying knowledge to discover solutions. The approach towards education and civil rights for blacks during the reconstruction was one that had immensely different strategies and ideologies. DuBois argues how Washington fails to include the injustices in which blacks face on a civil level that also have an affect on education in his speech. Blacks were often penalized and charged for crimes that they did not commit and then forced into indentured servitude to pay off debts. In Washington’s explanation as to why blacks should focus on industrial skills, he also suggested the formation

Education is the most important part of any individual's life. It shapes characters and builds personalities, introvert and extrovert, pessimistic and optimistic, loving and aggressive. For a better society an improved educational system is a must, a system based on ethics and knowledge. The paper examines the work and educational principles of W.E.B. Dubois and then compares his proposed system to the currently prevalent educational system.

Education is one of the most essential necessities of a personal life because without education, we would not have a brighter future. In two essays “Learning to Read and Write” and “A Homemade Education”, Malcolm and Douglass describe what they have gone through in order to become more successful in their pursuits in life. While Malcolm X lived part of his life in prison, he spent his time writing numerous definitions from a dictionary amongst the walls and tables. The elements of the dictionary motivated him to not only become a free man, but a well educated one at that. Douglass, who also taught himself, began his life in slavery. But after a series of attempts, he escapes from slavery and pursues into his

Charles M. Payne and Carol Strickland used the methodology of combing various scholarly articles into a collection that expounds upon education for liberation. In Teach Freedom: Education for Liberation in the African American Tradition the question of “did your education encourage you to move” resonated with me throughout the text. Over a series of nineteen articles, the centering theme of the role of education being political tied to the problem of African Americans being subjected to a hegemonic system which places those living at the intersection of race, class, and/or gender mis-educated. Which causes people of color to turn a blind eye to self-discovery and left uncritical problems within society. If Teach Freedom’s goal was to have the readers change the lens of viewing education, this work accomplished it by giving me insight on an array of pedagogical principles in liberatory education. From citizenship schools, to freedom schools, to African-centered institution the encouragement of conscientization and collaboration led to a breaking dominate constructs and being autonomous. As I reflected on the text, I began to consider what the meaning of knowledge, what it really is and how the use of knowledge is political and powerful.

It is difficult to put oneself in other individuals’ shoes when it comes to the idea of racialization in American history. W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, highlights the discrimination and racialization of African American in the late 1800s into to early 1900s. During this time, the end of Reconstruction, previously owned slaves were given their “freedom.” While these individuals were considered freedman their lived in no way represented what America believes to be freedom. In this paper I will discuss the difficulties African Americans faced regarding the categorization of their race during the end of the Reconstruction. In addition to this, I will highlight DuBois ideas on education and the large benefit he believes education could have on individuals during this time. DuBois argues that education is the most vital resource for African Americans to break through the veil that causes each individual’s double-consciousness.