African americanmalesconsiderationsforliteracyecosystem(1)

African-‐American Males: Considerations for Literacy Ecosystem 1

African-American Males: Considerations for Literacy Ecosystem

Juan Rivera

Syracuse University


Definition and Description: Conceptual definition and description of the ecosystem aspect

This summer Michael Brown, a young black man was shot and killed by a police man in

Ferguson, Missouri. The incident and the subsequent outrage by the local, national, and

international community highlighted the challenges faced by African-American males-- higher

rates of drop-outs, poverty, and incarceration. In their article, “Rethinking the Texts We Use in

Literacy Instruction with African-American Males” authors Rawson and Hughes-Hassel cite

daunting statistics about the state of African-Males:


● In 2007, one out of every three Black children lived in poverty compared with one out of

every ten White children.

● In 2008, Black males were almost twice as likely as White males to drop out of high

school.

● In 2006, Black students were two times more likely than Hispanic and American Indian

students, three times more likely than White students, and five times more likely than

Asian American students to be suspended from school.

● In 2010, the unemployment rate for adult Black males was twice as high as the

unemployment rate for White males of the same age (Rawson and Hughes Hassell, 2012)


These problems are caused in large part by systemic racism, a widening of the prison-industrial

pipeline (where more and more men are incarcerated into a growing and profitable prison

population), and the narrowing of economic opportunities for all. Most African-American men

are not drop outs, poor or incarcerated but these pressures create an environment where a higher

proportion are likely to be in these categories. The pressures of higher rates of poverty, racism,

and incarceration affect the literacy outcomes of this population as a whole.

A quieter part of the Ferguson story is the role of the local public library. Throughout the crisis,

the Ferguson public libraries served the community. Throughout the crisis, Ferguson public

libraries served as a resource for students and other citizens who wanted calm from the storm. In

the case of students who were not able to attend due to the protests, libraries served as

extensions and preservers of student learning.

Librarians and libraries, whether in schools or in the community cannot solve all the social

pressures faced by African-American males. However, librarians and libraries must understand

the unique pressures faced by African-American males and do two things to improve the literacy

environment: understand the unique social and societal pressures faced by African-American

males to adapt teaching strategies and library environments and continue to create great and

beautiful libraries that welcome choice, exploration, and collaboration for all. African-

American males may need collections and libraries that reflect their culture, but they also need

collections that go beyond cultural expectations. One student may be pushed a little further by a

volume of Malcolm X or Frederick Douglass while another may be nudged into a world of

literacy and books by reading manga, fantasy, or some other genre.


Challenges and Opportunities: The major issues that teachers, parents, and students must

confront

Confronting the “African-American Males Don’t Read” Stereotype

Though many researchers have acknowledged that there are definite literacy gaps faced by

African-American males as a group, it would be completely damaging to fall into the African-

American males don’t read stereotype. In fact, it would be even more harmful to believe that

when it is repeated by a African-American male because it disempowers them and may fail to

build on the strengths of African-American males talents in multiple forms of literacy. As the

report “Building a Bridge to Literacy for African American Youth” points out by quoting Alfred


Tatum, literacy and literate participation by African-American community has a long tradition,

often in tandem with and strengthening liberation movements:

In his book Reading for Their Life, Dr. Tatum provides an historical perspective

on the role of literacy in the lives of African American men in the United States,

noting that as early as 1800 Negro literacy societies formed as a place for Black

men to read and write “texts that held social, economic, personal, political, and

spiritual significance.” Thus, literacy has been, and continues to be, “a

collaborative part of African American males’ meaningful and purposeful

activism.” (2012)


It is important for librarians, specially librarians who are not African-American, to remember to

build on the strengths, traditions, pedagogy, and scholarly work of African-Americans who have

already explored the issue of African-American male readers and to remember that their work is

add to the depth of possibility. Though every African-American male patron who steps through

the library doors may have not yet found their “just the right book at the right time,” a

missionary attitude that focuses on “deficiencies” rather than dialogue, co-exploration, and

respect will be counter-productive.

The novelist Sharon G. Flake, author of The Skin I’m In, also explains that the “African-

American Males Don’t Read” fallacy is a big stumbling block. Her experience as an author who

has visited many schools shows that many teachers are surprised by the love and passion that

African-Americans demonstrate about her books and the author in particular. In “Who Says

Black Boys Won’t Read”, Flake explains that when genuine books address the concerns,

identities, and questions of African-American males, more of these African-American males can

fall into the world of literature and inquiry. African-American males can be “giddy” about

books:

One day a friend of mine living in another city phoned, asking me to say hello to

an 18-year-old African-American male who liked my work. Following our

conversation, my friend took the phone and repeated what the young man said

about his heart fluttering. I was honored, and a little bit saddened because this side

of Black boys--giddy, heart fluttering, excited about authors and books--hardly

ever makes it into print. But it was clear--at least to me anyhow--that this young


man and others like him are in love. No, they are not longing to tie the knot with a

woman old enough to be their mother, nor are they looking to be adopted by me

either. They have fallen in love with literature. They have found something that

people say they do not long for--the written word, novels, books, books, and more

books! (Flake, 2008)

Flake goes on to explain that part of the reason that these young males have fallen for books is

because they finally see texts that reflect their world, their concerns. These books, according to

Flake can have the depth as deep as any other literature. This connection to self, may create the

wedge opening that will allow the stream of literature, ideas, and inquiry to continue to flow in.

It is also important that teachers, students, and scholars continue to read about experiences like

Sharon Flake’s and to have a vision of African-American males as readers rather than staying

stuck in a deprivation mode of viewing African-American males.

Finding “Enabling Texts” While Creating Opportunities for Choice


Alfred Tatum notes that it is important that texts chosen for African-American males not feed

into the stereotypes and victimization that can be an issue when trying to choose books for

African-American male readers. Casey H. Rawson and Sandra Hughes-Hassell have done an

excellent job distilling Tatum’s explanation of “enabling texts” or books that are “culturally

relevant, powerful, and able to make a positive difference in the lives of their readers.” (2012)

Tatum argues that books should do more than have African-American characters if they are

going to have positive influences in lives and educational outcomes of African-American males.

While it is important to go beyond one author’s criteria for choosing texts, these powerful criteria

can help steer the conversation towards powerful choices:

● Provides a healthy psyche


● Provides a modern awareness of the real world

● Focuses on the collective struggles of African Americans

● Serves as a road map for being, doing, thinking, and acting

● Recognizes, honors, & nurtures multiple identities

● Demonstrates resiliency

● Interesting and provocative

● Avoids caricatures

● Includes a mentor or role model

Tatum’s criteria, as summarized by Rawson and Hughes-Hassell, provide robust criteria for

choosing texts that reflect African-American lives while at the same time empowering agency,

choice, and going beyond tired stereotypes.

However, it is also important to consider other genres beyond those that may be considered

enabling texts. Yes, Richard Wright’s Black Boy may serve as a powerful enabling text.

However, what if Naruto, the manga story of an orphaned boy training to become a ninja opens

up the literacy door even further? Choice is a key element to furthering literacy attainment in

any population. When a child or a teen chooses a book that is “just right at the right time” they

not only open up a world of skills and literacy but also the ability to dream, imagine and

understand that they can be creators. Though Tatum’s criteria are powerful ways to pick books

that reflect and widen the African-American experience, choice is an extremely powerful literacy

tool. For example, manga and graphic novels have potential to reach different populations and

to teach skills and further literacy is evident in the reviews and discussion of Michael Bitz’s


Manga High: Literacy, Identity, and Coming of Age in an Urban High School. This book

chronicles 14 students who participate in a manga club at Martin Luther King High School, a

school that had a large African-American population. Bitz explored how manga not only helped

these young people become language consumers but also language and literature creators.

(Carter, 2010)

Bitz explains, manga can be more than a bridge to reading. Manga is a way that can lead

students to contemplate, write about and explore the world. For example, one of my former

students, an African-American male former student who I queried through social media wrote

the following about Naruto (2004):

I’ve been reading this series for over 8yrs now. Basically what I love about Naruto is that

the series teaches you about the pain and struggle of a kid longing to be accepted by his

peers. But through many hardships he learns how to overcome his own demons while still

trying to be recognized by his village. Its funny because Naruto reminds me of myself as

a teenager (James Eric Joyner, personal communication, July 5, 2014).

It is important to think of “enabling texts” within the community and also think beyond the

community to all kinds of genres and texts that move African-American males to more words,

literature, and ideas.

Impact and Implications: The impact and implications of African-American male literacy

for students, librarians and the library program


Creating a Rich Collection that Reflects Cultural Heritage of African Americans While

Going Beyond

Students, teachers, and librarians must work as co-creators in creating library collections that

reflect the struggles, potential, and diversity among African males while at the same time

creating the attractive and interesting choices in all genres. A quick reading of the sources for

this article suggests just a few titles:

● Pull (Binns, 2010)

● Chameleon (Smith, 2008)

● Autobiography of My Dead Brother (Myers, 2005)

● Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Douglass, 1845/1997)

● The Rock and the River (Magoon, 2009)

● The works of Sharon Draper, Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Paul Curtis

● The Rose That Grew from Concrete

● We Could Be Brothers (Barnes, 2010)

● Bronx Masquerade (Grimes, 2002

● Bang by Sharon Flake (2007)

● Black and White (Volponi, 2006)

● Jimi and Me by Jaime Adoff (2005)

● Sunrise over Fallujah [Myers, 2009]

● Skeleton Key, Mowry, 2007


These books were suggested by Rawson and Hughes-Hassell as books that reflect the lives of

African-American lives and are enabling texts because they are empowering, rich in literary

depth, and go beyond victimization.

Creating Spaces that Invite Collaboration, Choice and Cultural Expression

Library spaces are being re-imagined as spaces for collaboration, discussion, as well as the

traditional sanctum for quiet study and reflection. What will help create this space, will also

help create welcoming spaces for African-Males who according to recent studies can be turned

off by librarians who create a prohibitive atmosphere in the library. Instead of a hush, hush

space the library will reflect changes for libraries as places that welcome collaboration through

teamwork and study, production spaces for music, science, poetry etc. One of the best ways to

encourage African-American males to come into this space is to help them create the space by

serving as advisors and designers.


A Librarian’s Story: How A First Year Librarian Might Create a Library that Welcomes

African-American Males

Starts by Reading, Questioning, and Looking at the Diversity of the African-American

experience in Its Literature

Since I, the author, am not African-American, one of the ways that I would begin as a first-year

librarian is by immersing myself in the enabling texts and the texts that go beyond the

stereotypical expectations of African-American males.

Starts by Listening

To create a space that is successful for African-American males it is important to listen to the

entire community. The space must be enticing to the whole community and not exclusively

target African-American males. Surveying and listening to the interests and concerns of all staff

and students and creating programs and collections to build around that will create more

community buy-in that will also help to draw in African-American males. The library space and

program must be something that attracts everyone It is important to include African-American

experience through hiring, committee work, community events, and programming.

Creates a Welcoming Space

The library and/or teaching space reflects the culture and cultures of the building. There are

inspirational sayings from African American, Latino, gay authors in addition to all the other


thinkers that have pushed human thinking forward. There is student created art as well,

reflecting the themes that move them. There are events from throughout the community that

also includes African-American males who males who may serve as role models to the whole

community: entrepreneurs, writers, poets, scientists, community activists, etc. The library is a

hub of creation, collaboration, as well as research and literary discovery.

Develops a rich collection and inviting space and goes beyond stereotypes

Because the librarian has done some preliminary homework by immersing himself in “enabling”

texts and texts that go beyond the stereotypes and because he has created spaces for listening and

collaborating with the community, he has created a space that will help him grow and change the

library. He continues to listen to feedback from his growing community of students and

community, which includes a growing proportion of African-American males.

African-American males are on his advisory board and enjoy participating in the committee

work. Committee members review programming, collections, and policies to ensure a growth-


oriented environment that is self-sustaining and growing. Through the librarian does his

research on trends that affect African-American males, his advisory board is invested in the

library and the growth of all community members so that the library grows to expand, literacy,

love and agency.


Resources and References

Carter, J. B. (2010). Michael Bitz. Manga high: Literacy, identity, and coming of age in an

urban high school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(1), 100-102. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/204629663?accountid=14214.

Flake S. Who Says Black Boys Won't Read? Journal Of Children's Literature [serial online].

Spring2008 2008;34(1):13-14. Available from: Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson),

Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 14, 2014.

Hughes-Hassell, S. et al. (2012) Building Bridges to Literacy for African American Male Youth:

A Call to Action for the Library Community. School of Information and Library

Science: Chapel Hill, NC.

Omer, N. (2010). Interview with sharon G. flake. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(2),

152-153. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/757809509?accountid=14214

Rawson, Casey H and Sandra Hughes-Hassell. (2012). Rethinking the Texts We Use in

Literacy Instruction with Adolescent African American Males. Alan Review, v39(3).

Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v39n3/rawson.html. Accessed

August 28, 2014.

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