Black History Month: a learning process for negotiating meaning (Part 2)

A probing question was presented at the end of our last class. This is one of such pervasive questions that many of us within the Black community cannot easily provide a befitting answer to. How do we, as people of African descent, negotiate meaning in an environment that is predominantly Eurocentric?

            In my last blog, I began a discourse around the invaluable role of Black History Month – also known as African Heritage Month – as a tool that the Black community can subscribe to for the purpose of coming to a mutual agreement about their participation as inclusive members of the society. I posited in the blog that Black History Month is an important and palpable learning process that can be effectively used as a bargaining tool within our societal communities of practice. It is important to note that our identity as members of a community of practice can be manifested in two different dimensions – our active participation within the community, which defines us as belonging to that community, and our ability to have control over the definition of our involvement, which Wenger describes as negotiation of meaning (Wenger, 1999).

I will endeavour to analyze how the origin of Black History month was closely tied to the concept of critical pedagogy, and ultimately how within it, existed a learning process which has remained at the forefront of transforming the once alienated into an acceptable and participatory members of the society.

Graves (1998) positions Carter G. Woodson and W.E.B. DuBois as two uncelebrated figures within the field of critical pedagogy. He asserts that critical pedagogy, within its fundamental principles addresses the issues of oppression, power and inequality, and how they affect individuals within the marginalized groups. It seeks to understand how these individuals are able to “accept”, “engage” or “resist” these societal nuisance. He reiterates that the proponents of radical pedagogy stand on the shoulder of education as a tool to bring about “critical democracy, individual freedom, social justice, and social change” (Graves, 1999). Moreover, since Woodson and DuBois demonstrated this ideology in their role as educators, it is well deserving to acknowledge them as two of the unsung heroes of critical pedagogy.

Woodson believed that education was the only way through which meaningful contribution can be made by people of African descent to the American society. He saw the need to move beyond education as merely a means to acquire information into a need to “live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better” (p. 8).  The argument presented by Woodson echoed what modern Africentric educators advocate – the need to place the history of African people at the centre of their learning. Woodson contended that the recognition of African Americans as part of the collective American society could not be achieved without the full acknowledgement of the history of people of African descent. He maintained that the goal of American educational system should be to “revolutionize the social order for the good of the community”. Understanding of history for the purpose of creating a just society was paramount to Woodson’s cause. He vehemently asserted that any type of education that seeks to affirm the superiority of a group of people over another, is essentially the same that represses and dehumanizes the oppressed. Therefore, as a result of this type of education, it does not surprise one to see why people of African descent will conclude that their race is an inferior kind and that they will never “measure up to the standards of other peoples” (p. 9).

Through his writings, Woodson was able to make a passionate case for the understanding and recognition of the history of people of African descent. One early successful manifestation of this occurred when a group of White Teachers were able to integrate the study of African American history into their curriculum. Part of Woodson’s goals was seeing education become a tool to “dialogue across difference”. While seeing the Black person becoming educated about his history was a goal, he never relented on bringing to the awareness of European Americans the history of people of African descent in America. He believed that the tool of negotiation lies in knowing “something of the other” and since African American history is essentially part of human history, it is just as important as learning about other people. Through Woodson’s efforts, which resulted in publications in mainstream academic journals, and the involvement of the department of education in promoting the history of African American people, some white schools started participating in Negro History Week in the late 1940s.

Right here in our back yard, we can see how the institution of Black History Month, as a negotiation tool, has influenced the establishment of various causes which have today become a part of the hallmark of larger society. The development of BLAC Report on Education was essentially a part of an important negotiation process for Black people in this province. The process sought to redress the issues faced by African Nova Scotians by delving into history, and exploring how Black people have been disenfranchised within a systemic racially biased educational system. I quote a portion of the report which affirms that the quest goes beyond mere inclusion; it is about full participation, through negotiation as members of the community:

African Nova Scotian’s must begin to participate in the definition, design and development of social policy and social agendas beyond demand for simple racial inclusion and acceptance (p. 14)

Other outcomes of negotiation that can also be pointed to include but not limited to: BLAC resulting in the creation of the African Canadian Services Division of the department of Education, the creation of the Office of African Nova ScotianAffairs, the establishment of the Council on Education of African Canadians, and the birth of Africentric Learning Institute, one that is of significance important to those who are in the Masters of Education, Africentric Cohort program. It will certainly not be an overstatement to attribute these successes to the foundation laid by the institution of Black History month.

Based on the foregoing analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that Black History month was built on the premise of negotiation of meaning, if we draw on Wenger’s description of the process. Continuous participation of Black people, and active definition of what that participation entails within the society, has helped to bring about a “shared history of engagement” (Wenger, 1999, p. 84). Just as Woodson made the case that the history of black people was an integral part of American history, Wenger asserts that factors in negotiation may include language, social relations and that it is a “continuous interactions, of gradual achievement, and of give-and-take”. It suffices to say, using Wenger’s viewpoint that circumstances will continuously shape negotiation and the outcome meanings, and negotiations will continuously be renewed to result in full participation of individuals involved (Wenger, 1999, p. 52-53).

The institution of Black History Month, some have argued, has outlived its usefulness, and others have even contended that it undermines the history of black people. Those in opposition believe it is not sufficient to dedicate a month out of the whole year to celebrating the history of over 200 million people. Nevertheless, Black History month remains a powerful yet malleable weapon that has helped, and will continue to aid with the negotiation of meaning for people of African descent in a society where change is a constant thing.

References

Black Learner Advisory Committee (1994) BLAC Report Education: Redressing inequality –

Empowering Black Learner, Nova Scotia

Graves, K.L., (1998). Outflanking Oppression: African American Contributions to Critical

Pedagogy as Developed in the Scholarship of W.E.B. DuBois and Carter G. Woodson.

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research

Association (San Diego, CA, April 13-17, 1998).

Wenger. E. (1999). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge,

Mass.: Cambridge University Press.