Higher Flight: Refocusing Black/Africana Studies for the 21st Century - REVIEW

by James B. Stewart

In the open access book Higher Flight, pre-eminent scholar and activist James B. Stewart offers a much-needed critical assessment of the current state of Black/Africana studies in order to chart a path forward. In three equally groundbreaking sections, Stewart clarifies and refines the distinctive approaches that currently define the field; shows how creative production in particular can serve as a unique means of cultural analysis and political mobilization; and suggests how to restore the balance between intellectual inquiry and direct action in order to improve the actual lived experiences of people of African descent. Each section incorporates various forms of expression, including Stewart’s essays, speeches, and poems, and the book as a whole covers a vast range of figures, issues, and phenomena, from W.E.B, Du Bois to James Baldwin, from conscious hip-hop to the Black Lives Matter movement, from Hurricane Katrina to Covid-19, and very much in between. Written with an accessible authoritativeness few Black/Africana scholar-activists can match, Stewart offers a must-read not only for researchers, but also for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students interested in Black/Africana studies, diaspora studies, ethnic studies, Black womanist/feminist studies, and American studies, as well as in African American history, culture, politics, economics, literature, and philosophy.

James B. Stewart is Professor Emeritus of African and African American Studies at Penn State University, USA. He previously served as Vice Provost for Educational Equity and Director of the Black studies Program at Penn State, as President of the National Council for Black Studies, as President of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and as Editor of The Review of Black Political Economy. He has published numerous articles and books, including the field-defining Introduction to Black Studies: Transdisciplinary Approaches and Implications (1992) and Flight in Search of Vision (2004).

Zed Books
ISBN-13 978-1350380295

Thinking About Black Education: An Interdisciplinary Reader - REVIEW

Edited by Hilton Kelly and Heather Moore Roberson

In this pioneering interdisciplinary reader, Hilton Kelly and Heather Moore Roberson have curated essential readings for thinking about black education from slavery to the present day.

The reading selections are timeless, with both historical and contemporary readings from educational anthropology, history, legal studies, literary studies, and sociology to document the foundations and development of Black education in the United States. In addition, the authors highlight scholarship offering historical, conceptual, and pedagogical gems that shine a light on Black people’s enduring pursuit of liberatory education. This book is an invitation to a broad audience, from people with no previous knowledge to scholars in the field, to think critically about Black education and to inspire others to uncover the agency, dreams, struggles, aspirations, and liberation of Black people across generations.

Thinking About Black Education: An Interdisciplinary Reader will address essential readings in African-Americans’ education. The text is inspired by the editors’ diverse backgrounds in interdisciplinary scholarship and professional communities. Necessary after 400 years of struggle for people of African-American descent to become fully-educated citizens with all the rights and privilege that true freedom brings, it can serve as a cornerstone during this quadricentennial moment by showcasing canonical, cutting-edge, and essential scholarship that people of African descent have produced in the United States.

The collection includes many of the great foundational thinkers and writers of the last 100 years. Selections include work from:

• Heather Andrea Williams

• James D. Anderson

• Elizabeth McHenry

• D. M. Douglas

• Vanessa Siddle Walker

• Thomas Sowell

• Trudier Harris

• Signithia Fordham and John U. Ogbu

• A. A. Akom

• Mano Singham

• Gloria Ladson-Billings

• bell hooks

• William F. Tate IV

• James Earl Davis

• Emery Petchauer

• Michael J. Dumas and kihana miraya ross

Thinking About Black Education is an essential text for a variety of Black Studies courses, but it should also appeal to a broader audience of students and scholars interested in racial equity and social justice across the disciplines.

Perfect for courses such as: Black Education from Slavery to Freedom ¦ Foundations of American Education ¦ Introduction to Africana Studies ¦ Introduction to Foundations of Education ¦ Schools & Society ¦ Race and Education ¦ African American Education ¦ African American Philosophy ¦ Education in African American Culture

Myers Education Press
ISBN-13  978-1975502522