Black History

College Board Waters Down AP Black History Course after Conservative, Anti-“Woke” Attacks

“To wake up on the first day of Black History Month to news of white men in positions of privilege horse trading essential and inextricably linked parts of Black History, which is American history, is infuriating,” said David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “The lives, contributions, and stories of Black trans, queer, and non-binary/non-conforming people matter and should not be diminished or erased.”

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2023

Oakland Post

The national College Board has altered its curriculum on Advanced Placement African American courses to eliminate removed topics including the Black Lives Matter movement, reparations, and Black queer and feminist theory. iStock image.

By Brandon Patterson

The guidelines for Advance Placement African American studies classes were revised this week after the College Board made several changes to the curriculum, coinciding with recent criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other conservatives. The College Board is the education nonprofit that writes the curriculum for advanced placement high school courses.

DeSantis announced last week that Florida would not allow the AP African American studies course to be taught in Florida high schools because the curriculum violated the recently passed Stop W.O.K.E. Act banning instruction on certain concepts related to race.

In the revised curriculum, released Feb. 1, the College Board removed topics including the Black Lives Matter movement, reparations and Black queer and feminist theory, according to CNN. They are instead included in a list of research topics that schools can recommend to students for year-end projects. Works by Angela Davis, Kimberly Crenshaw, who coined the term “intersectionality,” and bell hooks were also removed, CNN reported. The recommended research topics list now includes a suggestion on Black conservatism.

In a written statement announcing the revised curriculum, the College Board said the revisions had been in the works for months, implying they were not made in response to recent rightwing criticism. But the timing of the announcement has left many skeptical of that assertion.

“To wake up on the first day of Black History Month to news of white men in positions of privilege horse trading essential and inextricably linked parts of Black History, which is American history, is infuriating,” said Dr. David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “The lives, contributions, and stories of Black trans, queer, and non-binary/non-conforming people matter and should not be diminished or erased.”

In its statement, the College Board said that no “states or districts have seen the official framework that is released, much less provided feedback on it,” and that the course was “shaped only by the input of experts and long-standing AP principles and practices.”

The AP African American Studies course is taught in four sections: origins of the African diaspora; freedom, enslavement, and resistance; the practice of freedom; and movements and debates, according to NBC News. The course is currently being piloted in 60 schools around the country, and the formal framework is aimed at guiding the course’s expansion to other high school next school year, NBC reported. The College Board said it worked with professors from upwards of 200 colleges, including several HBCUs, to shape the new curriculum.

Governor DeSantis said his administration is now reviewing the new changes to the curriculum.

David Blight, a professor of African American history at Yale, spoke to NBC regarding the course revisions. “I am now disappointed to learn that a major section on the end of this curriculum was removed from an earlier version,” Blight said. “It took a lot of people to create this half-century tradition of African American studies and students in every state…No legislature, governor, or school board has the right to simply cancel it and stand in the way.”

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Oakland Post: Week of February 26 – March 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 26 – March 4, 2025

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February 28, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

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February 22, 2025

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 19, 2025

Oakland Post

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).

By Scott Horton

United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.

The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32^nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”

In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.

“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.

“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”

In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.

In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.

Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).

He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.

Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.