APRIL 1-7,
If. ntrlc p r p c Iv
o African American
From th
T
By FIod n s. R
StIl/[Repottq
DETR.OIT - Christopher
Columbus didn't discover
America.
How could he had dis
covered a land where people al
ready lived, ed University of
Michigan Political Science doc-
. toral candidate Errol Header-
on who is also founder of
Sankofa - a group who goes to
schools urging African
American public students to
reclaim their history. .
It has been proven. that
Columbu tumbled upon
America believing it the In
dies and civilized Native
Americans had been living here
for thousands of years.
So why do student books and
test answers continue to y in
1492 Christopher Columbus '
discovered America?
What dots that do to the
mind of an African American
child who is conditioned that
Europeans did everything good
in history, asked Don Rico
Brent, of the rap group "Kaos
and Mystro· who also. repre-
ents Strength of the BI ck
Youth (SOBY), another group
pe to t • . ues of the
school e ge ratio .
Though Sankofa d SOBY
members visit 'elementary and
middle schoo most of their
.. occur on the highschool
level - here Brent ys, the
strength of the future' found.
By the time tudents reach
highschool they bave been con
ditioned Eurocentrically.
They've been taught to recog
nize Columbus Day as a nation-
al holiday, to m rk
Thanksgiving a day to give
thanks, or to ccept people
drinking to celebr te St.
Patrie 's Day.
• • •
r
emg' cap ive m.ind
,
These days amODg others are
misrepresented in history, the
groups charge.
What about Malcolm X's
birthday, the day the Black Pan
ther Party began, the anniver-
of Greensboro Sit-iDs,
or even the day the late Rev.
Marti Luther King Jr. was .
shot?
The e event are a
microcosm of a vast history that
is significant to African
Americans understanding their
history didn't tart or end with
American slavery.Many
African Americans students
don't kno anything about their
history and have been condi
tioned not to research beyond
what is poon fed to them. .
The training comes through
education, the books read and
the terminology used by
teachers contribute 'to the low
self-esteems in evolviDg stu
dents .:
As a result the tudents don't
learn because most of the stu
dents don't wa t to learn,
. Henderson said.
·1 was never Ignorant:
Henderson explained bout his
academic history at C Tech
nical High School, which was
minimum. ·1 just wasn't very in
terested"
However, Henderson went
on to Wayne State University
where he graduated as a Phi
Beta Kapp before going to U-
M. .
Henderson's life entails
studying full-time, working with
Save Our Sons and Daughters
among many other groups
wen as putting out a rap album
under the name of E. A Force.
. His siugles "We Are Ready
(W AR)- and "There Wa A
Time- were recently released
recapturing historic points in
Detroit' past.
BreDt, a gr duate of High
Iud �ark High 00 is cur
rently attending Oakland
CommUDity College.
When he' not out in the
community he' busy with, .
rap career. His album "Outcast"
also wa recently relea ed
featuring several hit ingles.
By the time students reach
the high chool level they feel
school has no elevance to their
lives, present or past.
Using a circus tiger as an ex
ample, Henderson tells. stu
dents that a tiger jumping
through a hoop of fire' not an
educated tiger but a trained
tiger.
If that tiger' put into
its natural habitat it '\viii be a
permanent liability" to' com
munity much like Afric n
Americans who are -college
educated."
When other tiger are unt
ing food for survival, the trained '
tiger looks for hoops of fire to
jump through.
Educated African
Americans mus be students of
the condition of their people,
Henderson said, adding, they
have to come b ck to the com
munity and contribute their
resources to help liber te them
from socio-economic enslave-
·menl.
. Statistics show that fe er
African Americans are going to
college and less are completiDg
college.
The correction must tart .
early in chool, Brent aid.
Africeatric instrudo m get
the students attention and teach
the true history of the I'ld
hich tates that' Afric D
civilizations walked on the
planet befo e any GreekS.
Rap music on the air � I
has attempted to attac the
brainwashing of
Eurocentrici m, Brent said.
The can also be used in the
cia rooms attention gr b
bers to entice students to read,
research and learn.
It h been documented that
students who bave been diag
n ed as remedial readers can
recite and understand entire
rap songs.
However, Brent cautio ed
tudents must be independea
thinkers and be objective and
elective in the learning they
receive.
·If they don't want to treat
you right, they won't tre t you
right," Brent and Henderson
reminded students.
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