Narratives of Citizenship and Race since Emancipation

Letter to Teachers-as-Students, A List of Useful Materials and a Bibliography

Dear Teacher-Students,

Here is an annotated bibliography of books used in this unit, plus a few others not included that I recommend. Authors are listed alphabetically:

Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of

colorblindness. New York: New Press ;, 2010. I agree with all the critics: this is a must read! This book documents and tells the story of real people's fight against the not-so-New Jim Crow system of mass incarceration of a particular group of people: African-Americans. Anyone who has ever wondered what they would have done about slavery in America if they lived then, should read this book and do something about this caste system that continues to oppress people of color.

Blackmon, Douglas A.. Slavery by another name: the re-enslavement of Black Americans

from the Civil War to World War II. New York: Doubleday, 2008. An engaging and

terrible history of continued slavery in America. The depth of hatred that has marred

America is sounded in this intense historical expose of how slavery remained, and

worsened in America, simply under the guise of convict leasing.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. A classic retelling of

Plato's Cave. I believe every student of toady should read it, although it conspicuously is

void of people of color. It is a great read about the awakening to truth about one's society.

Ellison, Ralph, and Albert Murray. Trading twelves: the selected letters of Ralph Ellison

and Albert Murray. New York: Modern Library, 2000. I find Ellison's insights about

writing and life worth teaching to my students. The correspondence between Ellison and

Murray is filled with deep love of literature and life, with very humorous observations of

other people and events.

Gaines, Ernest J.. Bloodline,. New York: Dial Press, 1968. "The Sky is Gray" has long

been a favorite story. It is one of five beautiful and rich stories set in rural, Louisiana, and

inspired by the varied lives of people, mostly black, struggling to survive in against

poverty, human cruelty and injustices. Gaines is a master of the subtle and deep.

Jones, Clarence B., and Stuart Connelly. Behind the dream: the making of the speech that

transformed a nation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. This is the book that first

inspired me to write a letter, then to imagine my students writing letters, all for the

purpose of actively fighting injustice and racism. This is a very enjoyable read about

behind the scenes of the March on Washington and the inspirational speech by Martin

Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream." Clarence Jones and Stuart Connelly inspired me with

their words, especially in the last chapter, "In the Present, Tense." I highly recommend it.

Lee, Harper. To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. This is the follow-up

book for this unit. It is my hope that students will grasp this beautiful and humorous

glimpse into a fight for justice against hate and racism perceived through the eyes of a

girl mesmerized by her lawyer father's heroism.

Marable, Manning, and Leith Mullings. Let nobody turn us around: voices of resistance,

reform, and renewal : an African American anthology. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield,

2000. This is a must have for anyone who wants to learn more truth about American

history as it chronicles specifically, through documents, letters and essays, the struggle

towards equality by and for black people. Had I more room in my unit, I would have

included countless more texts from this great anthology.

May, Debra Hart. Everyday letters for busy people hundreds of sample letters you can

copy or adapt at a minute's notice. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 1998. I have

regularly returned to this easy to use guide for writing business letters. I include it here

simply as a beneficial resource for teachers and students.

Murray, Pauli, Caroline F. Ware, and Anne Firor Scott. Pauli Murray & Caroline Ware:

forty years of letters in black and white. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,

2006. A correspondence between two women, one black, the other white, whose

friendship resists the oppressiveness of racism and genderism.

Mycoskie, Blake. Start something that matters. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2011. This

book, I hope, will be an inspiration for my students to start something that matters,

especially against injustice.

Newkirk, Pamela. Letters from Black America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux,

2009. I love this anthology of letters. It provides great insight into people's loves and

concerns and struggles while providing a wide view of African-American experiences in

America. It includes letters from great leaders to Annie Davis, a slave who wrote to

President Lincoln asking if the slaves had actually been freed by the Emancipation

Proclamation a year earlier.

Sartre, Jean, John Kulka, and Arlette Sartre. Existentialism is a humanism =

(L'Existentialisme est un humanisme) ; including, a commentary on The stranger

(Explication de L'. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. I wanted to use Sarte's

essay, "Existentialism is a Humanism" in my unit because, like Tim Wise's Dear White

America, it challenges the individual to be responsible for his own existence which

ultimately means be responsible for all people.

Tatum, Beverly Daniel. "Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?" and

other conversations about race. New York: BasicBooks, 1997. An absolute must have

for teachers. It is a book of wisdom and insight about how to talk openly and honestly

about race and racism, and then what to do about them. This book helped me understand

how to proceed with the writing of my curriculum unit.

Wise, Tim J.. Dear White America: letter to a new minority. San Francisco: City Lights

Books, 2012. Every white person who enjoys the privilege of being white in America

should read this. It is a letter to us, teaching and guiding us to places of deep wisdom

regarding our complicity in racism and injustice simply for being white. Tim Wise writes

with compassion and clarity about why we must do something about other people's

circumstances.

Letter to Teachers-as-Students and Administrators

The following briefly explains how studying historical texts and literature, as well as practicing the art of letter writing meets Common Core Standards for tenth graders.

Dear Teacher-Students and Administrators

This unit focuses on three primary goals (to awaken students to the persistence of racism and injustice in America, to understand the historical experiences of African-American people and to practice the art of letter writing) that cover nearly all aspects of literature and writing, and thus, also nearly cover all portions of the Common Core Standards for reading literary and non-fictional texts and for writing narrative and expository essays. In this case, the narratives and expositions are in the form of letters. In this way, the writing actually becomes an action towards creating justice and not just an academic practice.

It is the intention of this author to make sure that standards are not just met but exceeded.

If you have any concerns about this unit and its value in regards to meeting standards, please write to me.

Thank you for reading,

Jeffry K. Weathers