Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Implementation Of Radical Constructivism Within The Urban Mathematics Classroom, Randy Lattimore

Trotter Review

One of the most serious problems in mathematics education continues to be the dismal statewide mathematics proficiency test performance of African-American students in urban schools. It has been argued that one of the best ways to improve performance is by connecting the pedagogy of mathematics to the lives and experiences of these students. Although many theories have been implemented in the urban mathematics classroom to assist African-American students in developing and increasing conceptual understanding, members of the urban mathematics education community should take a closer, more serious look at the implementation of radical constructivism within urban mathematics classrooms.

A number …

Commentary: An Interview With Dr. Clarence Williams, Special Assistant To The President Of Minority Affairs, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Harold W. Horton

Trotter Review

Dr. Clarence Williams is a champion of commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in higher education, and is an individual who as folks might say with admiration and colloquially, "never forgot where he came from." Quietly, but powerfully and effectively, Dr. Williams has been a force for racial and ethnic diversity in higher education. Interview conducted by Harold Horton.

A Phenomenon Of Religious Relevance Developing At Predominantly White Institutions, Donald Brown

Trotter Review

In a recent conversation with a colleague at a neighboring institution, we reflected that in the nearly twenty-five years that we have worked at predominantly white universities, little has changed with respect to Black students dissatisfaction with campus life. Since the 1960's, a considerable amount of research has been done on the causes of attrition among Black students in higher education. A number of themes have emerged as causative factors of dissatisfaction and, in far too many cases, attrition among Black students. Three themes, however, seem to re-surface repeatedly. They are the feelings of alienation, isolation and loneliness. Many Black …

Ebonics, Local Color, And Official Language: Who Resists Whom?, Richard L. Murray

Trotter Review

At a time when the media has branded Ebonics "a second class language for a second-class life" and worse, a time when politicians have sought to legislate standard English as the only official language in an increasingly linguistically diverse United States, the link between the power of a single language and the power of those who determine its dominance should come as no surprise. Those who, like columnist Ellen Goodman, oppose recognizing Ebonics as a separate language hark back to the melting pot era in which the children of immigrants were "Americanized" in the public schools because "there was ... …

The Dream Of Diversity And The Cycle Of Exclusion, Stephanie M. Wildman

Trotter Review

The racial transformation of society envisioned in Martin Luther King's dream has been an emotional and powerful ideal. That vision has gone through its own transformation: it was first described as "integration," then "affirmative action," and then "diversity" and "multiculturalism." As each of these phrases acquired negative connotation from reactionary, conservative backlashes, a new phrase has had to be invented to carry forward that transformative vision. Yet the cycle of exclusion that gives privileges to the dominant cultural status quo continues.

Help Wanted: Building Coalitions Between African-American Student Athletes, High Schools, And The Ncaa, Patiste M. Gilmore

Trotter Review

This essay focuses on a topic of intense debate emerging over the last several years: strategies to improve the academic preparedness of collegiate student athletes. The issue should have been resolved with the passage of Proposition 48 in 1986. This measure stipulated that first-year students who wanted to compete in intercollegiate athletics Division I institutions must meet three requirements: 1) Completion of high school core curriculum; 2) Achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (on a 4.0 scale); and 3) Earn a combined score of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), or score 15 or better on the …

Introduction, James Jennings

Trotter Review

In order to understand and appreciate the critical importance of the Black Church in the empowerment of Blacks and, indeed, other communities of color in the United States, I am pleased to introduce the Spring 1997 issue of the Trotter Review. As noted above, we begin this issue with a reprinting of an essay by George E. Haynes, originally published in 1928, as part of a report issued by the Commission on the Church and Race Relations and sponsored by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Haynes described the involvement of the Black Church in …

Black Church Politics And The Million Man March, William E. Nelson Jr.

Trotter Review

October 16, 1995 will be recorded as one of the most important days in the political history of African Americans in the United States. This day witnessed the largest mass political demonstration in the history of this nation—the assemblage of more than 1.2 million African-American men in Washington, D.C. under the banner of the Million Man March. Both the size and the overt political objectives of the march set it firmly apart from the pallid, feeble demonstrations in Washington led by the NAACP in the 1980s; in its size and character, the march echoed the focus on power and system …

Religious Institutions And Black Political Activism, Frederick C. Harris

Trotter Review

During the modern Civil Rights Movement religious institutions provided critical organizational resources for protest mobilization. As Aldon Morris' extensive study of the southern Civil Rights Movement noted, the Black Church served as the "organizational hub of Black life," providing the resources that fostered—along with other indigenous groups and institutions—collective protest against a system of white domination in the South.

A Time To Question: The Role Of The Black Church In British Society, Paul Grant

Trotter Review

In this essay I raise some questions concerning the role of Black faith and religious institutions in Britain. It seems to me that certain assertions made -concerning the progressive nature of this role have remained unquestioned. Lest this be perceived as yet another attack on Black faith from an outsider, it will be presented in terms of an exercise in self-criticism. I will use a collection of papers on Black theology in Britain, which I co-edited, to illustrate my argument concerning the limitations of our faith-based radicalism.

Given that the aim here is less precise conceptual clarity and more broad …

The Black Church: The 'Cocoon' For The Black 'Butterfly' And The African-American Music Idiom, Hubert Walters

Trotter Review

An interesting phenomenon takes place in the world of nature when the larvae of the Monarch butterfly goes through the period of metamorphosis in the protective cover of the cocoon, and emerges as one of the most beautiful butterflies in North America. This phenomenon seems to be an appropriate metaphor to use in our discussion of the African-American Music Idiom. This idiom was developed and nurtured in the "cocoon" of the Black Church, while undergoing the "metamorphosis" of slavery, second-class citizenship, and segregation and emerge as the beautiful Black musical, "Butterfly," which stands at the very foundation of the only …

Strengthening Black Churches: A Collaborative Approach, Sylvia R. Johnson

Trotter Review

Throughout United States history the Black Church has played a significant role in the Black community. As one of a few truly African-American institutions, the Black Church, led by skilled, committed pastors and lay leader, has served as an anchor for the survival and achievement of the African-American community. Black churches bring to their social ministries and neighborhood revitalization efforts a wealth of strengths and assets including a set of values, a self-help philosophy, an emphasis on leadership development, and human resources which are all brought to bear on the myriad of social, economic and moral issues confronting Black people. …

Building On A Radical Foundation: The Work Of Theologian Howard Thurman Continues, Stephanie Athey

Trotter Review

Howard Thurman (1900-1981), whose life spanned most of this century, was a prodigious intellect and a pioneering theologian; his persistent effort, especially over the period of 1930s-1960s, to grapple with racism and classism within American Christianity paved the way for intellectual, political and religious leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Through his contact with Mahatma Gandhi, Thurman became convinced that African Americans might bring the "unadulterated message of non-violence to all people everywhere." Determined to find a moral and practical method to unite the concerns of the human spirit and the immediate material and social …

The Sacred As The Basis For Human Creativity And Agency In The Black Church, Cheryl Townsend Gilkes

Trotter Review

Religion is, I believe, the most important site for human creativity, innovation, and agency. In the world of the sacred in any social context, one is able to find the widest variety of human constructions of meaning. Indeed, the true understanding of human diversity may be found in the study of religion and the processes through which people sustain and renew their religious organizations and their religious world views. It is important, I think, to apply these new insights to the study of the African-American religious experience. The Black church, or the collective experience of African-American Christians in the United …

The Substance Of Things Hoped For: A Memoir Of African-American Faith By Samuel Dewitt Proctor: A Review Essay, Donald Cunnigen

Trotter Review

The following article is a review of The Substance of Things Hoped For: A Memoir of African-American Faith by Samuel DeWitt Proctor, written by Donald Cunnigen.

An Interview With Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Jr., President Of The Interdenominational Theological Center Atlanta, Georgia, Harold W. Horton

Trotter Review

In 1996 the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia named Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Jr. as its sixth president of the seminary. Previous to this appointment, Dr. Franklin was Program Officer for The Ford Foundation. He is a graduate of two theological seminaries, The Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbus, Ohio and the McCormick Theological Seminary at the University of Chicago.

The Church And Negro Progress, George E. Haynes

Trotter Review

The marked progress of the Negro in America in which the church has been a factor has been of three general types. The first is intra-group advancement in such phases of life as education and wealth. The second is inter-group adjustments between the Negro population and the white population in such matters as economic relationships, citizenship rights and privileges, interracial contacts and fellowship. There is a third type of progress which touches both the internal and external life of the Negro group such as the cultural contributions of Negroes which have gradually been incorporated into our common life. There are, …

Burning Hate: The Torching Of Black Churches, Salim Muwakkil

Trotter Review

Nearly 100 predominantly Black churches have been torched since 1990, their congregations forced to watch in horror as the very centers of their communities were consumed by the flames of racial hatred. Americans of all races have recoiled in shock—and often with genuine shame—as the attacks have escalated in past months. But despite President Clinton's call for interracial solidarity and the belated appeals of white evangelical Christian leaders for racial reconciliation, many African Americans are left wondering whether white America grasps the meaning and significance of this reign of terror.

Public Sector And Black Church Partnerships: A New Public Policy Tool, Marjorie B. Lewis

Trotter Review

Since the mid-sixties, local, state and federal policies and their resulting agencies have been involved in an ongoing war on poverty. The goals of this effort have been to eradicate poverty through exogenous motivators, which include "work fare" programs, "head start" programs, and welfare "reform" initiatives. As well-intentioned as these efforts may have been, results have proven less than successful, particularly for inner-city African-American youth. In his paper, "The Rich Get Richer and the Black Poor Get Poorer," Samuel Myers reiterates this assessment, and shows that the plight of the inner-city dweller who is poor, uneducated, and African American has …

A Profile Of The Reverend Michael E. Haynes Of Twelfth Baptist Church In Roxbury, Massachusetts, Kimberly R. Moffitt

Trotter Review

The hand-clapping of "happy souls" stops. The singing of the choir's songs of Zion ceases; and the minister no longer stands in the pulpit conducting his sermon. Sunday morning worship service is now over at Twelfth Baptist Church; but the work of the church's senior minister, Reverend Michael E. Haynes, is not. For approximately forty years Reverend Haynes has made himself available in a variety of capacities to his congregation, his friends and family, and especially, the young people of Roxbury, Massachusetts. At times when it seemed others "threw in the towel," he has simply stood steadfast, as his scriptures …

Introduction, James Jennings

Trotter Review

The Black community in the United States is undergoing major demographic changes that point to greater ethnic diversity. There are many ethnic groups that compose the Black community today, including people from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and other parts of the world. This community can no longer be approached as socially or demographically monolithic. Individuals in these groups may define themselves as "Black" but not necessarily, "African American." This issue of the Trotter Review explores facets of on-going ethnic transformation within the Black community. It begins with several essays that introduce broad themes related to this social and demographic …

Black Immigrant Community Of Washington, D.C.: A Public History Approach, Portia James

Trotter Review

In the Washington, D.C. area contemporary Black community life has been shaped in large part by a pattern of migration and settlement of African Americans from southern states. But international immigration has also made its mark on the local Black community. Today, Washington and its suburbs in Virginia and Maryland are home to significant populations of Black people from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This international movement of people has resulted in the broadening of Black community life and the development of a multicultural and multi-ethnic Black population in the area.

Haitian Immigrants And African-American Relations: Ethnic Dilemmas In A Racially-Stratified Society, Gemima M. Remy

Trotter Review

This article focuses on Haitian immigrants and how they have attempted to interpret their migration experience and ascribed racial and ethnic status in the U.S. It is argued that the legal and economic positions of Haitian immigrants have not only impacted their perceptions and understanding of their living conditions in this country, but they have also compelled them to reassess their self-definition as a distinct group of individuals with their own history, culture, nationality, and racial identity. Like many other Caribbean immigrants, Haitians "suffer double invisibility... as immigrants and black immigrants or double visibility as blacks in the eyes of …

Cape Verdean-Americans: A Historical Perspective Of Ethnicity And Race, Jean E. Barker

Trotter Review

Cape Verdean immigrants in the United States worked to establish their own unique ethnic identity in an effort not to be grouped with Afro-Americans. On the Cape Verde Islands they were Portuguese citizens and identified as Portuguese. In the United States they persisted in stressing their identification as Portuguese, claiming the right to self-designation rather than accepting one imposed by an exceedingly race-conscious society. As one immigrant stated: "We are not black, we are Portuguese. We know we have black in our blood, and white." In the turn-of-the-century United States any amount of African ancestry guaranteed an identification by society …

The Linkage Between African Americans And The South African Black Immigrant Community, Chris Nteta

Trotter Review

An understanding of the South African immigrant experience in the United States requires placing it within a context of linkages and alliances between transported South African blacks and the African American community. Like many other nationalities, South African black immigration to this country resulted from people fleeing the murderous apartheid regime whose national constitution and laws enshrined a racist ideology buttressed by a myriad of draconian practices. In this respect, South African immigrants were predominantly refugees and exiles on a quest for asylum. On the other hand, this group exhibits distinctive political tendencies which sets it apart from other such …

Explanations For African Immigration, Kwaku Danso

Trotter Review

Africa is a continent in crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa today poses the greatest development challenge facing the world today. Many of Africa's development programs have failed miserably. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have attributed this failure to inefficient internal economic policies pursued by African governments. These governments, on the other hand, blame failure on uncontrollable external factors in the world economy, such as international financial markets, worldwide recessions, declining commodity prices, protectionist trade policies against African exports, and the oil price shocks of the 1970s. While there is merit to each of these schools of thought, there is …

Leadership In The African Immigrant Community: Conflict And Coalition, Mfon Ufot

Trotter Review

Whenever African immigrants gather, most assuredly the conversation of their plight to the United States, will be a heated topic. Most of the discussion laments the apparent apathy in the African community and the lack of collective leadership to mobilize it. According to the 1990 census, there are over 350,000 African in the United States and that number is increasing every year. The State Department's Information on Immigration reports about 20,000 Africans won the "immigration lottery" to emigrate to the United States last year. This year, about 20,000 slots are allotted to the African continent. This program is a part …

The Political Issues For African Immigrants In The United States, Paul E. Udofia

Trotter Review

Since the 1970s the African-born population in the United States has grown steadily in numbers. This increase of African immigrants offers an historic opportunity for sustained reconstruction of ancestral relationships with Black America. At this point, however, Africans who are mostly English-speaking and highly educated, remain largely isolated and even ostracized. So, what must be done for these groups, Blacks and African immigrants, to begin working together effectively? This essay begins with one basic query necessary for understanding this potential development: What is the current status of African immigrants in the United States? After providing a brief overview in response …

Caribbean Migrant Experiences In Church And Society, J A George Irish

Trotter Review

One of the greatest ironies of the Caribbean community in New York is, that it is at one and the same time, both "power-full" and powerless. Its power lies essentially in a relatively untapped and latent potential, whereas its powerlessness rests in its virtual immobilization as an ethnic group. By dint of sheer numbers the Caribbean presence, whether solely anglophone/West Indian, or more broadly representative of the wider Caribbean Basin, is a formidable force to reckon with, since over 30 percent of the immigrant population of New York is Caribbean. In fact, they are among the fastest growing immigrant groups. …

West Indian Immigrant Adaptation: The Role Of Cross-Pressures, Milton Vickerman

Trotter Review

The purpose of this essay is to discuss ideas of race and achievement as they emanate from West Indian immigrants. I argue that these immigrants, part of the post-1965 upsurge in non-white immigrants, are helping to cement the significance of race in American life but making the racial picture more complex at the same time. This is occurring because their numbers are growing, their economic performance questions the traditional link that has been made between race and achievement, and their experiences in this country validate the complaints emanating from African-Americans about racial discrimination. In short, West Indians embody the contradictions …