The Two Cradle Theory: Afrocentric Meets Eurocentric Head On

The Two Cradle Theory: Afrocentric Meets Eurocentric Head On

On Sunday, April 27,  twelve high school students in the Black Literary Awareness for Cultural Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K.) homeschooling network will celebrate their academic achievements as graduates of the organization's first Afrocentric history class, Introduction to Ancient African History.  The end of year celebration will culminate in a student-led panel discussion, "Across Many Waters: Building Bridges to Africa".  Their extraordinary accomplishments unwittingly transcend the academic arena on many levels.

Although they are from diverse family, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds, the Ancient Africa class share three common factors: All are teenagers striving to find their place in a complex, rapidly-changing world; all are children of the African Diaspora; and all represent a sub-culture of their communities as homeschoolers.  Their class may very well be the first of its kind in Maryland homeschooling circles in that it paired inner-city lifeschoolers steeped in African history and culture with their suburban peers who, conversely, had tenuous or no connections to their African heritage.  The results were impressive.

In just a relatively short time, the students' participation in academically-challenging, integrated, holistic activities, designed to reconnect them to Africa, to their Black history and culture, and to each other, enabled them to discover their common heritage, cultural connections, and shared values.  In the process, they excelled to exceptionally high academic standards, gained strong self-identity and racial pride, and found a means to form lasting, cooperative friendships, despite their religious and other differences.

The Ancient Africa history class was an experiment in African Centered Education (ACE), developed and taught solely by three suburban African American parent educators, whose previous training consisted primarily in traditional, western-oriented Classical Educational theory.  Drawing on both the Afrocentric and Classical learning models, B.L.A.C.K. tutors were able to immerse the students in engaging, multi-sensory, experiential,  learning activities, which placed their African heritage and culture at the center of the learning process and presented a more balanced world view of African and African American contributions to world history.

The Mwalimu or "Instructor" leads B.L.A.C.K. students in an experiential, multi-sensory, dramatization of the Middle Passage (Maafa) to instill a lasting memory of the atrocities their African ancestors endured and, more importantly, their bravery and fortitude. Surprisingly, B.L.A.C.K. students had difficulty "centering" themselves during the exercise, indicative of the "generational gap" created by the "milquetoast, false, and misleading" treatment of the middle passage in most social studies text books. The Mwalimu's painted white face was designed to demonstrate to the students how alien the foreign captors must have appeared to the disoriented, enslaved Africans. Again, the Mwalimi were surprised that one student perceived the painted face as "reverse racism", leading to further discourse in the Kemetic Circle in order to vet the real purpose and object lesson of the painted face.  

Although, at face value, Classical and Afrocentric models seemingly are diametrically opposed, B.L.A.C.K. tutors were able to find common ground to teach both African traditions and culture, while fostering critical thinking, rhetorical, and logic skills, which the Classical model is heralded for developing.  In fact, it was discovered that the philosophy of Classical Education, known as the "Trivium," is an African pedagogy rooted in Ancient Kemet (Egypt) and the Dogan people of Mali, West Africa. While the Trivium identifies the three developmental learning phases as "grammar, didactic and, and rhetorical," the Dogan people use four words to describe them:  (Rivers, 2004)

"Giri So - Front Word:  instruction and mastery of concrete operations, repetition and  drill, rote  memorization through experiential, multi-sensory activities

 Benne So - Side Word:  recognition of patterns, relationships and their associations

 Bolo So - Back Word:  abstract thinking, utilization of knowledge

 Sodayi - Clear Word:  understanding knowledge; actions and thinking are intrinsic

B.L.A.C.K. tutors attribute the high academic, social, and personal success of their first Afrocentric homeschooling class to their unique set of lesson plans, which they developed specifically for the Ancient Africa class, to infuse and bring balance to the Afrocentric and Classical models. The closest approximation to the B.L.A.C.K. learning module is what the brilliant Senegalese historian and scientist, Dr. Cheik Diop, called the "Two Cradle Theory", one cradle being the Southern (African) cradle and the other being the Northern (European) cradle.

The combination of all of the above, coupled with a philosophical educational framework based on four theoretical perspectives, has produced B.L.A.C.K. curricula which work for all students.  The theoretical perspectives include: 1) cultural relevance; 2) Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP); 3) Medew Nefer (the ancestral inter-generational transmission of the knowledge and memory that defines a people through "good speech" (lectures) and "good listening" (note taking), leading to "wisdom" or application of knowledge (sound living); and 4) the tradition of the African Circle of discourse, which B.L.A.C.K. tutors describe as "Kemetic Circles." (Rivers 2004; Curruthers 1999)

The African or "Kemetic Circle" is an important tool for discourse (logos) to develop critical thinking and rhetorical skills as students discuss and ponder culturally relevant contemporary and historical topics. The circle is an ancient African tradition that influenced "Socratic Circles" in ancient Greece.

The academic, social, and personal growth witnessed in all of the B.L.A.C.K. students enrolled in the Ancient Africa Class resulting from their limited exposure to ACE has inspired B.L.A.C.K. Co-founder, Kyna Clemons, to broaden the B.L.A.C.K. vision in support of the African Centered Educational Model, which she no longer views as optional, but essential to the survival of Afrikan people, their culture, and traditions. (the “k” in Afrikan representing people of the African Diaspora collectively across the globe, rather than only on the continent).

B.L.A.C.K. is networking with Sankofa Homeschooling Village and other like-minded Afrocentric homeschooling communities to develop a complete Sebayet (African curriculum) for homeschoolers, which follows an African centered paradigm recommended by esteemed ancestor, Dr. Jacob H Carruthers. (hereafter referred to as The Children of the Sun Homeschooling Curriculum), which will be based on the following course of study:

medew netcher (theology), medew nefer grammar (Logic), maat (governance),
hepu nefer (ethics) soneb (health), hesebu (mathematics), sesh (writing) and genut (history)." (Curruthers 1999)

If these areas sound familiar to you Classical Educators, it is because the Greeks and the western world adapted these concepts from Ancient Africa!

With minimal study, a pure heart, and an open mind, it should be crystal clear to all "educators", with whom we have entrusted the impressionable minds of our precious children, that ACE is a logical answer to the current, dismal plight of underachievement in Black students and to the economic and social stagnation persistent in the global Black Community.  The ultimate goal of ACE is not to produce another generation of Black students who gauge their success solely by how closely they approximate the western, capitalistic, "good way" of life; Rather, it is to raise up a generation of God-fearing, culturally-astute, young people who can walk in "good speech" (i.e. Medu Nefer/"wisdom") with self-determination and a demonstrated ability to use their God-given gifts, talents, and knowledge to effectuate profound and lasting change in the Black community.

The Ancient Africa class enjoys a panoramic view of the Nation's Capital on one of their monthly Metro Journeys, developed by veteran B.L.A.C.K. tutor, Anna Fogg.  The Metro Journey undoubtedly is a  favorite class activity of B.L.A.C.K. students 

As B.L.A.C.K students prepare to celebrate their academic achievements the end of this month, they have every reason to boast!  In the words of B.L.A.C.K. tutor, Tammy Richards, "From the very beginning, we could only imagine a small part of what has now transformed into something unique, tangible, and undeniable inspiring." Imagine our pride, as Mwalimi, when one of the students shared the following story:  "Several of us girls from the Ancient Africa class were fellow-shipping and enjoying a meal together on the roof top of our classmate's luxurious apartment complex.  After several moments of stimulating, thought-provoking discourse with one another on a range of topics, an older British man could not resist the urge to interrupt us to offer praise for our camaraderie, maturity, and "good speech".  He went on to express his sentiments of how "amazing" us girls are." Obviously, other people see "good speech" in our B.L.A.C.K. students.  Can you?  Will you?