Chicago Public Schools students read a “graphic novel” version of Marvel’s Black Panther and watch the movie to learn how “to advocate for a legacy for the future that is founded on a legacy of culture, tradition, and collective survival but informed by the historical legacy of oppression.”
The assignments are part of the four-week English language arts unit for eighth graders on “Griot and Afrofuturism.” The Washington Examiner obtained copies of the lesson plans for CPS, though the outline is publicly available.
Other units include “Research through a Decolonized Lens” and “Decolonization in Contemporary Youth Activism” (with writing from climate activist Greta Thunberg).
“In this unit, students explore the genre of Afrofuturism as a medium that blends the lessons of heritage with the vision of imagination to empower readers and writers to create and communicate a future that embodies their truths and hopes,” the introduction states.
“Griots” refers to West African storytellers. “Afrofuturism expresses notions of Black identity, agency and freedom through art, creative works and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life,” according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
This unit prepares students to “embrace the idea that their perspectives and visions of the future can be informed as much by ideologies of tradition and collectivism … as they are by influence of oppression.”
Students will also listen to Kendrick Lamar’s song “Black Panther” and “create an anthemic lyric about the superhero character they have been creating.” They also read Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is a graphic novel, or comic book.
Teachers should be prepared for emotional reactions, however. “Students may relate to the struggles that characters in the film have in coming to terms with the actions of their parents,” the lesson plan states. “Concepts related to colonization and violence may provoke an emotional response; suggestions are provided for supporting students, if needed.”
The lesson plan also calls for students to learn how to write open letters.
“Students might relate to the challenges faced by those who strive for liberation against systemic forces that would maintain an oppressive status quo and the mental and emotional impacts they experience,” the lesson plan states.
Since only about 25% of CPS students meet state English standards, focusing on movies and comic books seems like a way to dumb down the material. It is hard to write an open letter about important societal debates if someone’s knowledge base is confined to comic books and their movie adaptations.
There is understandably an interest in providing CPS students, who are mostly racial minorities, with curriculum choices that speak to them. That is not in itself a bad idea. But there are much stronger choices.
Raisin in the Sun is nowhere to be found on the public list of CPS books read at any grade level by students. Nor are books by Booker T. Washington or Frederick Douglass (though it’s possible those would be taught in a social studies class).
Instead, seniors in high school are asked to read just three books: one by comedian Trevor Noah, one about the musical In the Heights, and one called The Journey is the Destination. In a positive sign, sophomores and juniors each read one Shakespeare play.
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The curriculum could further divisions, teaching students they are all opposed and fueling animosity. That is a bad idea, since students of all races should be taught to respect and care for one another.
After all, as Black Panther’s King T’Challa says, “More connects us than divides us.”
Matt Lamb is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an associate editor for The College Fix and has previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA.