The Secrets for Motivating, Educating, and Lifting the Spirit of African American Males

Unlike the media would have you believe, most black males find great value in education. They want to believe that they have a special gift and that they can make a difference in the world. The problem is that they have ill feelings about how society has deprived them of the most qualified teachers and the best ways to be engaged in their own education. As a consequence of repeatedly being marginalized, criticized, and put down by society and teachers, they do not feel motivated to attend school or to produce outstanding academic work.

The Secrets for Motivating, Educating, and Lifting the Spirit of African American Males contains essays that center on how to help educators and parents to equip young black males with the drive necessary to craft fulfilling lives for themselves so they don't slip through the cracks in the educational system.

"Historically, we are still dealing with what happens to the image of Black people in the minds of white people. A book like this helps to make certain that the information teachers provide to all students-regardless of their race-will help them understand that the history of this country has made generation after generation of black students see themselves as academically and socially inferior to white people. Most importantly, it's the teachers-not just black teachers, but all teachers- who have to understand the power they have to change the mindset of society. Changing how society thinks about Black people, particularly Black males, is a task teachers can truly accomplish because they have the power to create lesson plans that challenge how students think about each other. For such lessons are important for changing the attitudes and beliefs of the entire community in which we live."

- REVEREND C.T. VIVIAN,
A Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, Author, Educator, and a Close Friend of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"This book provides a fresh perspective for understanding the problems associated with the education of Black males. As a minister, I have not encountered a project that gathers the collective wisdom of a group of over 20 Black male educators who are dedicated to helping the world save young Black males. When all their ideas come together, they are bound to create a storm of new thinking about how all of us can work together. As a spiritual leader, my role is to help young Black males understand that the same God that was in Dr. King is the same God that is in them. This is a difficult lesson for some Black males who have been brainwashed to see themselves as having no say about the outcome of their lives. This book will help us, including those in the ministry, to reevaluate the thinking patterns of our boys so that we can better prepare them for the critical thinking that is required for life in the 21st century."

- REVEREND ROBERT KILGORE,
Assistant Pastor at Hillside International Truth Center, Atlanta, GA

Ernest H. Johnson earned a Ph.D. in Clinical and Health Psychology from the University of South Florida. He is president of the Champions for Peace Leadership and Mastermind Institute, which is a think-tank and business incubator for African American male entrepreneurs that sponsors literacy development workshops, wellness seminars, and youth entrepreneurships programs. He lives in Durham and Cullowhee, North Carolina and provides professional development programs for educators at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (N.C.C.A.T.).