African-American literature focus of course

Kingston High officials hope to boost understanding of the black experience through a literature course.

KINGSTON » School officials hope to boost understanding of the black American experience through an African-American literature course at Kingston High School.

At a Board of Education meeting last week, officials said the course will focus on writings ranging from early published work to contemporary prose and poetry.

“We’re hoping that this elective will open the door for other students of color to feel that they can push forward and have electives that represent their voices,” teacher Cassandra Taylor said.

The course will follow themes within literature over time and examine how styles became refined as culture and society changed. The course will examine the impact of slavery on writing and how it changed through abolition, segregation and Jim Crow laws, migration from Southern states, and civil rights movements.

“Bringing history and literature together for our kids was primarily our push that this ... is something that our kids haven’t gotten at Kingston, and we felt that it was time,” Taylor said. “The kids also voiced that agreement that it was time to have their voices heard in a course.”

The course will be conducted in two semesters that allows students to come into the program midway through the year.

Taylor, who will be teaching with Christina Bartley, said it was necessary to review the type of material that would draw students to the course along with other writings chosen to aid in understanding how it developed.

“I think relative current fiction for kids was the main thing that was coming from the student body there,” she said. “There’s a place for the classics, but kids really told us they wanted to see themselves represented in what they read, to see other people represented in what they read, and deal with issues that reflect where they’re at.”

The teachers felt that affording an opportunity for students to see works produced by women is significant.

“I think it’s very important because the black experience is so diverse,” Taylor said.

“Within this course we focus on the experience of black men, black women, of Afro Latinos, who are all coming from I think a literary tradition that based in that West African story telling tradition,” she said. “But because of the experiences it’s going to be a little bit different, so it’s important to try and represent those voices so people see the diversity within a diverse group.”