In this lesson, students will revisit the life of James Baldwin, an African-American literary writer and critic, as well as an icon for civil and gay rights.
A chapter from the autobiography of Henry Bibb, a well-known black activist who had escaped from slavery. This text contains descriptions of the life of enslaved persons as well as illustrations.
The room was quiet. In our staff development session, we had just watched a short video about the best way to instruct our students in speaking Standard English. The teacher in the video explained to her students that they would be practicing the “language of the job interview.” My school director asked, “How did people feel about that?”