Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching
Jarvis R. Givens
Harvard University Press
A fresh portrayal of Carter G. Woodson -- groundbreaking historian, founder of Black History Month, and legendary educator under Jim Crow, one of the architects of the African American intellectual tradition. Black education was a subversive act from its inception, with African Americans pursuing education through clandestine means, often in defiance of law and custom, even under threat of violence. Developing what Givens calls a tradition of "fugitive pedagogy"—a theory and practice of Black education in America -- the enslaved learned to read in spite of widespread prohibitions; newly emancipated people braved the dangers of integrating all-White schools and the hardships of building Black schools. Teachers developed covert instructional strategies, creative responses to the persistence of White opposition. From slavery through the Jim Crow era, Black people passed down this educational heritage. Woodson's and their faith in the subversive power of education will inspire teachers and learners today.