Black Academia This Week Vol. 6

As it is Friday, it is time for another volume of Black Academia This Week. As always, this is the written form of the Instagram TV series found on my account @blkgradstudent . These post are written to share what is going on in the Black community in academic spaces. It is meant to be informative as well as a safe space to be able to learn about events, and news for Black academic spaces. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy this week’s Black Academia This Week.

1: USC established the Gerald A. Lawson Endowment Fund

Gerald (“Jerry”) A. Lawson is being honored by USC with the Gerald A. Lawson Endowment Fund for Black and Indigenous Students. Lawson, can be found as a hidden figure among the gaming community having created the Fairchild Channel F. What is the Fairchild Channel F, you might ask? It was the first gaming system that utilized cartridges and a microprocessor to be able to play video games. This happened a year before the Atari 2600, and paved the way for the video game industry to become what it is today. For this reason, USC decided to honor Lawson by naming the endowment fund after him. USC is partnering with Take-Two games to create this endowment fund, but they wanted to keep the name of the endowment focused on Lawson to open opportunities for other partners in the future. Ultimately with the creation of this endowment fund, USC not only is honoring Lawson, but also trying to continue to build on his legacy by empowering Black and students of color who are interested in the gaming industry.

For more information on the endowment fund, see the following article: USC endowment for Black, Indigenous students honors video game pioneer (jsonline.com)

2: Philadelphia school board investigating claims of bias against Black-run charter schools

The Philadelphia Board of Education decided not to renew the charters of two Black-run charter schools, Universal Bluford and Universal Daroff. This lead the African American Charter Schools Coalition to raise the question of bias with the Philadelphia Board of Education. Part of the reason for this is that while Black-run charter schools account for 19% of charters in the district, they account for 87% of the charters that are not renewed within the district. Universal Daroff consisting of 97% black students and Bluford being 98% black students, will leave a void for Black students in that area. Although they can apply to other charter schools without impact, the other benefit of Black-run charter schools is that is typically where Black teachers are hired in Philadelphia. Based on an article from US Today in 2018, having at least 1 Black teacher in elementary school are more likely to attend and graduate from college. The effect of future students missing out on the opportunity to have a Black teacher will be dramatically impact the students in the Philadelphia area. Currently the school board is seeking an independent entity to look investigate the allegations.

For more information, please see the following article: School board will investigate claims of bias against Black-run charter schools in Philadelphia (whyy.org)

3: Delaware passed bill to make Black history mandatory in the K-12 curriculum

Students from the Delaware Black Student Coalition, have work with their state legislature to get a bill passed to make Black History mandatory for the K-12 curriculum in Delaware. Some of the students involved in this effort will be graduating but they wanted to make sure that future students will be sure to learn about Black history. The bill is extensive, and it provides clear definitions for what would count as Black history in the curriculum. Here are a few items outlined in the bill that would qualify as Black history:

1. The history and culture of Black people prior to the African and Black Diaspora, including contributions to science, art, and literature.
2. The significance of enslavement in the development of the American economy.
3. The relationship between white supremacy, racism, and American slavery.
4. The central role racism played in the Civil War.
5. How the tragedy of enslavement was perpetuated through segregation and federal, state, and local laws.
6. The contributions of Black people to American life, history, literature, economy, politics, and culture.
7. The socio-economic struggle Black people endured, and continue to endure, in working to achieve fair treatment in the United States; as well as the agency they employ in this work for equal treatment.
8. Black figures in national history and in Delaware history

While there is more information covered in the bill, but this shows the the bill is intentional about ensuring Black history is covered thoroughly. While the tragedy of what happened to George Floyd was part of why this was vital to pass this bill, the passing of a similar bill focused on the holocaust a year prior also played a role as well. When this bill was presented, it passed with a vote of 33 to 7 with only 1 abstention. This shows that the state of Delaware knew this was needed and will be a state that will provide quality education on Black History for years to come.

More information can be found in the following article: Bill requires Delaware schools to have Black history curriculum – WHYY