African-American History  

New textbook highlights missing African-American contributions to history, literature, art, music, and dance

The Core Knowledge Foundation released a remarkable new text and resource book, Grace Abounding: The Core Knowledge Anthology of African-American Literature, Art, and Music, in response to the lack of curriculum resources focused on African-American contributions to the areas of history, literature, art, music, and dance. This new comprehensive textbook is aimed at middle and high school students, but includes works that can be used at the earliest grade levels.

The Core Knowledge Foundation, a nonprofit, curriculum development organization based in Charlottesville , Virginia , carefully researched and produced the text with the assistance of institutions such as the Howard University Museum of Art and the Schromburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The text was then vetted by leading African-American scholars before being published.

More than Black History Month

“Far too often, African-American history and literature is saved just for Black History Month or glossed over in 11th grade literature survey courses,” Core Knowledge Foundation President Dr. Barbara Garvin-Kester said. “Grace Abounding opens up a whole world for African-American students to understand their rich heritage and for all students to get a balanced perspective of the geniuses, artists, and writers who have shaped our world.”

This new book is lavishly illustrated and focused on African-American cultural tradition, and provides an opportunity for students across the country to expand their knowledge and understanding of African-American culture and influence, facets of history that are often undermined or even left out of traditional textbooks. Grace Abounding details African-American literary and arts tradition, tracing its development from African roots, through Emancipation, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, all the way to the emergent voices of the twenty-first century.

Examples of pieces included in the text include poetry from Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen and the background and lyrics to spirituals, work songs, and field hollers that have made their way into popular American culture such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Mama’s Gonna Buy You a Mockin’ Bird.” The book also examines in great detail the lesser known speeches, folk tales, and biographies that have made an impact on American culture. The book’s final unit details an extensive collection of African-American art with descriptions and full-color prints included for each selection.

“The book differs from other texts in not whitewashing or sugarcoating those aspects of the African-American struggle in the United States that future generations of American citizens need to understand and confront,” Dr. Garvin-Kester said. “By treating such subjects as slavery and Jim Crow and the Black Power Movement forthrightly, this book lays the groundwork for understanding, tolerance, and positive social and economic change.

This book and its accompanying website with additional study guides are designed for a wide range of grade and reading levels; teachers and curriculum coordinators from grades four to ten will find everything they need to instruct students in this essential, yet often overlooked literary domain.

Online Resources

In addition to the comprehensive text, the Grace Abounding website offers free resources to instructors through direct web access. Through the site, teachers can view selections for further reading, grade-level recommendations for literary works, web links for research, and complete indexes from the book. Visitors can also find reading-check tests, vocabulary tests, other assessments, answer keys, and skill-related lesson plans covering topics such as grammar, writing, research, and other language arts-related skills. All tests, lessons, and answers are available for direct download in PDF format and are available for a nominal fee through credit card access only to prevent students from obtaining the documents.

Grace Abounding is available for purchase on www.coreknowledge.org