This page is devoted to listing resources for teachers in k12 to college to use in order to make their classical program more diverse. I am merely sharing the books and resources I have used, as well as my syllabus. I will not be sharing specific lesson plans as I want these resources to be available to anyone to use and adapt to whatever grade level or group they are working with. I will update this page as I discover new resources.
Links to Resources:
Twelve African American Members of the Society for Classical Studies: The First Five Decades (1875-1925) (by Dr. Michele Ronnick of Wayne State)
The Adinkra Symbols (to be used as a comparative study with The Great Ideas)
The Socratic Black Panther (may have to pay to download the article)
Music of Black classical composer Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Connections with Classic Texts and African American Texts
Touchstones (curriculum that teaches students how to discuss classic texts in small excerpts, with teacher guide. For elementary, middle and high school)
Teaching English to Minority Students This article beautifully explains why students of color may struggle with learning traditional English and even though it is not about classical education, it also reveals barriers they may have to classical education. THIS is a must read!!
Books/other resources:
Marva Collins’ Way by Marva Collins (a book about bringing classical education to the inner city of Chicago)
Blacks in Antiquity by Frank Snowden
Before Color Prejudice by Frank Snowden
Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
The Education of Black People by W.E.B. DuBois
The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper edited by Esme Bhan and Charles Lemert
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature edited by Henry Louis Gates
Free at Last: The Impact of Freed Slaves on the Roman Empire edited by Sinclair Bell and Teresa Ramsby
Living in the Constellation of the Canon by Anika Prather
The Autobiography of William Sander Scarborough (early Black Classicist) by Michele Ronnick
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
The Columbia Orator (to be used along with reading Douglass’ autobiography) edited by David Blight
The Ebony Column by Eric Ashley Hairston
Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton (focus on the chapter about how Plato’s Republic influenced him)
Uplifting the Women and the Race (a book about classical educators Anna Julia Cooper and Nannie Helen Burroughs) by Karen Johnson
Terence the Comedies (plays written by the ancient Roman-African playwright…for much older students) translated by Peter Brown (Oxford World Classics)
Phillis Wheatley: Complete Writings (Penguin Classics)
Poems on Various Subjects: Phillis Wheatley (includes a letter from George Washington written to her)
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King
Against the Odds (the chapter on Frank Snowden) edited by Benjamin Bowser and Louis Kushnick
The Histories by Herodotus (he talks extensively about the diverse people in ancient times)
The Great Ideas by Mortimer Adler (common human themes to be discussed with ALL ethnic groups)
The Great Conversation: A Reader’s Guide to Great Books of the Western World (a used book on Amazon)
The Black Mozart: Le Chevalier de Saint Georges by Walter E. Smith (a Black classical composer who was popular during the time of Mozart…listening to his music and seeing his brown skin is so inspirational)
Organizations/ Institutions that Support Diverse Classical Education
Classical Academic Press (they will be providing a book and lecture series on diverse classical education soon)
Dr. Anika T. Prather 