Looking into the school year of 2018-19, there have been several classes added to the course options.  Smoke Signals will feature one of these classes periodically to give students an insight of the class curriculum. 

African American Literature: 1 credit course
Staff member Jessica Brooks discusses the course with its teacher, Mrs. Lowther.

Q:  Do you have to be in the Fine Arts Cohort to take the class?

KL:  No; it is a general elective.

Q:  What do you cover in this course?

KL:  I call it major black writers. It’s not just African American literature; it’s literature by black writers throughout the world, primarily focusing on American literature. We also cover art, African American art, music, dance, and influences from Africa because that changes everything as far as the diversity of the arts and how people think and feel about the world.  We also talk about controversial topics like racism, colorism, things that people say to each other, vocabulary, as well as our main theme for the year — power. Who has power? How do you get power? What if you don’t have power, then how do you increase your power? What happens if you don’t have power? All those kinds of things. It’s not just an issue of race; we also talk about gender, we talk about sexuality, we talk about a lot of different things.

Q:  Is there anything else that you would like to add about your class?

KL:  It is an intensive study and will be rewarding if the students are willing to be serious about talking about these difficult things, but the payoff is great because it will give a broader perspective of who you are as an individual and how we fit into the world.

When scheduling comes around the corner, keep this class in your thoughts.