What Others are Saying (Endorsements and Reviews) African Centered Rites of Passage and Education (1996) Coalition for African-centered Rites of Passage About the author |
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School systems from across the United States have increasingly
come under public scrutiny. Frustration with schools, especially
the inner city districts, not adequately preparing youth to cross
the bridge to the 21st century, has lead to debates about funding
practices, teacher accountability, parental involvement and paradigm
shifts. Also, concerns about the level of violence in schools,
teen pregnancy, drugs, and other distractions have been apart
of the public discussion on; How do we better educate our youth?
In African-centered Rites of Passage and Education, Dr. LathardusGoggins II makes a compelling argument for African centered rites of passage as a factor for positive academic success. Dr. Goggins examines the relationship between socialization and the learning process. His analysis is drawn from an extensive literature review of noted scholars and narratives from people involved in the rites process. Dr. Goggins frames his discussion with the following questions: 1.How is sense of self dealt within rites of passage, and specifically within African-centered Rites of Passage?; 2. What is the theory regarding the construction of self and its relationship to the educative experience?; 3. What are the operating assumptions about "educating" African Americans?; and 4. In what ways does the rites of passage process influence the educative experience? He answers each respectively in chapters 1. Rites of Passage, 2. Sense of Self and Education, 3. Schooling African Americans, and 4. Academic Implications of African-centered Rites of Passage. Dr. Goggins provides an in-depth discussion on the educative process, formation of purpose and discipline, and the tragedy of parental and community noninvolvement in educating African American students. He concludes that regardless of funding, teachers, and the latent values in the surrounding environment, African American students can obtain positive academic success. This book provides a clear and thought provoking discussion about an effective solution to many of the basic problems facing African American students. African-centered Rites of Passage and Education is a must read for parents, educators, scholars, students, pastors and all who are concerned about the education of African American students.
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Why Afrikan-centered education In the school system? We’ve known each other since 1996. A mutual acquaintance introduced us. Hondre Outley had started a Rites of Passage program at his church. I was formerly trained in Afrikan Rites and was a member of Akebulan Sharo, an Afrikan rites organization in Akron, Ohio. We worked together for roughly four years. Cornelius Wright, Educator & Co-Founder |
Important Yesterday, Today, and Always Dr. Lathardus Goggins ll is an author, an academic, and a brilliant mind who understands the complexities of educating black children in a space where we have continuous racial trauma happening in education. There is no doubt that his current work speaks to the importance of specifying Afrocentric learning for black children, especially today. This text is extraordinarily important now after George Floyd, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Philano Castillo, Atatiana Jeffreys, Breonna Taylor, and numerous other black bodies have been murdered without any regard to how that impacts black children in public education. He literally gives educators a toolbox for dealing with black trauma in today’s society. It is no coincidence that he is armed to do all of this because of his pedigree. Dr Goggins has always lived his life by telling the hard truths and making sure we are all very woke when it comes to educating black children. In doing so, he references John Dewey, Asa Hilliard, and others and frames their work in such a way that it brings forth their insights from the past into a new day, making sure that we understand it is just as important as it was yesterday. Dr. Goggins’s additions to this text allow us to reimagine a world that could be. In a world where black children and their social emotional learning needs are essential, the tools to secure them are imperative in the pedagogy. Through this text, we are reminded that these are not just best practices, but these are actually the techniques that could provide the very liberation our people need. His suggested African-centered rites of passage model is what our educators need to hone in on and definitely develop to support our students’ academic journeys. He also reminds us that the community as a whole is responsible for our students, their educational journey, and their connection to our intellectual and cultural legacy. That is why this book was important yesterday, and is important today, and will remain important always. We are forever grateful for his work and perspective, as it helps to guide us in being successful educators that help to bring about liberation for all students. Mia Street, M.Ed
Equity in Education Specialist
NAACP Dallas Education Chair
Founder - Bridging the Achievement Gap Mentoring |
Preface African Centered Rites of Passage and Education was first published in 1996; originally, my master's thesis for Cultural Foundations of Education. African Centered Rites of Passage and Education sought to explore if there was a connection between education and rites of passage by examining the philosophical foundations that frame each concept, identify the common outcomes, and understand the implications of the practice.
Lathardus Goggins II, Ed.D. |
Endorsements & Reviews2022 Dr. Goggins has done it again with a follow up to the acclaimed original. The title alone - African-centered Rites of Passage and Education: Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning is powerful…yet the sad truth is that African-centered, culturally-responsiveness and social emotional learning are all initiatives that in far too many school districts across the country are prohibited in their schools and classrooms. It is my hope that this book will get into the hands of all who need it toward ensuring that Black children are exposed to African-Centered Education, Culturally-Responsive Practices and Social Emotional Learning. I endorse this book with zero reservation or hesitation. Dr. Lathardus Goggins II has provided us with a road map to supporting our children through knowledge of self aligned with Social Emotional Learning. His approach through The Rites of Passage is based on our ancestors roots. …Please take the time to read this. Dr. Sandy D. Womack Jr. - Educator & Author
Leadership Manual for Creating Successful Urban Schools
The practices in which you describe are very helpful envisioning how the principles can be put into practice… this is an important contribution to the field of African-centered Rites of Passage and Education. In a time when telling the truth of racial history is under siege, Dr. Goggins brings clarity to the importance of African ritual in rites of passage for youth and education. He does so by adroitly integrating the healing elements of the ritual to enhance our current understanding of the benefits of emotional regulation and self-control. Dr. Goggins’ African-Centered Rites of Passage & Education is an essential read that helps us contextualize education as a primary instrument for the process of human development. His framework and model centering the Black experience is the connective tissue between an authentic sense of self, culturally responsive education, and Social Emotional Learning, of which Dr. Goggins echoes Dr. Dena Simmons’s poignant reminder that SEL alone is “white supremacy with a hug.” Profoundly personal and important work from a transformational leader and relentless advocate for delivering a high-quality public education to ALL students. This is a must read book for parents and educators who are interested in the academic development of students who are in the elementary school phrase of development. Dr. Goggins really hammers his message as it relates to fallacy of education here in America. 1996 Dr. Janice E. Hale - Educator/Professor
Lathardus Goggins II contributes to the much needed research on the merits of rites of passage as a process for life cycle development. Paul Hill Jr. - Founder of National Rites of Passage Institute
We must reclaim our youth from the Euro-American culture with Africentricity, rites of passage, and excellence — this book aids in that process. Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu - Publisher, African American Images |
Reviews African-Centered Rites of Passage and Education: Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning - Twenty-Fifth Year Anniversary Edition African-centered Rites of Passage and Education was first published in 1996. At that time, I was amid my very first year as an educator, wondering if I had made the right decision. I was in a Title I School in Philadelphia in which the student body was 99% African American, 100% of which were receiving a sub-standard education. A few years prior, while still an undergraduate student at the University of Akron, I saw the movie “Lean on Me”, which was based on the way that Principal Joe Clark had supposedly reformed failing Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. Now, in my first year in education, I felt that I had been dropped into Eastside High. Two points stood out for me from that film. One was when Morgan Freeman, in the role of Joe Clark, discussed the fact that the current education system is turning African-Americans into a permanent underclass and that the movie seemed to imply, if not explicitly state, that the answer to failing urban schools is to “expurgate” the least performing students, warn the remaining students that they could be next to be expurgated, and constantly intimidate the staff and students until everything improves. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I know is not it. This was just Hollywood’s version of how you motivate poor Black and Brown students in an urban school because movies and television programs have always been a major tool to advance the theory of White Supremacy. Despite the challenges of the school environment that I was in, I met some amazing young people, not the least of which was Andre Taylor, an eleventh-grade student who was mature, polite, articulate, and serious about his future. Andre would visit my office often just to talk. I eventually learned that he had completed an African-Centered Rites of Passage program during his sophomore year. This was my introduction to African-Centered Rites of Passage and how it can positively impact young men of African descent.
It is within the current social and political climate that Dr. Goggins updates the implications of the original African-Centered Rites of Passage and Education, incorporating contemporary language and frameworks. This is a “must-read” for anyone considering a career in education, any current educator, and any parent. Ultimately, it’s a “must-read” for us all, because anyone truly interested in our entire society advancing should be interested in a framework that best facilitates an authentic education for children of African descent. David E. Roberts, M.Ed. - Educator & Host of Full Circle Podcast ______________________________ Over the last 25 years, Dr. Lathardus Goggins II’s staunch advocacy elevating Rites of Passage programming as a best practice for engaging Black youth has crystallized into African-centered Rites of Passage and Education: Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning, a much-needed manifesto for community practitioners. Given the academic, social, and emotional challenges affecting Black youth, Dr. Goggins’ new book is an essential guide for Black youth, families, and communities. If we are serious about nation-building and addressing the traumatic experiences of Black youth, schools, non-profits, and other organizations should implement Dr. Goggins’ life-affirming new book as a strategy to reclaim our youth. David Miller- Author of Dare To Be King: What If the Prince Lives? _________________________________________________ The only way to destroy a culture is from within. George Orwell said: "The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history." African-centered Rites of Passage & Education by Dr Lathardus Goggins II is the first steps to repairing a culture that has been decimated by capitalistic principles and teachings. This books takes us back to our village roots where the elders led and you wasn't considered "grown" until they said so and not in a way that was demeaning but in a way that they were assured that you had all the knowledge and skills needed to move to the next phase of life and the wisdom to know that the village would always welcome you. If we really want to see a change in America, particularly for Black Americans we must get back to the Rites of Passage model that allows for us to rebuild our community from inside out. A community where each individual knows exactly who they are and where they come from, then and only then can create a road to a new future. Rev. Ray Greene Jr Executive Director Freedom BLOC |
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