Students at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Ky., initially signed up for an African American literature and film class this year.
But after English teacher Ahenewa El-Amin got the support of her school administrators to run the second-year pilot of the College Board鈥檚 AP African American Studies course, students took the new AP class in stride. They actively provide feedback to El-Amin on how to best structure the course to ensure all required topics are covered while allowing for students to dive deeper into topics of interest.
The course officially launches nationwide this fall after initial national pushback over its merits.
Students in El-Amin鈥檚 class (the 鈥渇ounders鈥� as she calls them) shared their perspectives on why they signed up for it, what they love about the course, and what they think peers can get out of it should they enroll this fall.
AP African American Studies course is unique
鈥淚鈥檓 African American, and honestly I felt like this was a phase of my life where I was trying to discover who I was. And so I felt like taking African American Studies, it would give me some introspect into who I am, where my bloodline comes from, my ancestry and all that.鈥�
鈥�Cole Wicker, senior, 18
I haven鈥檛 taken any AP history classes, except for this one, but in the history classes that I have taken, you do touch on the topic of African American history and stuff like that, but you don鈥檛 get into real depth other than racism and slavery and stuff. So to take this class and have the perspective of what it was also like for African Americans, not just in the U.S., but also in other countries as well. The diaspora. I love that.
鈥擪ennedy Yarber, senior, 17
Seeing how Miss El-Amin teaches it and how [another] teacher teaches it. I feel like he kind of tiptoes around some of the subjects. I think we have four African American people in our [other] class. And so I think he kind of tiptoes around the subject but still tries to connect with us. But with AP African American Studies you get a lot more of what people did that you usually don鈥檛 get. Like I didn鈥檛 know who Marcus Garvey was until we talked about him or Toussaint Louverture. My dad鈥檚 Haitian and he hadn鈥檛 talked to me about him until we talked about the Haitian Revolution [in class].
鈥擭ia Henderson-Louis, junior, 17
There鈥檚 no other course like it. I鈥檝e taken all the other AP history classes and this is different from the rest.
鈥�Ian Rone, junior, 17
Connections between lessons and modern day
We talked about the Emancipation Proclamation, and also [President Abraham] Lincoln鈥檚 views on it, like he originally didn鈥檛 want to free the slaves. And then as the war progressed, he kind of got into it. And then he was like, to finish this war we have to end slavery, like his ideals. And after that, I thought they got 40 acres and a mule and I thought that was it. But the whole convict leasing system goes straight to the criminalization of African American men, as we鈥檝e seen in videos. And as we鈥檝e seen, how people were afraid of them, because these people were getting thrown into jail for just some of the smallest things. So I think seeing that and how it bridges and connects to some of the ideals today was really cool to see. But also very horrifying to see that they were still treated like that, even after slavery was done.
鈥擭ia Henderson-Louis
After taking a bunch of history courses, I had a pretty good background knowledge of this class, but we watched a documentary about the 13th Amendment. And that was one of the most eye-opening documentaries I鈥檝e ever watched in my life. I鈥檝e seen a lot of documentaries, but it is pretty crazy to me how the 13th Amendment [has] direct relation to our current status of racism and criminalization of African American men.
鈥�Catalina Hicks, senior, 17
[For this class] I researched COINTELPRO, which was this government initiative to silence leaders in the Black community. And it was just really interesting, because I鈥檝e researched that, and then recently watched the documentary about the 13th Amendment. So it was just realizing how much of a role the government played in destroying Black communities. I didn鈥檛 really realize it was to that extent.
鈥�Cole Wicker
Taking ownership of the course
All of our lives, we鈥檝e had classes where the course has been engraved into the curriculum. And this course is new and fresh, and people are interested in taking it. And we鈥檙e growing our roots right now with this class with Miss El-Amin too. She鈥檚 putting us on the podium to give her constructive criticism on whether something was good or bad or efficient or inefficient. It gives the students a little bit more power when it comes to teaching.
鈥擟atalina Hicks
You have teachers who like to know if you like what you鈥檙e learning about and like the way that they鈥檙e teaching it. But Miss El-Amin really does care about the feedback that you give her and she does put that towards future assignments. She listens to what we do like, what we don鈥檛 like, and what we struggle with. And she helps us understand things that we sometimes don鈥檛 understand. And so for her to take feedback and put it towards assignments, it makes it easier for us to understand. I really liked that aspect of the class.
鈥擪ennedy Yarber
Miss El-Amin always asks questions. She shows us that she cares a lot. But I think we don鈥檛 realize how much consideration she puts forth when she鈥檚 trying to make assignments and make sure that we understand the topic because she鈥檚 learning with us. And so when we ask questions, she also wants to know the answer to those. So we get more in-depth than some teachers who would just gloss over it and give you just an okay answer.
鈥擭ia Henderson-Louis
[Giving feedback] makes us want to do more. If the course has already been set for years and years and years. I feel like it gets repetitive. Having our input, it makes it something different and so makes us want to do more.
鈥擨an Rone
Be eager to learn and engage
For students who do think about taking this class, I would definitely encourage them to have conversations, because the whole point is to come into this class sounding ignorant and maybe say some stuff that鈥檚 outlandish, because the whole point is to learn. The history of African Americans is not something that鈥檚 broadcasted. It鈥檚 not something that everybody knows about. So I wouldn鈥檛 be afraid of not knowing an issue. Just ask questions.
鈥擟ole Wicker
