Co-authored by Taylor Milan Hall, Dr. Jessica Lee Stovall, and Farzana Saleem Adjah, “Black people are more than just suffering: A BlackCrit exploration of the impact of Advanced Placement African American Studies on student understandings of Black history”, examines results from one high school pilot course and the College Board’s latest curriculum.

Abstract: Most high school students in the United States will receive only minimal instruction in Black history. However, the College Board’s new Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies (AAS) curriculum has made Black-centered curriculum accessible to more students. Using a Black critical theory (BlackCrit) framework, we used classroom assignments, interviews, and observational data from one West Coast school’s pilot AP African American Studies
course to explore how students experience the teaching of Black history in the course versus their other courses. We found that the pilot AP AAS course, when taught by an experienced and passionate Black studies teacher, emerged as a meaningful educational experience that fostered pride in Black identity, resilience in the face of antiblackness and healing from the harm it causes, and a deeper understanding of the global Black diaspora. We conclude by discussing our findings and the implications of AP AAS as a healing educational intervention, particularly for Black students navigating antiblack educational systems.

Find the full issue of “Curriculum Inquiry” here.