When school systems recognize that many of their Black students are falling behind, they frequently bring in consultants to help right the situation. Often that person is Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu.
Kunjufu should be a very familiar name to educators and African-American parents. He is the founder and president of African American Images, a Chicago-based publishing company that also sponsors dozens of workshops for educators and parents.
He also is the author of more than 30 books, including Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys (2004), 200+ Educational Strategies to Teach Children of Color (2009), Raising Black Boys (2007) and Restoring the Village, Values, and Commitment: Solutions for the Black Family, all published by African American Images. Kunjufu holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. in business administration from Union Graduate School in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Normally,” Kunjufu said in an interview, “school districts bring me in to ‘fix the bad Black students.’ They either bring me in because there is a problem with low test scores because of disciplinary issues or suspensions.”
“The assumption from the superintendent or the principal is that there’s really nothing wrong with the environment (within the school),” he added, “and especially in a school district where in the good old days — five, 10, 15, 20 years ago — when the neighborhood was predominantly White, those same teachers were very successful with White middle-class students, so it has to be something wrong with these students.”
However, the message he delivers — the students don’t need fixing, but the schools do — is not the diagnosis that educators generally are comfortable hearing. His starting point is clearly stated in the title of his latest book, There Is Nothing Wrong with Black Students, (February 2012), $15.95, African American Images, ISBN-10:1934155608, ISBN-13: 978-1934155608, pp.128.
The author repeats this title theme throughout the book, which discusses his findings from research about or visits to more than 3,000 public schools in low-income African-American neighborhoods.
