Black educators and administrators played a major role in my educational experiences while I grew up.
My first Black teacher was Mr Abel in 4th grade. Among other subjects he taught me graphic design / lettering and also instilled in me a love of science and observation. In Philadelphia PA.
In 7th to 9th grade almost all my teachers were Black. I went to a voc/tech high school. While all my vocabulary teachers were White (printing and typography) easily half of my academic teachers were Black.
Between 7th and 12th grade all my English teachers but one (a young white woman from "Long Guyland") were Black (one was male). Three of my history teachers and two of my health ed teachers were Black.
One math teacher was Black - she taught geometry.
In college all my professors (except for two) were White. One of them,, an English professor, was from India, and a biology professor was Asian)
However, I might never had gotten into college at all were it not for the support and assistance of one Wesley Y. Harris, a stocky, muscular, dynamic and assertive Black man who'd been hired to run the college's EOP program. He replaced a slimy and bigoted white academic career bureaucrat who had managed the program so ineptitude it was clear he labored hard to keep black and lower working class white kids from getting admitted into the school. Mr. Harris changed that.
Back to high school, and "junior" high. My most memorable English teachers included Mrs. Hamilton (a no nonsense, strict grammarian and very much a "stickler for business" oft emphasizing the importance of "proper diction"); Miss Bell (a white "Long Guylander"), and Mrs. Bea James (who was also my.home room teacher) - I learned from her writing short stories.
And Mr. Corbin, who taught grammar, creative writing and literature. He gave us Ralph Ellison, Howard Griffin and James Baldwin to read. He knew I wrote other kids' class assignments for money, but mentioned to me as an aside, with no one else around.
No comments:
Post a Comment