Power- Document 7- Schools For The Community

Karriema Jordan was a black girl in the eighth grade fighting to change the school's curriculum to help develop an identity for black students. One effective way the school handled it was bringing black teachers into the schools. These teachers cared more about the kids and were less focused on just being there because it was their job. They also started teaching a broader range of history on third world countries as well. Karriema Jordan now learned about African history and other black history instead of just European history. Learning about important impacts her ethnicity had in history gave her and many other black youth an identity. This made them proud to be black, and when they embraced themselves it led them to start striving to do great things. She says, "You weren’t an outsider in your own school. They were part of your environment. I mean, they were black. You can identify with them and they can identify with you." These teachers really made a big change in Karriema's attitude toward school. She felt more connected and was more interested in her studies now because she was studying something more meaningful to her. She felt connected to her studies. By having black teachers and learning about her culture Karriema found that blacks are just as important, just as human as anyone else. Being a minority only holds you back when you think you can't do something because you are a minority. If you have an strong and proud identity and believe you can do great things for yourself as any other human than you will have a much easier time achieving those great things in your life.