Living the Legacy of African American Education

Living the Legacy of African American Education seamlessly illuminates the relevancy of a historical model created by black educators during segregation in addressing various contemporary issues that plague black schools. The book is a must read for scholars who write about the contemporary and historical difficulties experienced by black students as they matriculate through the educational system and practitioners who are charged with the responsibility of educating them. -- Vincent Willis, assistant professor, New College/Gender and Race Studies, University of Alabama
Don't talk about it, be about it. That is exactly what the Teaching in the Urban South (TITUS) organization did. This book details how a group of concerned educators went about enriching the educational experience of African American children in an urban setting. We didn't develop any new concepts.  All it takes as you will read is a willingness to volunteer.  This concept can be easily modeled in your academic setting. Our children are our most valuable asset; we are obligated to find a way to help them become successful. -- Gregory Goodwin, founding TITUS fellow, former high school principal and urban school leader
Living the Legacy affirms the adage “where there is a will there is a way” to facilitate powerful authentic symbiotic collaborations among teachers, school leaders, parents, university students, and university professors. Living the Legacy offers urban educators a way to advance educational excellence in schools through a process anchored in a historical African American model for K-12 higher education partnerships. The authors aptly describe the theory and the practices of the model augmented by actual examples that guide educators through the process so that they might apply them in their own settings. Notably, this process is for those for whom investing in the success of students in urban schools is more than a notion. Living the Legacy clearly demonstrates that university and school relationships need not be adversarial or exploitive when they are appropriately forged in meaningful efforts to provide the best possible educational experiences for all students. In an era fraught with misguided education reform initiatives, the authors’ timely, necessary and exacting treatise is essential reading for educational advocates within K-12 and higher education working within their communities to authentically improve urban education.   -- Vera L Stenhouse, evaluator and research coordinator, Urban Accelerated Certification and Master’s Program, Georgia State University
We know that the failure to effectively educate children of African descent in the US has been persistent, pervasive and disproportionate. Still, there have been pockets of success. In Living the Legacy of African American Education--calling on ancestors such as DuBois, Bond, Muhammad and Woodson--Croft, Pogue and Walker offer a practical application of proven strategies from the past. More particularly, the editors and their contributors--in describing TITUS--open a window to what works. The book is pregnant with relevance, as it is timely, give the escalating challenges for African American children and people. It is significant, given the persistent barriers to bringing about effective K-12/university/community collaborations. -- Kofi Lomotey, professor, Western Carolina University