LAUSD educator Donald Singleton says the choice was a “no-brainer” when he was asked to teach a new advanced placement course at Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High School in the Crenshaw district.
The class centers on AP African American Studies and aims to “explore the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans.” The College Board rolled out a pilot version last school year to 60 schools nationwide, including Dorsey High, the only school in LAUSD to offer it so far.
“For millions and millions of young people, Africa is born in them, yet they see nothing in the curriculum that reflects them,” he says, referencing a quote by former Ghana President Kwame Nkrumah. “So the excitement is to be able to talk to young people about Africa with AP, the same way you would with AP French and AP European History and AP German and AP Italian.”
In the class, students learn about the origins of the African diaspora; the Transatlantic Slave Trade; Reconstruction and the Civil War; and historic movements and debates, like civil rights. Singleton says he loves watching his students’ eyes light up when they discover the powerful traders and royalty of Africa.
Nowadays, classes like AP African American Studies have faced backlash as dozens of states are restricting critical race theory on campuses. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has revised the state curriculum to teach that African slaves “developed new skills” in America.
“It's so important to teach young people: You are not a descendant of slaves. You're descendants of kings and queens and leaders and artists and artisans,” Singleton says. “If you come out thinking all we are are beaten down sharecropper slaves … then, of course, your mindset becomes fixed. But when you develop the growth mindset that we come from greatness and that we shall return, that's when you get the students who read about their own history.”
This upcoming school year, the College Board is expanding AP African American Studies to hundreds of other high schools across the nation. Students who take the class will be able to take the first AP exam for college credit this spring.