I am writing to request the inclusion of five texts in the next course about slavery in America. Slavery is a very vital topic that should be discussed by the future generation of Americans. America has one of the most recognized histories regarding slaves having shipped Africans to America approximately 400 years ago (Deetz). The slaves have undergone numerous struggles to gain their freedom, and as such, their plight deserves to get recorded in history books. At the same time, the black slaves underwent torture in the form of heavy work, beatings, rape, and other inhumane acts. As such, Americans must always remind the future generation of the misdeeds that got carried against not only the blacks but also any individual who were victims in the institution of slavery. Thus, this letter gets primarily addressed in hope of having it included in the next course of slavery. The texts that I request are the newspaper article by Khalil Gibran Muhammad titled The Sugar That Saturates the American Diet Has Barbaric History as the “White Gold” that Fueled Slavery, the film Django Unchained directed by Quentin Tarantino, art pieces references by Antebellum artists, the song Spaceship by Kanye West and Whitney Plantation historical sites that is significant to the slavery narratives. I have lined up my reasons as to why I believe the above texts should be included in the next course.
The first text that I have picked for inclusion is a newspaper article. I believe newspaper articles are one of the most credible sources of news, as such, including them in a class is sure to provide students with factual information (Thiel). It even gets better because the article is online based, which is very appealing to students who are always on their gadgets. The article will aid in providing a mental visualization of what farm labor slavery entailed. As such, students will be able to visualize what slaves were doing, and the reason why what they were doing was abhorred and considered inhumane. It is important that students have at least the basic understanding of how the institution of slavery was carried out, and its toll on the slaves. As such, I believe this article will be a vital document in shedding light on the operation of slaves and as such it should be included in the next course.
The next text that I believe should be included in the course is the film Django Unchained. Researchers states that the use of films in education is quite beneficial as watching triggers the visual memory center thus such information can be remembered easily (Blasco, et al. 1). Therefore, the inclusion of this film in the next course will be important as it will help the students easily remember the course details. Not only that but the film is based on slavery, and it inculpated major slavery concepts. Crucial concepts that I noticed in the movie include former slaves who have been freed, slaves who have befriended their masters and several other important concepts. I believe the concepts pointed out in this movie are crucial in developing a person’s knowledge regarding the institution of slavery, while at the same time, the movie will help them remember various information. As such, I request that it should also be included in the forthcoming slavery class.
Another vital text that deserves inclusion in the next slavery class is art references. The specific art for the future class that I would recommend is by antebellum artists. These are artists who utilized art to voice their concerns regarding slavery. There are two specific reasons as why I chose art pieces. The first reason is that art is involving in terms of mental consciousness. It piques curiosity such that student would want to learn more about it and in the process, get to learn more about slavery (Pelowski, et al.). The second reason is art plays a central role in education, such as learning about perspective, which is key in learning (Seneca Academy). The art I am focusing on will portray several inhuman acts that was meted out against slaves, and as such, it plays a central role in capturing a student’s attention. For student to understand better the plight of slaves, it is crucial to include this text in the next course.
Another piece of text that I believe would be very significant in the upcoming class is Kanye’s song Spaceship, from the album College Drop Out. The song entails what it is like being a black after the post slavery world. I believe this is a crucial ideology that should be included in any slavery class. Kanye is one of the most influential artists of his generation, and there is no better way to capture student’s attention than utilizing Kanye’s music in class. I strongly believe that using Kanye’s music will automatically capture the student’s attention due to two reasons. First Kanye holds very controversial views regarding slavery, as he once said that slavery was a choice (BBC). Second, he is very famous being a member of the extremely popular family of the Kardashians. As such, using his content in class is bound to create excitement and interest, and thus students get to learn more about slavery in the process. I therefore request for inclusion of this text ion the next class.
The final text that I would suggest be included in the forthcoming class is historical sites. My preferred historical place to discuss and visit is the Whitney Plantation, I believe it has a lot of information regarding slavery that should be implored in detail. It would be futile for students to learn about slavery but with very little or no idea of how slavery places looked like. While it can be argued that such sites be witnessed in images, I trust that the experience of visiting a historical site is bound to be forever engrained ion the mind. Studies show that utilizing experience-based education in the school curriculum is bound to be beneficial to students in terms of physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially and of course, increase the knowledge that a student has regarding the topic in discussion (Heras, et al.). As such, the mentioned text should also be included in the future syllabus.
Therefore, having stated the various reasons as to why I would love to see the above texts in future syllabuses, I hope you will consider them. Thank you,
Yours truly,
Ti-Jae Baker.