Lesson 1: Healing Practices
(Black Imagination)
 

• Objective: Students will explore personal and cultural ways of healing.

• Activity: Review responses from the Healing section (like eating peaches, writing letters). In groups, students brainstorm their own everyday healing practices (journaling, music, spending time with friends).

• Wrap-up: (Group share) Teacher highlights diversity of healing and the importance of recognizing both personal and historical wounds.
   

Lesson 2: Representation in Media
(Black Powerful)
 

• Objective: Students will critically analyze how Black people are represented in popular media.

• Activity: Students collect 3 images of Black people from magazines, TikTok, or TV (teacher can pre-select age-appropriate examples). In class, they sort them into categories (e.g., athlete, celebrity, student, community member). Then compare with excerpts from Black Powerful that highlight diverse realities.

• Wrap-up: (Discuss): What stereotypes do we see in media? How are they different from the voices in Black Powerful?

middle (grades 6 - 8) 

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Black Imagination and Black Powerful are incredibly flexible collections that fit across disciplines. Below is a list of college-level departments + course types where these books could live on syllabi, along with suggestions for how they might be used:

Humanities & Social Sciences
English / Literature

• Contemporary African American Literature — paired with Jesmyn Ward, Claudia Rankine, or Kiese Laymon.

• Experimental / Hybrid Forms — example of blending oral history, poetry, and ethnography.

• Creative Writing Workshops — prompts for student writing (origin stories, imagination, power).

Africana / Black Studies

• Introduction to Black Studies — grounding text that foregrounds Black voices without mediation.

• Black Feminist Thought — in dialogue with Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Saidiya Hartman.

• Diaspora Studies — transnational lens on imagination, power, and belonging.

Anthropology

• Ethnographic Methods — study of Black Imagination’s and Black Powerful’s oral archive methods.

• Cultural Anthropology — examples of everyday rituals, origin stories, and healing practices.

• Anthropology of Race & Representation — critical analysis of media stereotypes vs. lived voices.

Sociology

• Race & Ethnic Relations — exploring stereotypes, joy, and resilience.

• Social Movements — framing Black futures and power as collective projects.

• Identity & Intersectionality — applied examples of Black LGBTQ+, disabled, and incarcerated voices.

Philosophy / Ethics

• Critical Race Theory — voices that embody lived critique of systemic racism.

• Aesthetics — discussions on the politics of imagination and representation.

• Existentialism & Identity — origin stories as acts of self-definition.
   

Arts
Theatre / Performance Studies

• Performance of Identity — staging excerpts as monologues or gallery walks.

• Community-Based Theatre — texts as models for devising participatory performance.

Visual Arts / Media Studies

• Critical Media Studies — use in projects that deconstruct Black representation in media.

• Studio Arts — inspiration for collage, visual archive, and installation projects.

Music / Ethnomusicology

• Black Sound & Identity — connecting audio/oral archive form to Black musical traditions.

• Improvisation & Jazz Studies — exploring imagination as a sonic practice.
   

Social Work, Psychology, & Education
Psychology

• Trauma & Resilience — using “healing” sections to discuss coping strategies.

• Community Psychology — models of collective healing and belonging.

Education

• Culturally Responsive Pedagogy — integrating Black voices into curricula.

• Multicultural Education — as classroom texts paired with teaching guides.

Social Work

• Race, Equity, and Practice — narratives for empathy, identity exploration, and anti-bias training.
   

Interdisciplinary & Professional Programs
Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies

• Intersectionality in Practice — amplifying marginalized Black voices (LGBTQ+, disabled, incarcerated).

Ethnic Studies / American Studies

• Contemporary American Identities — situating Black futures within broader cultural shifts.

Public Health / Nursing

• Narratives of Healing — qualitative insights into health, self-care, and systemic trauma.

Law / Criminal Justice

• Race and the Justice System — voices of incarcerated contributors as counter-narratives.

college & university

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