Talmadge C. Guy

W. E. B. Du Bois’s Basic American Negro Creed and the Associates in Negro Folk Education A Case of Repressive Tolerance in the Censorship of Radical Black Discourse on Adult Education

W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the brightest lights in African American history, wrote a sparkling critique of the American social and economic system originally planned as part of the Bronze Booklets series, edited and published by Alain Locke and the Associates in Negro Folk Education. The piece was never published and has, until now, been lost to the annals of adult education history. Using historical evidence, the authors examine Du Bois’s Basic American Negro Creed and the circumstances that led to its exclusion from the series. It is argued that the Creed was far too radical for the liberal minded Carnegie Corporation and its leaders who were only interested in accommodating adult education for Blacks through the AAAE funded Bronze Booklets. The exclusion of the Creed represents an example of repressive tolerance by the AAAE.

Knowledge and Emotions in Cross-Racial Dialogues: Challenges and Opportunities for Adult Educators Committed to Racial Justice in Educational Settings

Our society reflects a kaleidoscope of differences in terms of race, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender identity. These differences are evident from the boardroom to the classroom in higher education and can result in impaired communication when race is the topic of discussion. To effectively facilitate race-based dialogues, adult educators must deliberately and intentionally build their cognitive and emotive capacity. Capacity building involves adult educators acknowledging their privilege and systems of advantage, attaining cultural knowledge, taking emotional risks, and developing the ability to better organize formal learning and capitalize on informal learning opportunities, to engage in more genuine and appropriate racial dialogues. As we are ushered through the 21st century, issues of race and racism will remain as salient as ever as long as the disturbing silence, surrounding them in our work and school spaces, is allowed to persist. Considerations for the development of cognitive and emotive capacities are described to assist adult educators in contributing to a more just society.

Alain Locke and the AAAE Movement: Cultural Pluralism and Negro Adult Education.

Alain Lockes philosophy of cultural pluralism contained a vision of American society that would be inclusive of ethnic European immigrants and also those of the American Negro. Drawing on themes developed during the new Negro movement and the Harlem Renaissance, Locke developed a vision of Negro adult education emphasizing culturally—grounded adult education. The Harlem and Atlanta experiments in Negro adult education sponsored by the American Association for Adult Education actualized many of Lockes educational ideas from 1931 to 1935. Lockes role as evaluator of these projects provided him the opportunity to apply his philosophy of cultural pluralism to adult education.

Infusing Multicultural Education: A Process of Creating Organizational Change at the College Level

Organizational change directed at infusing multicultural education into an institutional unit such as a college requires attention to the organizational culture of that unit. The authors use the concept of second-order organizational change (Levy & Merry, 1986) as a way to conceptualize the nature of the change associated with infusing multicultural education within a large College of Education. The authors describe a four-year process of organizational change in which qualitative changes to the organizations culture occured in support of multicultural education. Key elements of change include the values and norms that support organizational policies and practices. Lessons learned are included.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: A Discursus on Knowledge, Power, and Presence in “A Symposium”

This article critiques the predominantly Eurocentric and phallocentric focus of Rachal’s “A Symposium,” recently published in Adult Education Quarterly. It is argued that Rachal constructs a dialogue that privileges a philosophical canon whose continued legitimacy is being challenged both in philosophical and adult education circles. The form of presentation in “A Symposium,” the Socratic method, belies the universal and eternal nature of knowledge, a theme that is evident throughout “A Symposium”’s dialogue. Also questioned is the selection of guests to the dinner party as reflecting a male and Eurocentric bias that masks the centrality of identity, social location, and power in the construction of knowledge. “A Symposium” represents a missed opportunity to raise some critical and substantive issues of relevance to adult educators concerning the construction and consequence of knowledge as reflected in current educational and philosophical debates on knowledge and power.