Gov. Murphy Is Right About AP African American Studies: Newark Op-Ed

NEWARK, NJ — The following op-ed comes courtesy of Bashir Muhammad Ptah Akinyele, a history and Africana studies teacher at Weequahic High School in Newark. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

As a longtime history and Africana studies teacher in the Newark Public School District at Weequachic High School, I was looking forward to hearing from New Jersey’s Phil Murphy position on the crisis of the AP African American Studies course in America.

Powerful elected officials like Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis have forced the College Board to change its AP curriculum on Black studies.

Essentially white supremacy is rearing its ugly head once again in the United States. Ron DeSantis, and people like him in America, continuously portray a racist narrative of Black history to the world.

However, on Feb. 14, New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy spoke at Science Park High School in Newark in support of AP African American Studies. He was joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – the seventh child of Imamu Amiri Baraka.

According to Matt Arco of the Star Ledger, New Jersey’s Governor Murphy boldly gave support for Black studies as define by the facts complied by the scholars of history.

In the newspaper’s February 16th 2023 issue titled, ‘N.J. expanding AP African American studies in 26 schools as Murphy slams DeSantis for blocking them’ Governor Murphy said, “unlike some other states in America that are going against telling the complete African American story including of slavery and oppression, New Jersey is going the other way. We’re not the political ones here. We’ve got to tell the whole story of our country whether we like it or not, whether you like it or not.”

Science Park High School will be one of many schools providing AP African American instruction in the state of New Jersey.

For more information about Governor Murphy’s comments on AP African American Studies from Science Park High School in Newark, NJ clink this link:

(https://www.nj.com/politics/2023/02/nj-expanding-ap-african-american-studies-in-26-schools-as-murphy-slams-desantis-for-blocking-them.html?outputType=amp)

But let’s be clear, white supremacy is at the very root of the white washing and distortion of the AP African American Studies course by Florida’s Ron DeSantis. And that is not democracy nor factual history.

As a society, we have fought hard to advance human civilization by the free intellectual study of history. You can not examine history without understanding that Africa and its people are the progenitors of humanity. It is absolutely necessary that all human beings know about the contributions Black people made to the development of American and world civilization. However, we must know that the evils of slavery and colonialism are episodes in history that must be studied to prevent them from ever happening again in Black and human life. However, we must know that people of African descent led resistance movements to liberate ourselves from unjust racial and gender oppression in America and in the world.

We can not let DeSantis get in the way with defining United States history or Black studies as he sees fit. Omitting intellectuals like Imamu Amiri Baraka is ridiculous.

Brother Amiri Baraka is an important world figure to study and analyze in the history of America and in Black Studies. Amiri Baraka’s leadership played a major role in challenging the US to live up to its ideals of democracy. But at the same time, Amiri Baraka’s revolutionary vision challenged Black people to struggle for Black Power and Black liberation.

I am glad a major elected official like NJ’s Gov. Phil Murphy came to brother Amiri Baraka’s home town of Newark; a place where he organized masses of people to fight for more democracy and for self-determination. Governor Murphy’s platform can counter Governor’s DeSantis racist and biased control of AP African American Studies. Murphy’s position of AP African American studies is right and exact.

However, the struggle continues for many historians, especially the Black historian, to protect the factual history of Black people and the teaching of Africana studies.

Bashir Muhammad Ptah Akinyele is a community activist and a member of ASCAC (the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations). He is also a history and Africana Studies teacher at Weequahic High School in Newark, NJ and an active adherent to the Nation of Gods and Earths.

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