Book Review

Amos Wilson: Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children

“Too many of us see education as essentially a preparation for jobs, as a preparation for moving up in social status, and as a means of securing a better lifestyle. And certainly, these are some of its major functions. However, I do not see them as the primary functions of education… I think it is vital that we understand that the major function of education is to help secure the survival of a people.”

-Amos Wilson

In Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children, Dr. Amos N. Wilson offers a brief yet powerful analysis of the developmental aspects of black children. Wilson argues quite convincingly that it is the child’s interaction with his/her environment that shapes the intellectual potentialities of that child. Speaking primarily to the major developmental years of children (Pre-Birth to Three Years old), Dr, Wilson further emphasizes the importance of providing a culturally empowering environment that is reinforced by parents whom understand that “Parenting is a social responsibility, that their appropriate rearing and education [of their children] is an adult civic and social responsibility.”[i] The degree to which the quality of the child’s holistic interactive environment (parents, home, immediate surroundings, toys, books kwk.) plays in the overall development of our children is paramount to his/her verbal, intellectual, behavioral and sensorimotor progression. It can (and has) been shown as fact that black children are born with a natural mental and physical “head start” in relation to other ethnic groups children’s developmental progress. However, these facts are meaningless if they are not further cultivated and positively reinforced by the environment that our children reside in, or; as Dr. Wilson says, “The natural head start of Afrikan children is too often thwarted, stagnated, negated, or reversed by the inappropriateness or inadequateness of [this environment][ii].” In light of that statement, we should take a serious look at these public “school” systems in this nation. Starting with Pre-school, all the way through high school, whose interests are our children being subjected to? Are these interests conducive to the advancement and Re-Afrikanization of African people? Do these schools teach our children how to be culturally and environmentally conscious holders of power? How about how to be producers instead of consumers? Are they even interesting classes? In most cases, this answer is a resounding no.

In reading this work, it becomes resoundingly obvious that when we have children, our lives are no longer about us (going to the club, watching the game, hanging’ with the fellas or sistahs, kwk.), but instead about the construction of an environment that produces children that reflect the world we want to see. This raises two very important questions to the African couple; what is the purpose of conceiving this (or these) child (or children); and, how can we prepare our environment so that this purpose is reinforced by the environment that our children will be brought up in. If we want to further actualize Pan-Afrikan Black Nationalism, then we must create environments for our children that reflect that; if we want our adult relationships to compliment our liberation movement, then we must ensure that the principles and purpose of relationships are overstood as societal norms for our children so that when they become adults, they are fully equipped to be uncompromising and principled Afrikans. ­Of course this does not everything on the child, because it is we (parents and parents-to-be) who must first overstand and live these concepts and principals in order to adequately disseminate them to our offspring.

Wilson further offers interactive and culturally relevant practices that can be implemented in the home to stimulate, challenge, and develop the verbal, emotional, intellectual, physical and mental capacities of our children. Above all, Wilson asserts that “The infant [child] should not be forced, overwhelmed, or pushed to the point of frustration…Education should be a recreational, playful, joyful and exciting experience for the child.”[iii]

We must first value the development of our children before our children can value, understand, and seek to actualize their purpose for our people. As a community of Afrikans, We must be selfish when it comes to how our children are raised, because it is we, and only we who can awaken the Natural Genius of Black Children.

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[ii] Wilson, Amos N. “Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children, 1991, Afrikan World Systems p.38

[iii] Wilson, Amos N. “Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children, 1991, Afrikan World Systems p.96