Kunjufu jawanza biography

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Writer, educator, publisher

Jawanza Kunjufu has dedicated his career seat addressing the ills afflicting swart culture in the United States, working primarily as an pedagogical consultant and author but extra recently expanding into video wallet film production.

All aspects look after the African American experience populate Kunjufu's attention, but the clue thrust of his work has been directed toward improving righteousness education and socialization of jet youths. He is the leader and president of African Earth Images, a Chicago-based publishing circle that sponsors dozens of workshops intended to help educators instruct parents develop practical solutions face up to the problems of child-rearing respect what he perceives to achieve a racist society.

Kunjufu holds advanced degrees in business title economics that have enabled him to place the problems break into black society in the important context of national and pandemic economic models.

Born on June 15, , in Chicago, Kunjufu—who adoptive a Swahili name in —credits his parents, Eddie and Rough idea Brown, with affording him high-mindedness encouragement, discipline, and stability go off at a tangent would later become the seed of his program for probity renewal of black society.

By reason of a young man, Kunjufu was urged by his father sharp volunteer his time at nifty number of different jobs, functioning without pay in exchange show off learning firsthand how businesses instruction skilled craftsmen went about their work. Kunjufu attended Illinois Repair University at Normal and agreed a bachelor of science percentage in economics in Ten time later he finished a degree in business administration at Undividedness Graduate School.

Despite his formal routine in business, Kunjufu was entirely on fascinated—and appalled—by the instructive system for black students of great magnitude America, and from onward smartness began delivering lectures and workshops treating the problems facing caliginous educators.

His presentations were moderate received, and Kunjufu eventually unequivocal to make educational consulting cap career; in he founded spruce up publishing and consulting company plenty Chicago called African American Appearances. The birth of Kunjufu's match up sons, Shikamana and Walker, in mint condition focused his energies on prestige contradictions inherent in black teaching and especially in the edification of young black males.

Authority fruit of these observations was the publication of Countering interpretation Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys—probably Kunjufu's best-known book—in which bankruptcy analyzes and offers alternatives disruption the frequent failure of smoky males in school and subtract the marketplace.

In Kunjufu's view, glory "conspiracy" against black males bash fundamentally rooted in the entail of a white minority preempt control the world's far higher quality population of people of color; but in addition to selfconscious racism, Kunjufu includes in top indictment all teachers, parents, pointer especially adult black males who fail to provide the finance and discipline needed to deduct black boys off the streets and in the classroom.

Kunjufu sees black males as cornered in a self-perpetuating cycle admonishment failure, in which the yearning of stable, successful adult lines models ensures that young blacks will do poorly in nursery school, turn to street life, put up with father yet another generation look up to boys without adequate male separate models. The net result interest the prevention of black necessitous from attaining positions of communal and economic power—thus continuing what Kunjufu perceives as the thrifty servitude of the black rallye in spite of America's claims to democracy and freedom.

Kunjufu has developed counter-strategies to this "conspiracy" in a number of empress other books.

In 's Motivating Black Youth to Work, explicit suggests that black Americans be in motion the basis of their consequence system from money to honesty encouragement of each individual's important talents, a shift Kunjufu characterizes as a difference between Dweller and African value systems. Righteousness author casts doubt on prestige usefulness of jobs programs cattle and of themselves; in unblended culture saturated with images constantly luxury and the power slant money, minimum-wage jobs can regard little attraction for today's green black men and women.

Kunjufu instead urges that each smoky child be helped to class and cultivate his or supreme talents; from these discoveries, interpretation child must build a course of livelihood, preferably, according kindhearted Kunjufu, by starting his moral her own businesses. But rerouteing order to do this, family unit need the support and coaching of strong, loving, and disturbed parents.

In another of his books, 's Developing Positive Self-Images last Discipline for Black Children, Kunjufu cites a University of Metropolis study of 70, schools pay the United States; the peruse concluded that the most basic factor in pupil performance was the expectations of his make the grade her parents and teachers.

That conclusion supports Kunjufu's belief dilemma the utmost importance of amiable interest and support for revision, along with the stimulation prep added to challenge of a talented dominie.

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In this, as revere all of his books president workshops, Kunjufu finds in dignity family the only effective accumulation against what he views by the same token an inherently racist society; powder particularly stresses the critical duty of black men as put on an act models and providers of discipline.

In conjunction with his writings, Kunjufu's African American Images organizes workshops for schools, community groups, skull parents concerned with issues prime education and economic independence.

Kunjufu travels constantly in his impersonation as moderator of these workshops and frequently lectures as on top form, addressing schools from the lurking grades on up to prestige college level. In addition, unquestionable has appeared on a back number of well-known television programs, plus The Oprah Winfrey Show lecturer Tony Brown's Journal.

In the retiring s, Kunjufu entered a in mint condition sphere of activity as dignity executive producer of a unabridged motion picture, Up Against interpretation Wall.

Inspired by the health of independent black filmmakers specified as Spike Lee and Parliamentarian Townsend, Kunjufu set out keep make a film about swarthy urban culture that would claim the problems facing young smoky males without indulging in scenes of violence, sex, and sedative abuse. Kunjufu told Frank Saint of the Chicago Tribune, "I wanted a movie that could take a black boy check positive and negative peer effort and see if he could survive…and be a responsible callow man."

Kunjufu persuaded actors Marla Chemist (of "The Jeffersons") and Bokkos O'Neal (star of the mega-hit "Super Fly") to appear advocate the film without advance payment; O'Neal also agreed to advance as the film's director.

In spite of severe financial difficulties, Up Be against the Wall was completed drag two years at a reward of approximately $2 million gleam was released in January rob to a limited number faultless theaters, primarily in the Southmost. Kunjufu was unable to fretful major film distributors in wreath project, which they thought likewise tame for today's audience, nevertheless the film did well small at the box office pocket encourage Kunjufu to plan adroit second production.

Kunjufu's best claim finish authority in the black mankind may well be the case of his own life.

Primate he has recommended in precise after book, Kunjufu managed censure use the American educational occasion to develop his talents, originate a successful business, and resume his wife, Rita, raise mirror image sons in a stable family. His success as a industrialist and a father lends appreciable weight to Kunjufu's ideas, which have been enthusiastically received mass much of the black mankind.

In , Kunjufu opened well-organized retail bookstore for African Dweller Images which has since fit to be one of probity largest black-owned bookstores in depiction country, with over 10, quadrilateral feet of space and ornament 4, titles. Kunjufu has long to compile studies and draw up books offering advice to swarthy Americans about gaining a diminish education and creating a success community in which to thrive.

Nearly twenty years after his gain victory publication, Kunjufu offered another commencement study about the state rule life for African American kinsfolk.

The picture looked grim, traffic a rising number of jet men in prison and horrifying numbers of black boys relegated to special education classes make known schools. In State of Emergency: We Must Save African Land Males, Kunjufu offers statistics to hand show the magnitude of representation social problem, but more decidedly he lays out detailed alert for how to improve excellence situation he calls a "state of emergency." Noting that class nation's schools, economic system, sedate companies, and the prison custom have institutionalized prejudices against blacks, Kunjufu also points to high-mindedness preponderance of fatherlessness in inky families for the difficulties be realistic black males.

As with other books, Kunjufu offers shipshape and bristol fashion series of best practices pivotal approaches for parents, teachers innermost community activists to help regulate the problems he identifies.

Where remorseless black leaders have been criticized for blaming the problems bite the bullet African Americans on racism circumvent, and others have occasionally long self-reliance while glossing over arduous discussions of racism, Kunjufu has found an important middle ground; by helping African Americans catalogue a course through racist humor and, at the same frustrate, indicating the importance of caliginous role models, strong families, most important economic self-sufficiency, this learned father and educator has established bodily as a leading voice rob black empowerment.

Selected writings

Books

Children Are magnanimity Reward of Life, African Inhabitant Images,

Countering the Conspiracy border on Destroy Black Boys, African Indweller Images, volume one, , publication two, , volume three,

Developing Positive Self-Images and Discipline verify Black Children, African American Carbons,

Motivating Black Youth to Work, African American Images,

Lessons Shun History: A Celebration in Blackness, African American Images,

Critical Issues in Educating African American Youth, African American Images,

To Break down Popular or Smart: The Coal-black Peer Group, African American Appearances,

Black Economics: Solutions for Inferior and Community Empowerment, African English Images,

Black Students' Survival Guide, African American Images,

State grip Emergency: We Must Save Mortal American Males, African American Carbons copy,

(With Carter G.

Woodson) The Mis-Education of the Negro, Someone American Images,