Clayton Muhammad builds bridges wearing a suit and tie.
His tools are education and respect.
He grabs snippets of history and hip-hop from his toolbox and constructs communication, especially among young people.
So when he sat down to craft the Black History Activity Guide for use in East Aurora schools, words and phrases and quotes flowed easily from his fingertips.
“In order to truly study black history, we must move beyond the once-per-year list of names, dates and activities into the realm of learning the lessons from those names, dates and activities on a regular basis,” said Muhammad, a School District 131 community relations coordinator who created the Boys II Men Training Academy several years ago for youths as an alternative to being in gangs.
Muhammad, 29, a former teacher who grew up in Aurora and taught at Waldo Middle School in Aurora, says he is still educating young men each time he slides the knot of his tie up to his neck or quotes Booker T. Washington or Martin Luther King.
“The group started after the summer of violence in 2002,” he said, explaining why he formed the academy. “The police tell us that of all the gang members in Aurora, there are only 12 to 14 (members) who have control of them. I thought, `Why can’t we give the opposite example by bringing 20 African-American and Hispanic boys together to bridge the racial divide?’ Looking back at the history of blacks and Latinos, their struggles go hand in hand.”
Black males and young Latino males can form a bond to help curb future violence, Muhammad believes. “We meet once a month, and these young men are now mentors to each other.”
The fraternity of boys ages 11 through 18 “have a gang mindset without the violence; without the drugs,” Muhammad said. They even choose to wear the colors black and brown to represent their ethnicities.
But Muhammad said he wants to reach all students, and the activity guide is proving the vehicle to do that. After distributing the guide to classroom teachers in District 131, teachers in District 204, which serves far eastern Aurora and western Naperville, got wind of the publication, and now they’re using it too.
Michael Radakovich, District 131 superintendent, said the guide helps schools celebrate their diversity. “Every since I’ve come to the East Aurora school district, I knew we could do a better job of representing our diversities in this district. We are very proud of those diversities,” he said.
“Clayton has been tremendously passionate about his work, and I truly enjoy that,” Radakovich added.
The guide contains seven sections that highlight the contributions of African-Americans. Teachers can lead group discussions based on a daily quote by a famous African-American such as basketball superstar Michael Jordan, actor Denzel Washington or poet Maya Angelou.
Children can learn historical facts from a section titled “On This Day in Black History.”
For instance, Feb. 10, 1964, was the day the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act by a vote of 290-130. Feb. 22, 1989, was the day that Will Smith and music partner DJ Jazzy Jeff won the first Grammy for rap music.
“Give Me Five” is a popular game played on Chicago’s WGCI hip-hop/R&B radio station, Muhammad said. His version directs teachers to ask students to name five countries in Africa one day, and five items on a soul food menu on another day, for example.
Students will learn that the pencil sharpener, ice cream scoop and lawn mower all were invented by African-Americans in a section that poses the question, “`What if there were no black people in the world?” Children learn more about inventions through a story about a boy who has to do without quite a few conveniences because there were no black inventors.
The guide also contains educational resources, such as Web sites, magazines, books, and has a list of 21 local African-Americans willing to speak to students. Among them are Richard Irvin, candidate for mayor of Aurora, Sherman Jenkins, executive director of the Aurora Economic Development Commission, and Ron Ford, director of Aurora’s Youth Department.
Patricia Johnson, director of human resources for District 131, is among of the speakers listed in the guide. “I have seen it [the guide] all over the district. It is quite impressive, and quite representative of the job [Muhammad] does in the district,” said Johnson.
