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demonstrated? If so, in what ways?

The third theme that emerged in conjunction with the third interview question is

consciousness and competence. Amos Wilson defines consciousness as “a state of

wakefulness” and “alertness,” which “makes the achievement of some goals possible” (Wilson, 1998). Therefore, consciousness can be said to be an expanded awareness of problems,

possibilities, and pathways to meet a goal. Wilson posits consciousness as a prerequisite of power. Competence is possession of knowledge, skills, and will to complete a task or reach a goal. A person can have a measure of competence, but lack consciousness. A person can also be conscious, but lack competence.

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The theme consciousness and competence emerged logically from the data because the legislators and Task Force members responsible for sponsoring Florida Statute 1003.42(h) had to have a measure of historical and cultural consciousness to consider sponsoring it and a measure of political competence to see that it was passed. Coalitions of people with consciousness were required to bring this legislation into being and in this regard, Afrocentric agency was

demonstrated by those involved.

The third element of the Afrocentric Canon is uhaki, which means “harmony.”

According to this canon, Afrocentric research “requires a research procedure that is fair to all participants, especially those being researched” (Reviere, 2001, p. 725). Harmony was demonstrated in the research design by working within the schedule constraints of each informant. In particular, the legislators were difficult to reach and even more difficult to schedule an interview with, but harmony prevailed. Each was offered the opportunity to remain anonymous in the study but consented to being named specifically.

Harmony was also demonstrated amongst those interviewed. Each recognized the other’s

contributions, often without being asked or prompted. For example, Rep. Frederica Wilson

stated, “Myself, along with State Representative. Rudy Bradley and State Senator Jim Hargrett,

were very instrumental in bringing this legislation to fruition.” Rep. Wilson’s experience as an

educator peaked her consciousness and forged her competence as demonstrated here:

Having worked in Florida’s education system at all levels, with my tenure as a teacher, an elementary school principal, and a member of the school board, the intricacies of state curriculum was a matter I could not ignore. The omission of large parts of the history of such a significant segment of the population became painfully obvious to me. Children in K-12 are living the most impressionable years of their lives, and I knew that

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African American children deserved a complete look at the history their ancestors also took part in.

That her consciousness served to inform her competence as a legislator instrumental in the passing of Florida Statute 1003.42(h) is another indication of harmony in the findings of this study. Several respondents discussed this correspondence between their consciousness, their convictions, the competence, and their actions with respect to the legislation.

Rep. Rudy Bradley indicated that his historical consciousness was a key factor in sponsoring this legislation:

“I have always had an interest in American history and I have always had an interest in African American history, in particular.” He further indicated, “…during my studies at

the University of Tampa, one of the things that became very apparent to me is that a lot of our history had been omitted and had not necessarily been told, in my opinion, in a very accurate form.”

Bradley used this consciousness of historical ommissions to develop the competence as a

legislator to sponsor the African American History Legislation. He explained, “…When I began my tenure in the Legislature, one of the things that I decided would be important would be to see if I could get a bill through the Legislature that would require the teaching of African American history.”

Bradley further declared his conscious reasons for structuring the wording of the

legislation to include a more panoramic view of African American history beginning in Africa:

I am sure you read the bill and are aware of the fact that the bill basically covers African American History, going back to Africa [emphasis mine]; it deals with studying the Middle Passage, it deals with slavery, it deals with the Emancipation Proclamation and it

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requires the teaching also of significant contributions that African Americans have made to American society.

This consciousness served to inform Bradley’s competence as a legislator instrumental in the passing of Florida Statute 1003.42(h).

Senator Jim Hargrett’s consciousness was peaked when he discovered his very personal family connection with African American history. While serving in the Florida State House of Representative, near the time of the celebration of the anniversary of Florida’s statehood, Hargrett told me that he was given a list of the 1885 Members of the Constitutional Convention. He noted that one of the members was Amos Hargrett, a Black man. “I called my

mother and asked her to contact some of our relatives to find out who Amos Hargrett was. And she called me back and told me that was my great-grandfather.” The rising embers of

consciousness inspired Hargrett to do further research and he consulted Canter Brown, a well- known Florida historian and archivist, and author of Florida’s Black Public Officials, 1867-

1924. Hargrett said:

Canter provided me a lot of information on my great-grandfather. That sort of peaked my interest in going further to find out who he was and who were the people that were his contemporaries and what impact it had on Florida. And I discovered to my surprise that the people who served during that time had a real impact on Florida as we know it today. Our system of free public education is one of the issues that stuck with me that not many people know, and I have taken civics and history in Florida. And not many people knew that there was a Black man by the name of Jonathan Gibbs that was responsible for our system of free publication education.

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Hargrett’s consciousness led him to some amazing findings. So amazing were these findings for him that he felt Black children and all children must know these things in order to have a full understanding of Florida’s history. He explained further:

With some of the material that I discovered, I just felt like, in addition to African

American children knowing the history of African Americans, all people in Florida also need to know the contributions of African Americans in order to understand Florida’s history and…I developed this bill and asked Representative Bradley to sponsor it in the House and we successfully prevailed on the Senate to pass it and the House to pass it.

Here we see Hargrett’s consciousness brought into competent action.

Terry Emeka Thomas’s consciousness was deeply influenced in the early 1980s by his teacher, Dr. Walter Palmer. “I have been involved with this type of education, since the early

1980s; my mentor Dr. Walter Palmer had led me to the writings and research of Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and I read his book, The African Origins of Civilization.” Thomas’s budding

consciousness not only informed and inspired his teaching, but also his organizing and activism:

From that book [Diop’s], I formulated my worldview and I reasoned that if there is going to be legislation or any type of African American history it has to be from Dr. Diop’s perspective, an African-centered perspective. That was my concern, that it would not be watered down into a history about slavery. That it goes beyond that into the development of the African story at the time of Kemet (Egypt) onward.

Other aspects of this question, “Was the community involved in the process? If so, was (Afrocentric) agency demonstrated?” are incorporated in the responses to the last question presented below.

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4. What specific steps were taken to bring this legislation into being and with what