BHS is now offering the AP African American Studies course, which the College Board introduced in 2022-23.

Social studies teacher Felecia Hamilton, who teaches the course, is now in her third year at BHS. 

“[The word] ‘studies’ [in the title] means that it’s an interdisciplinary course, meaning that it’s not just a history course, but we are also looking at art,” she said. “We’re looking at music. We’re looking at literature. We’re looking at sociology, political science, and psychology.” 

“The fact that we get to include all of these other disciplines just allows us to expand our knowledge of the African American experience,” she added.

In addition to a wide range of disciplines, the class covers a wide range of content, beginning with ancient African civilizations. It also covers the Transatlantic slave trade, African diasporas, slavery and resistance, as well as the role of religion, the Great Migration, the civil rights movement, Black power, Afrofuturism and more.

Another focus is the role of musicians, athletes and artists as figures of cultural change.

“The theme for the class is ‘misconceptions about African American history’,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton previously taught a similar course, African American history, which was originally introduced at BHS by Kathryn Barney-Cheney in 2018.

African American history was a one-semester course, and so it could not include as much material, but the largest difference between the two courses is that the new course prepares students to take the College Board’s AP exam for which they will potentially receive college credit. 

The class has been controversial since it was first introduced by the College Board, and it has been criticized by conservative politicians. 

“They have stuff about intersectionality, abolishing prisons… that’s a political agenda,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in January 2023.

The state of Florida banned the course, and other Republican-led states followed suit.

Ohio Representative Shontel Brown (D) who represents Cleveland and suburbs including Beachwood, published an op/ed in Newsweek criticizing Florida and other states that have moved to restrict the teaching of controversial subjects. 

“What’s happening in Florida is part of an ongoing, and far from new, effort across the country to erase, distort, and deceive people about Black history and American history overall,” she wrote.

The controversy isn’t stopping the 32 Beachwood students currently taking the class, who are excited to learn about the culture and history of African Americans.

Senior Arnav Bokil says he’s looking forward to everything he will learn in the class. 

“[I’m looking forward to learning how to] debunk common racist stereotypes,” he said.

Junior Luke Warner says he’s looking forward to learning more about African American music history, while junior Marley Readance is looking forward to learning more about famous African Americans in history. 

Some class discussions could be controversial.

“A major struggle is allowing everyone to feel comfortable with the class,” Hamilton said. 

She hopes that non-African American students will not be deterred by the title of class. 

The students credit Hamilton for making the classroom comfortable for all. 

“I think Ms. Hamilton is doing a great job …  facilitating the classroom,” Bokil said.

“It should be all good because Ms. Hamilton makes it a nice and safe classroom environment,” Warner said.

Hamilton feels comfortable teaching the class, given that she can relate to many of her students as well as the subject. 

“Being an African American teacher teaching this course has [been] really helpful… for discussing [these] topics with the students,” she said.

Students will conduct an original research project where they select their own research topic. They will present these projects in February, at a date to be determined. 

The AP exam for African American Studies includes 60 multiple choice questions and four free response questions. 

The College Board provides an in-depth overview of the exam on its website.   

As this is the first year she is teaching the AP class, Hamilton, who also teaches sociology and U.S. studies, is doing a good amount of experimenting, trying out new lessons to see what works, but she has been preparing to teach this class for several years now. 

“I appreciate that the administration has given me the time to actually do this well,” Hamilton said. “They had originally pitched to me that I teach it last year, and that felt very overwhelming for me. I didn’t think I was ready to teach an AP class.”