B. Stewart's Essay 'The Field And Function Of Black Studies'

The formation of the Africana Studies Project includes Knowledge, Power, and Humanity. This insurrectionary intellectual formation examines the worlds of meaning, thought, and expression of Africans, reconstructing new meanings and possibilities for humanity. Development of African American Studies has increased awareness of the contribution of African Americans to the civilizations of the world, using its many themes and concepts, while also displaying many issues. One main issue of this, is the lack of Africana knowledge. For African American discipline to advance, its focal point must be the production and utilization of knowledge, to develop solutions to various issues in our society.
Understanding of Blackness
DeVere E. Pentony wrote

an essay, The Case of Black Studies, stating how African Americans can’t see our society and political history in America as successful. This is the cause of the lack of development for Africana knowledge. Pentony believes we can development as a society, stating “To accomplish this, black people, like all people, need to know they are not alone. They need to know that their ancestors were not just slaves laboring under the white man’s sun but that their lineage can be to important kingdoms and significant civilizations. They need to be familiar with the black man’s contribution to the arts and sciences. They need to know of black heroes and of noble deeds of black men. They need to know that black, too is beautiful, and that under the African sky people are at proud ease with their blackness” (pg. 10). If we as blacks understood what it means to be black, then trying to develop will become easier. To fulfill these needs, black studies efforts must be launched.
Applying What We Know
In The Field of Black Studies by Nathaniel Norment, he emphasizes on how the university must not become simply a center of knowledge but a center of applied knowledge and guide. Students must not just focus on receiving knowledge on Black Studies, but also focus on applying what is being taught to situations in our everyday lives. The vision of the developmental objective of historically black institutions provided by W.E.B. DuBois in 1993 provides a stepping stone for black study movements. To apply certain knowledge, African Americans must look backwards to understand the present. Furthermore, the disciple of Africana studies must include steps of applying what is being taught in universities, and in the world.
Challenges in Higher Education
Many Americans are not comfortable with the idea of having “Black History” classes in public schools, but furthermore Stewart believes that it is the origin of most subjects. Karenga implies that black history is indispensable to the introduction and development of many subjects that Americans learn in school. With black history, it could aid students in discussion and the understanding of national history. The first wave of black students in predominantly white colleges and universities in the mid-1960s did not get to experience a thorough teaching of African American history because it was taught as simply as a basic starting point.
In James B.

Stewart’s essay “The Field and Function of Black Studies”, he implies that black history is dominated by continuing challenges by its critics and the weak attachment of many scholars to the black studies movement and to black studies units even when the research of such scholars examines the black experience (pg. 45). Statistics show that 70.2 percent indicated that the number of full-time faculty members who have appointments outside black studies and another academic units is stable, proving the fact that black studies has established a beachhead in higher education. This statistic demonstrates how things have been stable in terms of growing the teachings of black studies, which causes challenges. A challenge that can be seen from this issue, is the lack of financial support available to faculty and students. Small budgets are provided to Black Study departments at many universities, therefore, making it difficult to purchase materials and hire more educated, experienced staff

members.
An obstacle that is affecting this issue, is the extensive politicization of Black Studies departments or programs, implied by Martin Kilson, in Reflections on Structure and Content in Black Studies. Kilson believes that militant political action by black students, was fundamental to the rapid spread of Black Studies in white colleges, but also implies that it went much too far. The actions divorced the academic and technical issues of establishing Black Studies curriculums that would be effective. Kilson’s essay states that the growing evidence of disenchantment of the brighter black students, with the poor-quality staff in Black Studies programs is affecting the development of this discipline. Many college students do not attend courses, simply because the staff is not of quality. This challenge can be fixed by requesting faculty of superior training and qualifications to be added to Black Studies programs.
Growing up in the Twenty-First Century, students are not taught proper African American history.

Most public schools in the United States kept it simple and straight to the point. They taught, what we know as, “Black History” from the media’s standpoint. This concept neglects the true meaning of black history in the educational system, making it hard for African Americans to be prideful in who they are. Knowing history other than what the school systems tells us African Americans would not only give us more knowledge, but would allow us to stand up against others when try to put down our history. Media gives us mainly negative perspectives with very little positives of our

history.
Vincent Harding wrote an essay named, The Vocation of the Black Scholar and the Struggles of the Black Community, stating his ideas on the discipline of Africana Studies. He believes we as blacks, must research us. We must stay woke to things that have happened to us, regardless of when it occurred. Harding implies that we must unvictimized ourselves as oppressed and learn to show our true identity, in which he believes African Americans are lacking. No honorable vocation for the black scholar is a reason why Black History is not developing in the minds of the youth, because no one is spreading it. In The Vocation of the Black Scholar and the Struggles of the Black Community, Harding touches on an ever-present struggle to the black community, and that is the issue of black people always being out of style in America.
Overview
In Conclusion, Black studies as a whole, cannot move forward into bettering the future if we continue to lack knowledge. Studying the history of those who have descended before the current generation helps to fix misinformed information brought to the table about African Americans. Black studies are important and a necessity to the people in higher education institutions, communities, and those of political power, because it is used to help African Americans understand their purpose. As seen in articles from, DeVere E. Pentony, Nathaniel Norment, James B. Stewart, and Vincent Harding, Africana studies is facing a major issue of blacks not gaining the proper knowledge. For African American discipline to advance, its focal point must be the production and utilization of knowledge, to develop solutions to various issues in our society.