Teacher pens Black History book to teach literacy
Published:Friday | March 27, 2026 | 12:06 AMPaul H. Williams/Gleaner Writer
Kadeen Dobbs’ seventh book, Building Comprehension and Literary Skills in Global Black History for High Schoolers, is the latest in a series exploring black self-identity. Aimed at students ages 11 to 18 – though likely to interest many adults – it forms part of her wider effort to place black achievement, resilience and cultural memory at the centre of the classroom.
In an introductory essay titled ‘The African DNA Is Us’, Dobbs argues that the global African diaspora, though dispersed, remains connected by ancestry and shared historical experience. The transatlantic slave trade, she writes, may have “divided and separated us by oceans [and] distance”, but common struggles have endured. That history, she notes, includes “almost 400 years” of enslavement whose psychological and spiritual aftershocks continue to shape black life today. At its core lies a question that, she suggests, has never been adequately answered: Who are we?
Dobbs’ objectives are ambitious. She hopes both to expand black representation in school curricula and to help teenagers grappling with issues of self-worth and identity. Her approach blends literacy instruction with historical study, allowing students to develop reading skills while encountering role models who resemble them and have overcome adversity.
“The curricula do not offer history beyond the context of slavery,” she told The Gleaner. “This is needed ... to help students in the development of self-identity. There is a strong correlation between identity and ethnicity. When a teenager grasps this, then they learn to love their race ... . The relevance and relatability of a curriculum will determine the level of engagement and retention of concepts by learners.”
A curriculum that foregrounds black innovation, accomplishment and leadership, Dobbs argues, provides young people with models of possibility and helps counter the appropriation or erasure of black contributions. “The true history of a nation empowers a people with a mindset of purpose,” she says. “A history beyond slavery and civil rights, though significant, gives its people a ‘vision’ of their future through the lens of their past.”
Her latest book surveys the influence of major black movements; the role played by Jamaicans in African-American history; the achievements of black inventors; the story of Black Wall Street; and the cultural and economic foundations laid by black communities across the world. It also examines black aesthetics – fashion, worship, hairstyles and music – while simultaneously strengthening students’ comprehension and literacy.
“It is an interdisciplinary curriculum that intertwines religious education, social studies, civics, history, English language, English literature and literacy,” she explains. Feedback, she says, has been “positive” and schools have begun acquiring the text for struggling readers – though she is quick to clarify: “My book is not for struggling readers. It is for the fluent reader.”
Dobbs has written two other literacy titles. The Engaged Reader: An Integrated Approach for Intermediate Readers uses STEAM methods to strengthen reading, while Read, Draw and Write Prompts offers multisensory exercises for visual, auditory, kinesthetic and remedial learners. “ The Read, Draw and Write Prompts is for struggling readers. The Engaged Reader is for intermediate readers. My books are in a series that caters to each reading level,” she says.
Dobbs’ professional background is similarly broad: trained to teach at the early childhood, primary and secondary levels, she now teaches English language, literature and literacy at a Jamaican high school.
She has also taught in Canada and The Bahamas, and is currently pursuing a leadership qualification through The University of the West Indies, in partnership with the Ministry of Education.
Her work reflects a belief that literacy is not merely a technical skill but a gateway to identity, confidence and civic understanding. By embedding global black history into the learning process, Dobbs hopes to give young people both the tools to read – and the stories that help them understand who they are.