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The Contributions of Geneva Smitherman

Geneva Smitherman, a Catalyst for a Language

A noted linguist and educational activist, she is known best as an advocate for African-American English. Her research and teaching interests include African American Language/Ebonics, Language Planning-Policy in South Africa, and Socio-linguistics. For over 26 years, she has written books and several articles, responses, and book chapters about the significance and history of African American English as well as being influential in making a political impact on language and social policy in South Africa. Dr. Smitherman is the co-founder and currently directs an outreach program designed to improve educational awareness and self-esteem for at-risk middle school students, focusing on African-American males. The program, My Brother’s Keeper, allows undergraduate students to volunteer as mentors and role models for fifth and sixth grade children from Malcolm X Academy as well as other Detroit elementary schools. In addition, Dr. Smitherman is the Chair of the Language Policy Committee, Conference on College Composition and Communication.

“What’s a (White) Teacher to do About Black English as she quotes Smitherman saying, “To speak Ebonics is to assert the power of this tradition in the quest to resolve the unfinished business of being African in America…speaking Ebonics should not evoke shame or elicit correction; rather it should evoke pride in the speaker and admiration in the listener.” While on the surface, Ebonics would definitely seem as if it were misuse of standard or proper English, Dr. Smitherman’s extensive and tireless efforts to connect a language to a group of people allows the academic world to view its existence from a historical rather than present-day approach.

understand that Black English is in actuality a true language and that there is beauty in this language. She wants to stress that Black English is powerful and comes with its own set of rules and should be respected for its rich historical value. These facts are evident in the courses she has taught and is currently teaching. Dr. Smitherman currently teaches three English classes, which are English 405, Language Use in the African American Community, which is a course, designed to study speech, language and discourse styles in the African American community, with emphasis on the use of language within the context of African American culture and history. The second course is English 493, Internship in “My Brother’s Keeper” Program and the third course is English 991A, Topics in English Language Studies: Language and the African American Community. This course allows graduate students the opportunity to focus on semantics, structure, language policy, and socio-cultural patterns of discourse with topics about the issues of definition and history of Ebonics; perceptions of and attitudes toward Black speech; African American Language and the education of Black youth; language, power and Black identity; language and literacy practices in Hip Hop.

around since 1619, just under a different name. Speaking at the Ebonics/African American Language and Literacy Conference in Minneapolis, Smitherman noted, “the term Ebonics has been around for 24 years, coined at a conference of Black Scholars. Ebonics is a fusion of the words ebony and phonics which means ‘ebony for black sound.” The term fell out of use in the seventies.” In fact, the term was coined in 1973 by Robert L. Williams and was promoted by a narrow layer of black separatists. Until recently, the term was unknown outside academia. Helen Halyard stated on the World Socialist Web Site in the article, “Ebonics and the danger of racial politics, “Ebonics is the offshoot of a broader outlook called Afrocentrism, an ideology which holds that identity is based solely on skin color and that Blacks have a unique culture, history and even language” and this point strengthens Smitherman’s argument.

changing their ideology that it is or isn’t a language. While Dr. Smitherman’s approach to teaching the history and mechanics of Ebonics in academia appears to be of a radical educational approach, her teaching interests probably lie best within the area of a humanistic approach. In many of her publications, Dr. Smitherman exhibits a combination of Rhetorical and Critical pedagogy in her fight for understanding Black English. Because Dr. Smitherman looks to develop social change and enhance students’ personal growth about this subject, she provides learning environments by serving as a facilitator and promoting a flexible avenue for students to learn about different languages and dialects.

Works Cited