YOUNGSTOWN — A group that is advocating finding ways to improve learning opportunities in the Youngstown City School District argues that adults in charge of providing educational opportunities have failed school children over the past 22 years.

Jimma McWilson, head of the African Education Party, led a Zoom conference Monday and stated the multiple “Ds” and “Fs” earned by the Youngstown district on the state report card over that period is a reflection of the failed leadership of adults, not the capacity of children to learn.

Raymond Winbush, a professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, said students must be provided the foundations needed to become young men and women.

“In the Jewish community, young men go through Bar Mitzvah ceremonies where they become men and girls go through Bat Mitzvah ceremonies where they are recognized as women,” Winbush said.

There have been similar ceremonies in African communities, but they were not transferred to the United States.

Winbush, in a book called “The Warrior Method,” argues that culture — where young people are taught their history and the traditions of the community — should be put before curriculum.

“Learning culture will get them excited about learning the academics,” Winbush said. “Children can be taught about Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba, and historical figures, such as Paul Cuffe, a millionaire ship builder, and the Nat Turner Rebellion.”

Winbush, a psychologist, said teaching cultural pride will encourage learning.

McWilson said there has been intellectual warfare levied against African American students because they are not taught about their history.

“If you don’t know your own history, it is difficult to integrate the history of others,” McWilson said.

McWilson said the architectural design of the American education system is designed to devalue the history of blacks and to primarily teach the histories of European cultures.

“It is menticide,” McWilson said. “It is the systematic undermining and brainwashing of children.”

Louis Mohammad suggested that more can be done for black children in public schools by building up their self-esteem and encouraging growth.

McWilson said the series of meetings this summer is a grassroots effort to encourage black leadership to acknowledge the collective failure of education in Youngstown and chart a path toward success.

The African Education Party’s next meeting will be July 22, which will be a call for action for parents in the system.

rsmtih@tritboday.com