Changes to AP African American Studies

Plus: Remembering Harry Belafonte |

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By Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer On April 24, TIME was the first news outlet to report that the College Board will be making changes to its new AP African American Studies class, three months after it released what it called the final framework. The course has been embroiled in controversy during its first pilot year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the curriculum “woke indoctrination” and tried to ban it in his state, while Florida’s education department objected to references to Black Lives Matter and reparations in the course outline, which appeared in a section of the draft outline on optional essay topics. The College Board did not immediately respond to my question about the reason for the changes; it only said the changes will be determined “over the next few months.” The first new AP course in a decade, African American Studies will be piloted in 800 high schools next year. I talked to nearly a dozen students and teachers about how the course is going as the first year is wrapping up. Overall, the students appreciated the in-depth history discussions on Africa and the way the course puts current events in historical context. “I took AP World History my sophomore year, and I did not learn anything about Africa or African history prior to slavery,” Gianna Reynolds, who is taking the class in Los Angeles, told me. “It’s nice to have an environment where my history doesn’t begin and end with slavery and the civil rights era.” Click here to read the full story. Calling all royal watchers: What questions do you have about the upcoming coronation of King Charles III? Email history@time.com

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FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1975: Jimmy Connors “Ever since the young man with the impish grin, two-fisted backhand and high-octane temper burst into pro tennis three years ago, the keepers of decorum have been alternating between disgust at his behavior and admiration for his play…James Connors has taken the art of on-court temperament to new heights — or depths. Given an audience, Connors can seldom resist the temptation to ham. Occasionally he loses control and crosses the boundary of mischief into malice. When that happens, usually at a taut moment in a match, Connors can explode in one of the self-indulgent tantrums that have earned him his reputation as the world's reigning Tennis Brat and Bad Boy. Much of the time, though, off the court as well as on, he is simply a friendly, uninhibited urchin.” (April 28, 1975) Read More » This week in 1988: Disney “Not long ago, America's beloved Disney empire seemed destined for an unhappy ending. After an uninspired decade or more, Disney had fallen prey to takeover artists who wanted to break up the company like a rusty old carnival ride and sell its pieces to the highest bidders. But someone at Disney must have wished upon a star—maybe all 30,000 employees did. After sliding within a cricket's whisker of defeat in 1984, Disney has come chirping back. Cheerleading a staff of go-team-go executives, Chairman Michael Eisner, 46, and President Frank Wells, 56, have pulled off one of the most dazzling corporate turnarounds since Lee Iacocca steered Chrysler back from the brink…From movies to theme parks to television to retail products, Disney is the hottest all-around entertainment maker in America.” (April 25, 1988) Read More » This week in 1999: Star Wars “On May 19, Star Wars: Episode 1–The Phantom Menace opens on more than 2,500 screens. Moviemakers like their pictures to have "want-see" (tradespeak for marketable elements), but who doesn't want to see George Lucas' first of three prequels to the most popular trilogy ever filmed?...But for the Starwoids--the trilogy cultists who live in the world [George] Lucas created--this anticipation may be too fevered. It sends a little shudder through the 54-year-old gent who wrote the script alone and, for the first time in 22 years, directed a movie as well as supervised it. ‘Expectations are so high that no matter what, for some people we'll never make it,’ he says. ‘Everybody is trying to steal information. But if we bring out the Episode 1 book early, people get upset that we're giving the story away.’ Mirthless laugh. ‘No matter how you do it, you can't win.’" (April 26, 1999) Read More »

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