In his over 10 years of teaching math to students in St. Louis and across southern Illinois, Kendall Ware faced the question, “Why does learning this matter?” often.
To answer that common query — and make math more relatable to the primarily African American students he was teaching — he published his own Algebra textbook titled “Solving for Freedom.”
The textbook includes the standard lessons on equations and rational functions. It also features portraits of Black history icons to bring a new light to mathematics.
“I was never properly taught about Black history in school … that was an area where I think I was failed [by educators],” Ware said on Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air. “I wanted to make sure that I was able to get it into schools and embed it into a core subject matter.”
The book highlights Black mathematicians, athletes, fashion designers and politicians, and uses their stories to explain key math concepts. For example, in a section about the Negro Leagues, Ware compares the layers of a baseball to the layers of the real number system.
A handful of local schools and educational programs have purchased Ware’s book, including the University City School District, the Upper Bound program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Lutheran North Middle and High School, which Ware attended.
In recent years, several area school boards have either debated or passed measures that restrict Black history education. For Ware, who is working on a second math and Black history textbook, he’ll keep advocating for teaching both subjects.
“We need to start with the teachers and get them a clear understanding as to why Black history is important for their students to learn,” he said.
To hear more from educator Kendall Ware about why math should be culturally relevant, listen to the full St. Louis on the Air conversation on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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