The language of Black America is rich and diverse in its utterance, whether through music (Jazz, Blues, Soul, Gospel, and Rap), through street corner "shuckin''n jivin'," or through writing. This language is used as a means of survival, of getting from one day to the next. Blacks have developed a system of taking the fewest words and making them mean the most. The use of repetition is an important element of the preaching of black ministers and can become a form of mimesis for the black teacher (or white teachers who wish to adopt it). Black schoolchildren also manipulate the standard forms of English. Blacks are very proficient in negation. Black Dialect is a language supported and encouraged through all facets of the community. It is a language with its own rules, structure, and meaning. The black novelist, poet, dramatist, and essayist have proven, over and over again, that they possess the skills, techniques, knowledge, and fortitude to produce works of art. In teaching black children it is important to be aware of the heroes of black America because, if any teacher is not aware of these heroes, the children are. "Students' Right to Their Own Language" (a Committee on Conference on College Composition and Communication Language Statement) should be used as an educational component for teacher preparation at whatever level of the learning spectrum. (Twenty-seven references are attached.) (RS)