The study of Afro-American literature, a vast body of creative expression, can be a motivating force which leads black students to question, learn, and understand the history and culture of black people and, therefore, to understand themselves. This paper outlines and discusses several activities and intellectual exercises useful for promoting positive and progressive thinking in an Afro-American literature course. This course, following a chronological sequence (for example, the folk tradition, the slave narrative, and the Harlem Renaissance), would focus on representative authors and their works, the literary traditions, historical and cultural influences, and thematic and stylistic characteristics. The paper concludes that this course, in helping students to develop a philosophy of life which carries them beyond survival, must be viewed as a revolutionary force. (JM)