A paradigm is presented for preparing teachers to develop a broader knowledge and perspective of African American history and culture. The approach was designed to instruct nonminority elementary preservice teachers to begin to acquire the knowledge and understanding of critical aspects of the African-Afro-American history and culture necessary to teach minority and majority students. After determining that 67 teacher candidates in the author's class actually knew little about African History and culture, an educational study timeline based on key events and cultural elements was developed to help define the continuum of the African and African American experience. Culturally relevant materials were identified and students were required to become familiar with multicultural education resources in educational research literature and children's literature. Evaluation through a posttest indicated that students learned about black history and culture and were better prepared to teach. Eight figures illustrate the discussion and present the timeline. A bibliography of 13 resources is included. (Contains 26 references.) (SLD)