Introduction to African American Studies

1
Introduction to African American Studies

• Africans in America

2
Definition

• . . . A field of study that systematically
  treats the past and present experiences,
  characteristics, achievements, issues and
  problems of Black citizens of the United States
  who are of African origin and background.

3
It is . . .

• Dialectic
• Interdisciplinary
• Contextual
• Evolving
• Dynamic
• Wholistic
• African
• American

4
Course Breakdown

• Purpose
• Initiation and Development of African American
  Studies
• History of Africans in America
• Sociology
• Black Psychology
• Politics
• Economic
• Arts and Humanities

5
Purpose

• Why

6
Foundation

• Philosophy
• Culture
• Aesthetics
• Historical
• Slavery
• Racism
• Separatism
• Desegregation

• Black Power
• Black Art
• Black Capitalism
• Black Nationalism
• Education

7
Some Key Players

• David Walker
• (1785-1830)
• Phillis Wheatley
• (1753-1784)
• Maria Stewart
• (1803-1879)
• Henry Highland Garnet
• (1815-1882)
• Frederick Douglass
• (1817-1895)
• William Edward Burghardt DuBois
• (1868-1963)

• Booker T Washington
• (1856-1915)
• Carter G Woodson
• (1875-1950)
• E Franklin Frazier
• (1894-1962)
• Charles S Johnson
• (1893-1956)
• Alain Leroy Locke
• (1886-1954)
• Marcus Garvey
• (1887-1940)

8
Booker T. Washington1856-1915

• Born a slave in 1856 in Virginia he was
  provisionally allowed to enroll in Hampton
  Institute.
• He turned out to be an extraordinary student and
  speaker.
• The principle of the institute recommended that
  he start his own school which he did.
• It became known as Tuskegee Institute.

http//lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aopart6.html
9
Anna Julia Cooper

• Women's Cause is One and Universal

http//www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/co
oper_anna.jpg
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Ida B Wells Barnett
http//www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2008-04/
37477739.jpg
11
Mary Church Terrell
http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASterrell.j
pg
12
W E B DuBois1868-1963

• Born in Great Barrington, MA he became a social
  scientist, social activist, and political
  philosopher.
• He received his PhD from Harvard University and
  used scientific method to understand the
  development, nature and contributions of the
  Black community.
• He was one of the founders of the NAACP.

13
Carter G. Woodson1875-1950

• This native of Virginia was born to parents who
  were slaves at one time.
• The father of Black history.
• He was instrumental in reestablishing the
  importance of black history and he provided the
  philosophical basis and rationale for Black
  intellectual and educational independence.
• He initiated Negro History Week in 1926.

14
Alain Leroy Locke1886-1954

• Born in Philadelphia, PA he was the first Black
  Rhodes scholar.
• He received his PhD from Harvard in 1918.
• He was an educator and philosopher who laid a lot
  of the the theoretical ground work for African
  American studies.
• He is also noted for being one of the
  interpreters of the Harlem Renaissance.

15
Marcus Garvey1887-1940

• Born in the Jamaica, West Indies he became a
  strong proponent of Black Nationalism and of a
  Black Nation.
• He instilled pride in Blacks and encouraged them
  to fight racism.
• He successfully started a black shipping line.
• He accentuated Black achievement which rival
  achievement of others ethnic groups.

http//www.isop.ucla.edu/mgpp/photo01.htm
16
Zora Neale Hurston

• Born in 1891?
• One of Americas most prolific writers

http//www4.wittenberg.edu/student_organizations/g
reek/alpha_phi_alpha/zpb3.jpg
17
Charles S. Johnson1893-1956

• Born in Bristol, VA this sociologist was the
  first Black president of Fisk University.
• He applied good research methodology and analysis
  in understanding African Americans.
• He used his analysis and findings to demonstrate
  the destructiveness of racism on Blacks.

http//www.britannica.com/blackhistory/micro/305/2
9.html
18
E. Franklin Frazier1894-1962

• Born in Baltimore, MD Frazier became the leading
  authority of Black family life.
• His work Black Bourgeoisie caused quite a stir in
  the African American community because of its
  depiction of middle class Blacks
• He was an integrationist and assimilationist.

http//138.238.113.55/EFFC_1.html
19
David Walker1785-1830

• Born in 1785 in Wilmington, NC
• Author, abolitionist, activist.
• Tailor by trade an abolitionist by calling.
• Moved to Boston in 1827.
• Wrote David Walkers Appeal.
• Advocated violence to end slavery.

20
Phillis Wheatley1753-1784

• Poet born in Africa in 1753.
• Was purchased by Susannah Wheatley of Boston.
• She was educated by her mistress.
• She mastered Greek and became a poet
  extraordinaire.
• She eventually married a free black man by the
  name of John Peters.

• http//www.ktca.org/litandlife/chapters/chapter1ma
  in.html

21
Maria Stewart1803-1879

• Born in Hartford, CT was orphaned at 5.
• Despite her limited education she became a
  leading exponent of abolishing slavery and
  womens rights.

22
Henry Highland Garnet 1815-1882

• Born a slave in Maryland, escaped with parents
  and moved to Penn in 1824.
• Graduated from Oneida institute and became an
  outstanding scholar minister, writer, and
  educator.
• On one hand he believed in America, and the
  principles of the Constitution and recruited for
  the Civil War.
• On the other hand he opposed whites and rejected
  democratic materialism.
• Represents double consciousness.

23
Frederick Douglass 1817-1895

• Born into slavery and escaped in 1838.
• Abolitionist who embraced integration.
• Was an articulate spokesperson for African
  America rights.
• Considered a black philosopher and ideologist.