Download Introduction and Development of African American Studies

Introduction and Development of
African American Studies
The Beginnings and Philosophers
African American and the Student
Movement
• HBCU students began to challenge racist
institution.
• White students wanted to bring “radical”
politics from the fringes.
• Events at San Francisco State College
Why So Much Protest Around
Education
• American educational
• Race and color are very
professes democracy
important socially and
and meritocracy.
politically.
• Education is not only for
the mind, but for
character as well.
• Economic success is
sometimes directly
linked to education.
Purpose of African American Studies
• Definitionsystematically treats
past and present
experiences from an
African American point
of view.
• Scope-from African
origin to the present.
• Purpose and Rationaleto correct exclusion
• Objective and usespositive and productive
citizenship,
interdisciplinary, foster
understanding amongst
people.
David Walker and David Walker’s
Appeal
(1785-1830)
Sojourner Truth (1797?-1883)
• Born Isabella Baumfree
• Experienced harsh
slavery in New York
• Escape to Freedom and
Lawsuit
• “I am that I am”
attitude
• “Ain’t I a Woman”
Maria Stewart (1803-1879)
• Orphaned at 5 and
indentured servant
• Widowed very early in
marriage.
• Influenced by David
Walker’s Appeal
• First Black female political
writer
• First woman to speak
before a mixed audience
Henry Highland Garnet (1815-1882)
• A different model of
Black masculinity
• “Call to Rebellion,” and
the call to preach
• Pan-Africanism with
American reform
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)
• Self-taught orator and
writer
• Integrationist who did
not agree with most
Pan-Africanists or Black
Nationalists
• Philosophical thought
influenced Black
Americans for over a
century
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915
• Walked 500 miles to get
to college
• Founded the Tuskegee
Institute
• Preached self-sufficiency
and socio-economic
success rather than
political parity
• Uncle Tom or ultimate
trickster?
Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964)
• Lifelong educator
• Believed in college
preparation for all Black
children
• Received Ph.D. from the
University of Paris at
the age of 67
• Fierce critic of Booker T.
Washington
Ida B. Wells-Barnet (1862-1931)
• Born in Holly Springs,
Mississippi
• First Black woman to
own newspaper
• Sued railroad company
and won in local courts
• Founding member of
the NAACP
Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954)
• Daughter of prominent
Mississippian who
moved to Memphis,
Robert Church
• Active member of the
suffrage movement
• First president of the
National Association of
Colored Women
W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963)
• Ph.D. in sociology from
Harvard. Produced
many scholarly works.
• Founder of the NAACP
• Explicitly criticized
Booker T. Washington
• The Souls of Black Folk
still relevant
Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950)
• Father of Black History
• Journal of Negro History
• Alternative view to
DuBois and Washington
• Physical vestiges of
slavery gone, but what
about the mental?
• Mis-Education of the
Negro
Alain Leroy Locke (1886-1954)
• Godfather of the
Harlem Renaissance
• Helped many young
writers get published
• Articulated the “New
Negro” philosophical
viewpoint
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)
• Born in Jamaica
• A thorn in the side of
Black Intellectuals
• Founded United Negro
Improvement
Association
• Pride in Blackness
• Supporter of Booker T.
Washington’s
philosophies
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
• An enigmatic figure of
the Harlem Renaissance
• Unashamed of rural
Black culture
• Did not support the Civil
Rights Movement or
integration
• Died in poverty and
obscurity
Charles S. Johnson (1896-1956)
• From the “Chicago
School” of sociologist
• Least inflammatory of
philosophers/sociologist
• Let the statistics and
data speak for
themselves
• Never achieved
anything higher than a
bachelor’s
E. Franklin Frazier (1894-1962)
• Also from the “Chicago
School” of sociologists
• The Negro Family in the
United States
• The Moynihan Report
• The Black Bourgeoisie
Other Philosophers
James Baldwin (1924-1987)
Toni Morrison (1931)
Major Black Diasporic Philosopher
Frantz Fanon
Concepts and Methodology
• First program concept developed by Nathan
Hare. It had two phases:
• 1. Expressive or Affective: Scholars of Black
Studies must first learn the history
• 2. Pragmatic: Scholars must go out to the
community and apply what they have learned.
Kawaida Theory
• Developed by Maulana Karenga
• Has seven tenets for a holistic teaching of
Black Studies
• A. Umoja (Unity) B.Kujichagulia (SelfDetermination) C. Ujima (Collective Work
and Responsibility) D. Ujamaa (Cooperative
Economy) E. Nia (Purpose) F. Kuumba
(Creativity) G. Imani (Faith)
Afrocentricity
• Advocated by Molefi Asante
• Each race has contributed greatly to mankind
and each race must be given respect. It is as
important to study the cultures of Africa and
the African Diaspora as the Greeks and
Romans.
• Each race, including Africans, has a specific
ontology or sense of being.
The Paradox of Americanization
• Does becoming an American mean giving up
all traces of ethnic identity?
• Cultural pluralism is meant to improve race
and cultural relations while preserving
national unity.