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What is the importance of studying u.s african american history
Black history importance
Importance of studying african american history
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Many African American men and women have been characterized as a group of significant individuals who help to exemplify the importance of the black community. They have illustrated their optimistic views and aspects in a various amount of ways contributing to the reconstruction of African Americans with desire and integrity. Though many allegations may have derived against a large amount of these individuals, Crystal Bird Fauset, Jacob Lawrence, and Mary Lucinda Dawson opportunistic actions conveys their demonstration to improve not only themselves but also their ancestors too. Throughout their marvelous journeys, they intend to garnish economic, political, and social conditions with dignity and devotion while witnessing the rise of African Americans. The objective of this research paper is to demonstrate the lives of a selected group of African American people and their attributions to the black community. Born in Princess Anne, Maryland on June 27, 1894, Crystal Bird Fauset was born to the late Benjamin Oliver Bird and Portia E. (Lovett) Bird (“The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed”). She was orphaned and raised in Boston by her maternal aunt, Lucy Groves, where she attended public schools and excelled as an outstanding student despite the tragic passing away of her parents at an early age (“World Black History”). Later on in life, she studied at Teachers College, Columbia, University, in the late 1920’s and earned her degree in 1931(“The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed”). Crystal spent majority of her time expanding her life experiences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania economically, politically, and socially (“The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed”). Fauset helped establish the famous Swarthmore College Insti... ... middle of paper ... ...o perform commonly with the Metropolitan Opera along with Demareus Cooper and Neal Huguley. In spite of controversy Mary Lucinda Cardwell Dawson was a leader in the campaign to promote African-American participation in and appreciation of opera. Against colossal financial issues and racism, Dawson mounted together a legacy that continues on (through**) her students. At the age of 60, Mary Lucinda Cardwell Dawson died in Washington D.C. suffering from a fetal heart attack. In appreciation of her achievements to the black community the National Negro Opera Company’s home on Frankstown Avenue in Pittsburgh is presently being modernized as a historical site. Mary Lucinda Cardwell Dawson has prevailed against critics through her cultural, social, and economical experiences by installing her own ideas, styles, and genres to shape her view of an impartial nation.
The history of The Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States is a fascinating account of a group of human beings, forcibly taken from their homeland, brought to a strange new continent, and forced to endure countless inhuman atrocities. Forced into a life of involuntary servitude to white slave owners, African Americans were to face an uphill battle for many years to come. Who would face that battle? To say the fight for black civil rights "was a grassroots movement of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things" would be an understatement. Countless people made it their life's work to see the progression of civil rights in America. People like W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, A Phillip Randolph, Eleanor Roosevelt, and many others contributed to the fight although it would take ordinary people as well to lead the way in the fight for civil rights. This paper will focus on two people whose intelligence and bravery influenced future generations of civil rights organizers and crusaders. Ida B.Wells and Mary Mcleod Bethune were two African American women whose tenacity and influence would define the term "ordinary to extraordinary".
The union and biography of Absalom Jones and Richard Allen is a unique tale. Nonetheless, when we think of major influences in black history, theirs is not amongst the names that readily come to mind. When discussing great advocates for equality and rights for the African Americans, names such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and other prominent advocates are widely televised. But seldom, if ever, are we told the tale of two seemingly distant African-American men, who unite for a similar cause and later leave one of the most important impacts made in the city of Philadelphia. Although Jones and Allen were not as popular as other well-known leaders, their background story is much more distinctive.
and the academic endeavour, to illuminate the experiences of African American women and to theorize from the materiality of their lives to broader issues of political economy, family, representation and transformation” (Mullings, page xi)
On July 19, 1875, Alice Dunbar-Nelson was born to Patricia Wright and Joseph Moore. Shortly after Dunbar-Nelson’s birth, her father left the family. Dunbar-Nelson’s mixed race of African American, Native American, and European American benefitted her greatly because she was able to pass as a Caucasian woman in order to gain entrance in to cultural events that would generally exclude minorities (Low). Her fair complexion and red tinted hair allowed her to associate with the Creole society in New Orleans, where she was given more social opportunities and privileges than the average African American during the late nineteenth century. She was one of the few women with African American heritage to have the opportunity to graduate from college, which she took advantage of and earned a teaching certificate at Straight University.
At the Lincoln School Coretta was taught by white and black teachers. She learned that white people from the North treated blacks equally. Coretta was an...
This novel gives insight on the social issues that African Americans in the south underwent during this time period. This document is important in American history because it allows for historians to understand the two mentalities of black activist during this time period. It also conveys to historians how African American’s attempted to reach equality. Although W.E.B DuBois and Booker T Washington both has their differences in attaining equality, they both wanted African Americans to live better lives in this “new south” era, but had complete different
Born into a fiercely political family, Florence’s life was influenced by her near-constant coquetry with abolition and other various civil rights efforts. Her father, William “Pig Iron” Kelley, was an ardent proponent of women’s rights, and was also known as the protector of Pennsylvania’s iron and steel industries, earning him his moniker. Kelley was educated at home for much of her childhood, as she was often ill, and her family’s home was rather isolated from nearby Philadelphia (Bienen, 1-“William”). Nonetheless, her education was satisfactory, and primarily influenced by her father. Through her atypical form of education, Kelley was allowed to develop an opinion on diverse topics that most children her age were oblivious to. Kelley traveled across the country with her father, exploring steel and iron manufacturing sites, prefacing her future career path. In addition to vocational learning, Florence Kelley absorbed knowledge through the massive library at h...
In AP US History and other Social Studies classes, students are taught about the Civil Rights movement and the contributions of Martin Luther King Jr., the Little Rock Nine, the Freedom Riders, and the Greensboro Four, however many female leaders and advocates are not strongly discussed. On February 2nd, 2016, Jennifer Scanlon published a biography on Anna Arnold Hedgeman who was an advocate for civil rights legislation like MLK. Hedgeman was a member of the National Organization for Women and was a strategist for organizing the black vote in 1948 for the Democratic Party. Despite her involvements, she is highly unknown to most people, and Scanlon’s book seeks to make her known. She grew up in Anoka, Minnesota but moved to Mississippi to be a teacher, and there she was exposed to the horrors of Jim Crow. She was also a part of the National Council of
Smith, J, & Phelps, S (1992). Notable Black American Women, (1st Ed). Detroit, MI: Gale
Charlotte “Lottie” Stephens was the first African-American teacher hired in the Little Rock School District. Charlotte was born to slaves, William Andrews and Caroline Williams Andrews. Charlotte’s parents were both urban slaves which enabled them to have certain privileges such as an education and a home. Her father was taught how to read from his master, and later taught Charlotte how to read because he wanted his children to
For in an extraordinary career spanning three crucial decades, the man and the history became one, so much so that it is impossible to deal with the history of black people without touching, at some point, the personal history of Carter Woodson, who taught the teachers, transformed the vision of the masses and became, almost despite himself, an institution, a cause and a month. One could go further and say that the scientific study of black history began with Woodson, who almost single-handedly created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and the prestigious Journal of Negro History. Not content with these achievements, he ventured into the field of mass education, creating the annual black history celebrations.
Rosa’s family and life experiences were not much different from other African-American families at that time. Rosa did not attend school until she was eleven years old. Her mother worked as a hairdresser and a seamstress to earn enough money to send Rosa to school. Rosa moved away to live with her aunt and attend Montgomery Industrial School for girls. Rosa cleaned the classroom after school to earn some tuition due to the need of funds that her mother could not afford. Her mother became ill before she finished high school and begged her to come back home. Rosa did not graduate high school until after...
Gloria Naylor was born in New York city. The year Gloria graduated from high school Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. For seven years she postponed college, and became a Jehovah’s witness missionary. It was at Brooklyn college where she realized her identity as both a woman and black American. This inspired “The Woman of Brewster Place’, which she published in 1982 after completing a master’s degree in African American studies at Yale.
The core principle of history is primary factor of African-American Studies. History is the struggle and record of humans in the process of humanizing the world i.e. shaping it in their own image and interests (Karenga, 70). By studying history in African-American Studies, history is allowed to be reconstructed. Reconstruction is vital, for over time, African-American history has been misleading. Similarly, the reconstruction of African-American history demands intervention not only in the academic process to rede...
In the civil rights movement, it was difficult for Black women to attain leadership roles. In history classes across the country, the civil rights movement is synonymous with Martin Luther King Jr. and other male leaders and activists, but the role of Black women is overlooked and unconsidered when they made substantial contributions as activists. They organized people through churches. Additionally, the issues and concerns of Black women where not acknowledged and marginalized in both the black liberation movement and the women’s movement. They faced constant sexism in the liberation movement, for Black men would show disregard for their “humanity, autonomy and bodies” (Charleswell, 2014). During a meeting with the Black congress, a former black panther Elaine Brown faced misogyny as a Black woman and