African American Colonialism Essay

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In the Western world European colonialism is hailed as an accomplishment. It is the time where Europeans flourished economically after finding and taking control of the lands of the New World. Because of European colonialism and the need for free labor, millions of Africans were forced from their homeland and were forced into slavery. Years later the Europeans came back to colonize and take the rich resources of Africa without any regard to the native people who lived there. Though colonialism ended in the United Stated in the 1700’s and other parts of the Americas in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, many of its racial and injustices are still an ingrained in society today There have been many instances where groups of people within African …show more content…

After World War 1 and the Industrial Revolution, many black families migrated to major northern cities in order to look for work, this was called the Great Migration. According to Michael A. Gomez in his book Reversing Sail, this phenomena combined with an influx of black immigrants from other countries, mainly the Caribbean, helped spark a cultural movement which is now known as the Harlem Renaissance (2005, pg 185 - 186). From books by authors such as Zora Neale Hurston, to jazz artist such as Duke Ellington, the Harlem Renaissance saw black culture emerge within the white mainstream American culture. Many artist also used this new found voice as …show more content…

In their article “Pan- Africanism, Negritude, and the Currency of Blackness,” Darien J, Davis and Judith Michelle Williams define the Negrismo movement as one that “emphasized the contribution of the African to Western culture...argues that the exclusion of blacks from mainstream culture was a disservice to all Cubans” (2015, pg 115) The Negrismo movement aimed to unite the blacks and whites of Cuba for the betterment of their country. Though there were many racial problems in Cuba, Negristas emphasized a sense of national pride and identity in conjunction with their blackness. Negrismo was as much a nationalist movement as it was a racial justice

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