Black History Month

[Hampton]

This is my attempt to jazz up the place a little, so please bear with me. I'd decided to do a what-ever month celebration thread that is and sticky it for that month and hope some people learn a thing or two and share and discuss. Included will be profiles and events that had an impact on the demographic in which we are celebrating. So Feb. is Black History Month, it'll be impossible to include everyone so when I forget someone feel free to add on a few links.

Slavery

http://search.eb.com/blackhistory/study/icons/oslavey004p1.gif

Slave Narratives (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/vfshtml/vfssp.html)

Listen to former slaves talk about their experiences as slaves. At times hard to understand, but, unique in that it is a first hand account.

Gabriel Prosser

Some historians believe that Gabriel's army of 1,000 slaves (estimates range from 2,000 to 50,000), assembled 6 miles (9.5 km) outside the city on the appointed night, might have succeeded had it not been for a violent rainstorm that washed out bridges and inundated roads. Before the rebel forces could be reassembled, Governor James Monroe was informed of the plot and ordered out the state militia. Gabriel and about 34 of his companions were subsequently arrested, tried, and hanged.

The Gabriel Prosser Slave Revolt (http://www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/spl/gabrielrevolt.html)

Gabriel's Conspiracy (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1576.html)

Denmark Vesey

Vesey planned and organized an uprising of city and plantation blacks. The plan reportedly called for the rebels to attack guardhouses and arsenals, seize their arms, kill all whites, burn and destroy the city, and free the slaves. As many as 9,000 blacks may have been involved, though some scholars dispute this figure.

Warned by a house servant, white authorities on the eve of the scheduled outbreak made massive military preparations, which forestalled the insurrection. During the ensuing two months, some 130 blacks were arrested. In the trials that followed, 67 were convicted of trying to raise an insurrection; of these, 35, including Vesey, were hanged, and 32 were condemned to exile. In addition, four white men were fined and imprisoned for encouraging the plot.

Essay on Wesey (http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/1861jun/higgin.htm)
Bio (http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/denmark_vesey.html)

Nat Turner

Doomed from the start, Turner's insurrection was handicapped by lack of discipline among his followers and by the fact that only 75 blacks rallied to his cause. Armed resistance from the local whites and the arrival of the state militia--a total force of 3,000 men--provided the final crushing blow. Only a few miles from the county seat the insurgents were dispersed and either killed or captured, and many innocent slaves were massacred in the hysteria that followed. Turner eluded his pursuers for six weeks but was finally captured, tried, and hanged.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html)
Bio (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASturner.htm)

Amistad

(July 2, 1839), slave rebellion that took place on the slave ship Amistad near the coast of Cuba and had important political and legal repercussions in the American Abolitionist movement (see abolitionism). The mutineers were captured and tried in the United States, and a surprising victory for the country's antislavery forces resulted in 1841 when the U.S. Supreme Court freed the rebels. A committee formed to defend the slaves later developed into the American Missionary Association (incorporated 1846).

Amistad Munity (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASamistad.htm)
Encarta Africana (http://www.africana.com/research/encarta/amistad.asp)

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri. From 1833 to 1843, he resided in Illinois (a free state) and in an area of the Louisiana Territory, where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After returning to Missouri, Scott sued unsuccessfully in the Missouri courts for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territory made him a free man. Scott then brought a new suit in federal court. Scott's master maintained that no pure-blooded Negro of African descent and the descendant of slaves could be a citizen in the sense of Article III of the Constitution.

The Decesion (http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Scott/)
Case Background (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford)

David Walker

David Walker's Appeal, arguably the most radical of all anti-slavery documents, caused a great stir when it was published in September of 1829 with its call for slaves to revolt against their masters. David Walker, a free black originally from the South wrote, ". . .they want us for their slaves, and think nothing of murdering us. . . therefore, if there is an attempt made by us, kill or be killed. . . and believe this, that it is no more harm for you to kill a man who is trying to kill you, than it is for you to take a drink of water when thirsty." Even the outspoken William Lloyd Garrison objected to Walker's approach in an editorial about the Appeal.

Bio (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2930.html)
Read parts of the Appeal (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2931t.html)

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War.

A brilliant speaker, Douglass was asked by the American Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures, and so became recognized as one of America's first great black speakers. He won world fame when his autobiography was publicized in 1845. Two years later he bagan publishing an antislavery paper called the North Star.

Douglass served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and other civil liberties for blacks. Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still revered today for his contributions against racial injustice.

Bio (http://www.history.rochester.edu/class/douglass/home.html)
Read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass here (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/)

Sojourner Truth

Just before New York state abolished slavery in 1827, she found refuge with Isaac Van Wagener, who set her free. With the help of Quaker friends, she waged a court battle in which she recovered her small son, who had been sold illegally into slavery in the South.

Encountering the women's rights movement in the early 1850s, and encouraged by other women leaders, notably Lucretia Mott, she continued to appear before suffrage gatherings for the rest of her life. A description of one of Sojourner Truth's speeches at a women's rights convention in 1851 is recorded in the reminiscences of Frances D. Gage, a fellow reformer.

In the 1850s Sojourner Truth settled in Battle Creek, Mich. At the beginning of the American Civil War, she gathered supplies for black volunteer regiments and in 1864 went to Washington, D.C., where she helped integrate streetcars and was received at the White House by President Abraham Lincoln. The same year, she accepted an appointment with the National Freedmen's Relief Association counseling former slaves, particularly in matters of resettlement. As late as the 1870s she encouraged the migration of freedmen to Kansas and Missouri. In 1875 she returned to the city of Battle Creek, where she remained until her death.

Bio (http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/trut-soj.htm)
Narrative of Sojourner Truth (http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/truth/1850/1850.html)

Harriet Tubman

In 1849 Tubman escaped from a plantation on the eastern shore of Maryland and made her way north by the Underground Railroad. In 1850 she returned to Maryland to guide members of her family north to freedom. She soon became one of the "railroad's" most active "conductors," making frequent trips into the South to bring out escaping slaves. Despite huge rewards offered for her capture, she helped more than 300 slaves to escape. She maintained military discipline among her followers, often forcing the weary or the fainthearted ahead by threatening them with a loaded revolver.

Bio (http://www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm)

Harlem Renaissance

Countee Cullen

Poems by Countee Cullen (http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/cullen.html)

Zora Neale Hurston

"I want a busy life, a just mind and a timely death."

Author of Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jonah's Gourd Vine.

Chapter 1 or Their Eyes (http://geocities.com/kiphinton/zora/ztheir.htm)

Langston Hughes

Bio (http://www.redhotjazz.com/hughes.html)
Red some Poems (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/hughes.htm)

Music of the Renaissance

Quick List of notable musicians, nothing special.

Louis Armstrong (http://www.satchmo.net/)
Cab Calloway (http://www.jass.com/Cab/cab.html)
Duke Ellington (http://www.redhotjazz.com/duke.html)
Paul Robeson (http://www.princeton.lib.nj.us/robeson/links.html)
Ella (http://museum.media.org/ella/)
Billie Holiday (http://www.ladyday.net/)

Sports Figures

Jesse Owens

Won four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Jesse Owens (http://www.jesseowens.com/jobio2.html)

Bill Russell

Led the NBA in rebounding five times and grabbed 21,620 rebounds (second all-time), averaged 15.1 ppg and 22.5 rpg for his career. At the beginning of the 1967 season, the Celtics named Russell to succeed Red Auerbach as head coach, making him the first ever black NBA head coach.

Bill Russell (http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/RussellW.htm)

Jackie Robinson

When he began playing for the Dodgers in 1947, at age 28, Jackie Robinson was older than the typical rookie. Baseball fans and players reacted to Robinson with everything from unbridled enthusiasm evident in newspaper headlines, to wariness and open hostility expressed in beanball pitches and death threats. His athletic abilities prevailed despite the intense pressures caused by breaking the "color line." Robinson won respect and became a symbol of black opportunity. The Sporting News, which had opposed blacks in the major leagues, gave Robinson its first Rookie of the Year Award in 1947. The award was renamed in Robinson's honor in 1987.

Jackie Robinson (http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/robinson01.html)

Arthur Ashe

Ashe won the U.S. hard-court singles championship; in 1965 he took the intercollegiate singles and doubles titles; and in 1967 he won the U.S. clay-court singles championship. In 1968 he captured the U.S. (amateur) singles and open singles championships. He played on the U.S. Davis Cup team (1963-70, 1975, 1977-78) and helped the U.S. team to win the Davis Cup challenge (final) round in 1968, 1969, and 1970. In the latter year he became a professional.

My Webpage (http://www.cmgww.com/sports/ashe/)

Jack Johnson

First African American to hold the heavyweight boxing championship of the world.

Bio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson)

Joe Louis

World heavyweight champion from June 22, 1937, when he knocked out James J. Braddock in eight rounds in Chicago, until March 1, 1949, when he retired undefeated. During his reign, the longest in the history of the heavyweight division, he successfully defended the title 25 times, scoring 21 knockouts. His service in the U.S. Army during World War II no doubt prevented him from defending his title many more times.

Bio (http://www.detnews.com/history/louis/louis.htm)

Muhammad Ali

The greatest?

Ali (http://www.ali.com/)

Intellectuals

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

An outstanding critic, editor, scholar, author, and civil rights leader, author of The Souls of Black Folk and co-creator of the NAACP.

Works by Du Bois (http://www.dc.peachnet.edu/~shale/humanities/composition/assignments/dubois.html)
Read The Souls of Black Folk (http://www.bartleby.com/114/)

A. Philip Randolph

Founding president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Randolph began organizing that group of black workers and, at a time when half the affiliates of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) barred blacks from membership, took his union into the AFL.

Randolph was a director of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which brought more than 200,000 persons to the capital on Aug. 28, 1963, to demonstrate support for civil-rights policies for blacks. Two years later, he formed the A. Philip Randolph Institute for community leaders to study the causes of poverty.

Marcus Garvey

Founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, spoke of a "new Negro," proud of being black. His newspaper, Negro World, told of the exploits of heroes of the race and of the splendours of African culture. He taught that blacks would be respected only when they were economically strong, and he preached an independent black economy within the framework of white capitalism. To forward these ends, he established the Negro Factories Corporation and the Black Star Line (1919), as well as a chain of restaurants and grocery stores, laundries, a hotel, and a printing press.

Garvey wavs (http://www.isop.ucla.edu/mgpp/sound.htm)
Bio (http://www.swagga.com/marcus.htm)

John Henrik Clarke

Writer and historian who helped initiate the study of African-American history and culture in American schools.

The John Henrik Clarke Virtual Museum (http://www.nbufront.org/html/MastersMuseums/JHClarke/JHCvmuseum.html)

Malcolm X

Speeches, Photos, Study Guides, Chronology, and more. (http://www.brothermalcolm.net/)
FBI Files on Malcolm (http://foia.fbi.gov/malcolmx.htm)
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (http://www.mxgm.org/)

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project (http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/)
The King Center (http://thekingcenter.com/)

Rosa Parks

Active in the NAACP, sat on a bus and refused to get up, some say, sparking the Civil Rights Movement.

The Woman Who Changed a Nation (http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html)

Medgar Evers

Worked in Jackson to Mississippi to set up the NAACP office, and he began investigating violent crimes committed against blacks and sought ways to prevent them. His boycott of Jackson merchants in the early 1960s attracted national attention, and his efforts to have James Meredith admitted to the University of Mississippi in 1962 brought much-needed federal help for which he had been soliciting.

Bio (http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/evers_medgar/)
Extensive Bio (http://www.africawithin.com/bios/medgar_evers.htm)

Huey P. Newton

Co-Founder of the Black Panther Party.

Black Panther Org (http://www.blackpanther.org/)
Interview with Huey (http://www.hippy.com/php/article-76.html)
Bio (http://www.africawithin.com/bios/huey_newton.htm)

Bobby Seale

Co-Founder of the Black Panther Party

Testimony of Bobby Seale in the Chicago Conspiracy Trial (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Seale.html)
Bio of Bobby (http://www.africawithin.com/bios/bobby_seale.htm)

Kwame Toure

Stokely Carmichael, wrote the book Black Power, one time chairman of SNCC, and proponent of Pan-Africanism.

Bio (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcarmichael.htm)
Black Power Speech (http://courses.washington.edu/spcmu/carmichael/)

Angela Davis

Radical black activist, she's best known for her arrest as a suspected conspirator in the abortive attempt to free George Jackson from a courtroom in Marin County, California, August 7, 1970. She was eventually acquitted of all charges, but was briefly on the FBI's most-wanted list as she fled from arrest.

She ran for U.S. Vice President on the Communist Party ticket in 1980 and has written on women and politics. She is often associated with the Black Panthers and with the black power politics of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Bio (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdavisAN.htm)
Interview (http://drum.ncat.edu/~sister/davis.html)

Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was the preeminent civil rights leader in the United States from the 1930s through the 50s, and to a great extent through the 60s until his passing in 1972.

As Harlem's Congressman from 1945 until 1971, his legislative and personal efforts drove the desegregation of public schools, of the military, even of the U.S. Capitol itself.

During his chairmanship of the Education and Labor Committee, bills which he oversaw significantly expanded opportunities for all Americans in access to higher education, introduced the minimum wage, and formed the cornerstone of the Great Society antipoverty efforts.

Adam dot com (http://www.adamclaytonpowell.com/)
Bio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clayton_Powell,_Jr).

Robert F. Williams

Author of Negroes with Guns and main influence on the Black Panther Party. Had a radio show in Cuba called Radio Free Dixie while in Exile.

Bio (http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/882/willms.htm)

Elijah Muhammad

Leader of the religious movement known as the Nation of Islam (sometimes called Black Muslims) in the United States.

Bio (http://www.africawithin.com/bios/elijah_muhammad.htm)

Harry T. Moore

First martyr of the so-called civil rights movement

PBS Site (http://www.pbs.org/harrymoore/)

Amiri Baraka

Poet.

Amiri dot com. (http://www.amiribaraka.com/)

[Saint-Just]

I have had to study 100 years of African-Americans in the USA recently. I am currently doing a 3500 word essay on it. It is very interesting.

Anyway, what do you think of some of Malcom X's ideas? I thought he had some very good ideas, such as no sex outside of marriage. However, I would not agree with no alcohol or seperation of African-Americans and whites.

Do you think it is ok to use the word 'black' to describe Afr. Ams. In my work I am not premitted to use the term 'black'. I know movements such as the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam said one should only use Afr. Ams.

I take particular interest in the role of leaders in the civil rights movement. I think they were vital for the movement. MLK was the best leader, he managed to unite different factions at various points and in my opinion made the greates progress. However, he was not as good as some leaders throughout history. He inspired people, but he failed a number of times and did not mobilise enough Afr. Ams. and often could not unite the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and Urban League. He identified a very big problem, economic inequality in the U.S. system, but had little support for his efforts there.

[Hampton]

I have had to study 100 years of African-Americans in the USA recently. I am currently doing a 3500 word essay on it. It is very interesting.

That's pretty cool, we here in the US don't study that much about it.


Anyway, what do you think of some of Malcom X's ideas? I thought he had some very good ideas, such as no sex outside of marriage. However, I would not agree with no alcohol or seperation of African-Americans and whites.

I'd guess that some of his moral stuf is just basic tenants of Islam, although I'd be the wrong guy to ask about those. The whole seperation issue was an Nation of Islam influenced thing, after his return of Mecca he would later say that seperation wasn't necessary nor should they be seperated. Have you ever read his autobiography? It's probally my favorite book and it discusses a lot of issues as he progresses through his life, childhood, teen, prison, early NOI, and after the Hajj.


Do you think it is ok to use the word 'black' to describe Afr. Ams. In my work I am not premitted to use the term 'black'. I know movements such as the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam said one should only use Afr. Ams.

My guess is that it depends on the person, ya know? I don't think I'm qualified to speak for a whole group of people.


I take particular interest in the role of leaders in the civil rights movement. I think they were vital for the movement. MLK was the best leader, he managed to unite different factions at various points and in my opinion made the greates progress. However, he was not as good as some leaders throughout history. He inspired people, but he failed a number of times and did not mobilise enough Afr. Ams. and often could not unite the NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and Urban League. He identified a very big problem, economic inequality in the U.S. system, but had little support for his efforts there.

I would agree with you pretty much. King only started to do the whole economic confrontation towards the end of his life and it would have bene intresting to see what the Poor People's Campaign would have produced. I'm reading a book on Huey Newton now, and it confronts certain aspects of the Civil Rights Movement saying that it produced a larger black middle class and failed to alter the distribution of power and resources in America. Newton once said that the movement "produced humiliating programs of welfare and unemployment compensation, programs with sufficient form to deceive the people but with insufficent substance to change the fundamental distribution of power and resources in the United States."

It's a bit harsh but holds some truths.

[Saint-Just]

That's pretty cool, we here in the US don't study that much about it.

It is fairly random, last year I had to study Fascism in Britain, for example. When I started it I did not think it would be that enjoyable, but it turns out it is a very interesting period in history.


The whole seperation issue was an Nation of Islam influenced thing, after his return of Mecca he would later say that seperation wasn't necessary nor should they be seperated. Have you ever read his autobiography? It's probally my favorite book and it discusses a lot of issues as he progresses through his life, childhood, teen, prison, early NOI, and after the Hajj.

I did not know that, they paint it a bit differently in history books. I have not read his autobiography. He is not a focus in this topic at all. You only look at MLK, Garvey, Du Bois and Washington, and a few others but those are the main ones. I came across Malcom X doing some extra-curricular reading.

I think that Garvey's ideas would have been a solution to the problem of Ghettos to some extent. Basically that by the death of MLK the main hinderance Afr. Ams. faced was economic inequality, and still do today. Seperate economic development, may have helped them as you said 'and he preached an independent black economy within the framework of white capitalism.'


My guess is that it depends on the person, ya know? I don't think I'm qualified to speak for a whole group of people.

I suppose. 'Blacks' does seem offensive. I think the term Africans should be used, African Americans is too long. In the same way we call Asians living in America Asians. The difference with African-Americans is that they have been living in America a very long time, at least longer as a whole.


I'm reading a book on Huey Newton now, and it confronts certain aspects of the Civil Rights Movement saying that it produced a larger black middle class and failed to alter the distribution of power and resources in America. Newton once said that the movement "produced humiliating programs of welfare and unemployment compensation, programs with sufficient form to deceive the people but with insufficent substance to change the fundamental distribution of power and resources in the United States."

It's a bit harsh but holds some truths.

I would not have considered that before. I thought that the various welfare progams were a help. However, if you look at the situation now and in the last 30 years obviously he must be right to some extent since the problem with African-Americans being poorer remains a bid problem.

[Heesh]

YOu should check out his auto-biography it is truly amazing. Makes you think

[Vinny Rafarino]

some very good ideas, such as no sex outside of marriage


Comrade, there are very few times I wish I were back in Brixton so I could give you a good smack.


What the hell are you thinking?


Please comrade, don't make me fly to london to sort you out. england does not approve of me.

[Rodnegro]

Nice post. Lots of knowledge for people in it.

In honor of Black History Month, new illustrations and/or images are being displayed
each day this month at http://www.rodrigo-ny.com

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/40-1.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/41.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/42-1.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/43-1.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/44-1.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/45.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/46-1.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/47-1.jpg

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/48-1.gif

http://www.rodrigo-ny.com/exhibition/49.jpg

[praxis1966]

You only look at MLK, Garvey, Du Bois and Washington, and a few others but those are the main ones.

That's unfortunate. I can't say things are much different here in the States. In fact, most high school curriculums only cover King, and maybe devote a couple of sentences to Malcom X. To quote my high school American history textbook, "Where Martin Luther King favored a non-violent approach, Malcom X preferred a violent one." It's pretty sad that even to this day, the same myths about one of the two greatest human rights leaders in this country are still in perpetuum.

In any case, you should definately check out X's autobiography. Aside from that, I would highly recommend some study of the Black Panthers. Specifically, I would read The Black Panthers Speak, Seize The Time: The Story of Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton, and Soul on Ice.

Hampton: You might include some information on Harry T. Moore, the NAACP activist and first martyr of the so-called civil rights movement. PBS has a veritable wealth of information on him (http://www.pbs.org/harrymoore/). As far as literary references, Langston Hughes (http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=84) and Amiri Baraka (http://www.amiribaraka.com/) are well worth a look.

[Rastafari]

I know that we all recognize the "Mobility Ethic" as bullshit (which it is), but I think what Madame CJ Walker (Sarah Breedlove Walker) did was amazing. The prospect of a black woman starting with nothing and becomming a Millionaire in this country is astounding, especially in the early 1900's. Her product and way of marketing is looked down on by people today, because her "Hair Straightening" product basically became a means for black women to reject their African Heritage, in some ways.

still very impressive, though.

[Hampton]

Awesome pictures Rod, thanks for posting them.


I would not have considered that before. I thought that the various welfare progams were a help. However, if you look at the situation now and in the last 30 years obviously he must be right to some extent since the problem with African-Americans being poorer remains a bid problem.

It turned on a light in my head when I first thought about it. I mean, those programs will only make one person dependable on the government for sustance instead of being able to get a good job and provide for themselves. In a way he is right, the movement didn't help those who are the most disenfranchised, in order to do that a whole redistribution of wealth would have had to happen, which is a far, far strech to say the least.


I suppose. 'Blacks' does seem offensive. I think the term Africans should be used, African Americans is too long. In the same way we call Asians living in America Asians. The difference with African-Americans is that they have been living in America a very long time, at least longer as a whole.

I guess it's in the context to which you say it ya know? I mean like calling someone black isn't offensive but like saying "Those blacks, blah, blah.." is kinda offensive.

praxis1966

Thanks for the links, I put them in.

Rasta

Post more in History, we need your smarts.

[Rastafari]

I only have book smarts. You, on the other hand, have something you can't teach.
you are right, though. We need to round up people who are majoring/majored in history or otherwise know what they are talking about.

[praxis1966]

I'm a social science education major, but my real passion is history. I have a personal affection for the history of the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. The only reason I chose social science was because of it's interdisciplinary nature, makes me more employable. Does that count?

[Rastafari]

absolutely. everybody who is interested in history should post here. it would only make sense, right?

[SittingBull47]

In honor of black history month, I'm reading "Live from Death Row: By Mumia Abu-Jamal" and what a great book it is.

[Saint-Just]

In honour of Black History Month I completed my essay on African-American history. The questions were:

Compare The Political And Socio-Economic Position Of The African-Americans In The USA In 1865 And 1968. To What Extent Is Any Change In Their Position Due To Federal Initiatives?
2250 words

and

How Far Does A Study Of These Documents As A Whole Confirm That In Education “black people have always felt a certain ambivelance towards integration”?
1000 words

I found that studying the documents there certainly was an ambivelance towards integration in education and it was most likely significant, although ultimately integration was accepted.

Here is a highlight from the first essay:

C.P. Hill (A History of the USA 1974) says that what was ‘more helpful’ in bringing change than ‘negro militancy’ was the presidents and congress of the 1960s. However, the protests that took place were parrallel to the federal initiatives that took place in the period. Desegregation was primarily instituted in only a few states, those where direct action was taken, for example, Montgomery (1955) and Little Rock (1957) and in 1955 buses were desegreghated by the federal government and the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1957. I would generally accept the view of more liberal historians although I would also suggest that the Civil Rights movement was only a mass movement because of certain leaders that raised the consciousness of African-Americans and whites in the entire hundred-year period. Presidents who were receptive on civil rights raised the consciousness of many whites, for example, President Kennedy did so, this is evident from the fact that when he died many whites carried on his civil rights legacy with support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. African-American leaders such as Booker T. Washington or Martin Luther King had become influential thinkers because of their backgrounds, with good educations and in the case of King his reverendship. Demonstrations had been made possible due to African-Americans being concentrated certain areas, King’s demonstrations relied on African-Americans in those areas witnessing a handful of other demonstraters and being inspired as the demonstration took place.

In the 1960s, internationally, the oppression of Africa-Americans looked like an outmoded and uncivilised practice and Truman, Kennedy and Johnson both appeared to be genuinely concerned over civil rights, thus it was highly sympathetic. Having said this, African-Americans had to struggle for civil rights and their struggle was principally what motivated the federal government to make change on many occasions. The federal government attempted to make positive changes in the reconstruction period yet state legislation reversed this progress. In the 1960s, State Governments were defeated in the civil rights battle by the federal government. Masses of African-Americans struggled to force the federal government to act. Without their efforts it would not have occurred. The events of the period attest that federal initiatives were of secondary importance, federal initiatives were not what begun the movement for civil rights and changes were a reaction to African-American protest. Furthermore, I would say that leadership in the African-American civil rights movement that was able to unite different factions with a common idea was particularly important in this. In this sense Martin Luther King was the most valuable leader who made the greatest change to African-American civil rights in the 1950s and 60s.

[guerillablack]

I'm African American. The problem currently with the term African-American is that it does not denote a race, but a people that migrated from a continent to America. Thus, whites from South Africa who come here are technically African Americans. These same white individuals are also eligible for "African American" scholarships, privedgles, etc. when they are set in place for black african americans.

[Anarchist Freedom]

This thread is great but were also going to need a latino history month an arabic history month an asian history month and a white history month :). Every Nationality deserves a month to celebrate there heritage! :lol:

[guerillablack]

White history month! White is not a damn nationality. And plus white/european history month is January-December!

[Anarchist Freedom]

I know its not a nationality im just saying that if we have a black history month we need asian history month and latin history month.

[Jesus Christ!]

So one sked about the use of black to describe someone. I call people black for two reasons. 1 What if there not of african decent? than there not african american. Also there are whites in africa but they wouldn't be called african american.2 If Im going to be called white I think its fari to call someone else black.

[RABBIT - THE - CUBAN - MILITANT]

Originally posted by Jesus Christ!@Feb 12 2005, 09:28 PM
So one sked about the use of black to describe someone. I call people black for two reasons. 1 What if there not of african decent? than there not african american. Also there are whites in africa but they wouldn't be called african american.2 If Im going to be called white I think its fari to call someone else black.
what do u mean if their black and not of African decent... ;) do u mean like Australian natives ?? pleas elaborate...i dont call my self Black or African Am. just for the simple reason that my skin colour is not black and i don’t think that African American is avid term because i don’t live in American ...but i don’t mind if people call me black ..

[guerillablack]

Yes, i was extremely confused by your post also. Whites in africa, wouldn't be called african american because they are not american. A white born in Africa, who comes to America, can fill out on form that he is African American and play the system.

[Seuno]

I found this fascinating peace (piece) of history.




The International Workingmen's Association 1864
Address of the International Working Men's Association to Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America
Presented to U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams
January 28, 1865 [A]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Written: by Marx between November 22 & 29, 1864
First Published: The Bee-Hive Newspaper, No. 169, November 7, 1865;
Transcription/Markup: Zodiac/Brian Basgen;
Online Version: Marx & Engels Internet Archive ( http://marxists.org ) 2000.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sir:

We congratulate the American people upon your re-election by a large majority. If resistance to the Slave Power was the reserved watchword of your first election, the triumphant war cry of your re-election is Death to Slavery.

From the commencement of the titanic American strife the workingmen of Europe felt instinctively that the star-spangled banner carried the destiny of their class. The contest for the territories which opened the dire epopee, was it not to decide whether the virgin soil of immense tracts should be wedded to the labor of the emigrant or prostituted by the tramp of the slave driver?

When an oligarchy of 300,000 slaveholders dared to inscribe, for the first time in the annals of the world, "slavery" on the banner of Armed Revolt, when on the very spots where hardly a century ago the idea of one great Democratic Republic had first sprung up, whence the first Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued, and the first impulse given to the European revolution of the eighteenth century; when on those very spots counterrevolution, with systematic thoroughness, gloried in rescinding "the ideas entertained at the time of the formation of the old constitution", and maintained slavery to be "a beneficent institution", indeed, the old solution of the great problem of "the relation of capital to labor", and cynically proclaimed property in man "the cornerstone of the new edifice" — then the working classes of Europe understood at once, even before the fanatic partisanship of the upper classes for the Confederate gentry had given its dismal warning, that the slaveholders' rebellion was to sound the tocsin for a general holy crusade of property against labor, and that for the men of labor, with their hopes for the future, even their past conquests were at stake in that tremendous conflict on the other side of the Atlantic. Everywhere they bore therefore patiently the hardships imposed upon them by the cotton crisis, opposed enthusiastically the proslavery intervention of their betters — and, from most parts of Europe, contributed their quota of blood to the good cause.

While the workingmen, the true political powers of the North, allowed slavery to defile their own republic, while before the Negro, mastered and sold without his concurrence, they boasted it the highest prerogative of the white-skinned laborer to sell himself and choose his own master, they were unable to attain the true freedom of labor, or to support their European brethren in their struggle for emancipation; but this barrier to progress has been swept off by the red sea of civil war.

The workingmen of Europe feel sure that, as the American War of Independence initiated a new era of ascendancy for the middle class, so the American Antislavery War will do for the working classes. They consider it an earnest of the epoch to come that it fell to the lot of Abraham Lincoln, the single-minded son of the working class, to lead his country through the matchless struggle for the rescue of an enchained race and the reconstruction of a social world. [B]

Signed on behalf of the International Workingmen's Association, the Central Council:

Longmaid, Worley, Whitlock, Fox, Blackmore, Hartwell, Pidgeon, Lucraft, Weston, Dell, Nieass, Shaw, Lake, Buckley, Osbourne, Howell, Carter, Wheeler, Stainsby, Morgan, Grossmith, Dick, Denoual, Jourdain, Morrissot, Leroux, Bordage, Bocquet, Talandier, Dupont, L.Wolff, Aldovrandi, Lama, Solustri, Nusperli, Eccarius, Wolff, Lessner, Pfander, Lochner, Kaub, Bolleter, Rybczinski, Hansen, Schantzenbach, Smales, Cornelius, Petersen, Otto, Bagnagatti, Setacci;

George Odger, President of the Council; P.V. Lubez, Corresponding Secretary for France; Karl Marx, Corresponding Secretary for Germany; G.P. Fontana, Corresponding Secretary for Italy; J.E. Holtorp, Corresponding Secretary for Poland; H.F. Jung, Corresponding Secretary for Switzerland; William R. Cremer, Honorary General Secretary.

18 Greek Street, Soho.

[redtrigger]

Black HIstory Month is discrimination. You are giving privilige to a race without acknkowledging others. Why not a Native American History Month, A Oriental history MOnth, A LAtino History Month, or a White History MOnth for that matter. you support this and you support racial preference, plain and simple. Sorry that this post is a couple months late, I have been out of the loop.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2005, 06:12 AM
Black HIstory Month is discrimination. You are giving privilige to a race without acknkowledging others. Why not a Native American History Month, A Oriental history MOnth, A LAtino History Month, or a White History MOnth for that matter. you support this and you support racial preference, plain and simple. Sorry that this post is a couple months late, I have been out of the loop.
The reason there is not a "White History Month" is obvious - because every month is "White History Month".

Black History Month isn't about discrimination - it's about acknowledging a systematicly supressed history, and bringing it to the fore of public consciousness.
If there are other similarly supressed histories you'd like to see brought to the fore, than go for it, but . . .

[guerillablack]

Originally posted by Virgin Molotov Cocktail+Apr 19 2005, 06:24 AM--> (Virgin Molotov Cocktail @ Apr 19 2005, 06:24 AM)
[email protected] 19 2005, 06:12 AM
Black HIstory Month is discrimination. You are giving privilige to a race without acknkowledging others. Why not a Native American History Month, A Oriental history MOnth, A LAtino History Month, or a White History MOnth for that matter. you support this and you support racial preference, plain and simple. Sorry that this post is a couple months late, I have been out of the loop.
The reason there is not a "White History Month" is obvious - because every month is "White History Month".

Black History Month isn't about discrimination - it's about acknowledging a systematicly supressed history, and bringing it to the fore of public consciousness.
If there are other similarly supressed histories you'd like to see brought to the fore, than go for it, but . . . [/b]
I thought it was pretty obvious.

[bolshevik butcher]

I sympathise with most of Malcolm X's ideas, apart from the whole no sex outisde marridge and other religous things, i think that seems like enforcing religous values on people. I also disagree with the sepertion of black and white people, i thought he abbandoned these ideas before he died? Didn't he say that the final struggle would come down to wealth rather than colour?

[OleMarxco]

I wouldn't call anyone African American because that implies they're only Africans who are Americans. That goes against the "mixing pot"-thingie: They're AMERICANS now, not Africans. If that applied, so we could call the "whites" for European-Americans. Do we? No, we don't. Blacks are too Americans. Because of the European heritage of most Americans, do we call them that or only refer to them as "regular" Americans? All Americans in America now today has been imigrated there, besides the Indians, o'course ;)

[Hampton]

i think that seems like enforcing religous values on people. I also disagree with the sepertion of black and white people, i thought he abbandoned these ideas before he died? Didn't he say that the final struggle would come down to wealth rather than colour?

Even though Malcolm was a Muslim for the most part he did not mix politics with his relegion. He said this in many speeches that religion would just create another barrier between the people and another division, the ultimate goal was freedom. He left the seperation of the races ideas after he broke with the NOI and even before he began to question it. His journey to Mecca and around the Middle East and Africa reshaped his world view and ideas of people in general.

And he said:

"I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash but I don't think it will be based on the color of the skin."

Hope that helps.

[coda]

yea! Sojourner!

good stuff Hampton!

Here's a nice narrative of Sojourner Truth

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/truth/1850/1850.html

Ain't I a Women speech:
http://www.kyphilom.com/www/truth.html


"If women want any rights more than they's got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it."

Sojourner Truth, escaped slave, Abolitionist and Femininist.

[coda]

Alex Haley, writer and author of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and the amazing, soul-stirring Pulitizer prize winning "ROOTS", probably the single most achievement that opened the eyes of white America to the atrocity of slavery.

http://www.kintehaley.org/beginning.html

http://www.tnstate.edu/library/digital/Haley.htm


ROOTS: the autobiographical Novel
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385037872/qid=1113975717/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/104-3941070-8119165?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)


ROOTS: the miniseries DVD
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...&s=dvd&n=507846 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005QW6Y/qid=1113975613/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-3941070-8119165?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846)

[bolshevik butcher]

Thanks Hampton.