Migration and the African Diaspora
When African Americans left the South en masse to escape racism and find better opportunities in the North- let to major cultural, economic, and intellectual shifts
The Great Migration
This movement in the 1920's and 1930's encouraged African Americans to define their own complex identities and advocate for their own progress in the face of the Nadir's atrocities.
The New Negro Movement (or Harlem Renaissance)
Possible responses:
- Assert their humanity
- Able to portray themselves as citizens worthy of dignity, respect, and equal rights
- Document history, keep records
- Highlight Black beauty and creativity
List two impacts of the Haitian Revolution on the United States
Possible answers:
- The cost led Napoleon to sell the Louisiana territory to the United States
- The federal government allowed the expansion of slavery into the new territories
- The abolition of slavery in Haiti made sugar production more profitable in the US
- Brought an influx of white planters and enslaved Black refugees to United States cities like Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. This increased anxieties about the spread of slave revolts, contributing to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798).
- Inspired uprisings in other African diasporic communities, such as the Louisiana Slave Revolt (1811), one of the largest on United States soil
- Highlighted for many African Americans the unfulfilled promises of the American Revolution
- Enduring impact on Black political thinking, serving as a symbol of Black freedom and sovereignty
The impact of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Desegregation of public schools
This group of immigrants had a major influence on the development of Black radical thought- many settled in NYC or Florida.
Afro-Caribbean immigrants
This religion was adopted across parts North and West Africa through Trans-Saharan commerce. Elements of this religion were then blended with indigenous practices.
Islam
Prestigious historians, storytellers, and musicians who maintained and shared a community’s history, traditions, and cultural practices in West African societies
Griot
What was the goal of the BSU strike at San Fransisco State College in 1968?
Create a Black Studies department, hire more Black professors, admit more Black students
The impact of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Legalized segregation (separate but equal)
The largest forced migration in American history: many African Americans were forcibly relocated through the domestic slave trade from the upper South (inland states like Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri) to the lower South.
The Second Middle Passage
Name of the framework of analysis that considers how different identity markers intersect to create unique experiences of privilege and marginalization
Intersectionality
Explain why Black artists frequently made references to Africa in their art
Possible answers:
- Response to the legacies of colonialism and Atlantic slavery (effort to reclaim their heritage)
- Counter negative stereotypes about Africa’s people and landscapes.
Name of the communities formed by people who escaped enslavement - communities were often in remote and hidden environments. These communities were able to preserve African traditions and languages and many waged wars against enslavers across the Americas.
Maroons
The impact of Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857)
Denied citizenship to Black people
Group that advocated for African Americans to migrate to other countries (often in Africa, the Caribbean, or Latin America) to find better opportunities than those available in the US
Emigrationists
Name three ways in which racism has limited the abilities of African Americans to accumulate generational wealth, hightening the intersection of racial and class oppression
Possible answers:
- Share cropping
- Black codes leading to increased incarceration
- Denial of entry into elite educational institutions
- Redlining
- Mass incarceration
List three different genres of music created by Black people and the significance of each genre
Possible answers:
- Spirituals (originated during the time of enslavement, adapted Christian hymns they learned and combined rhythmic and performative elements from Africa, were a way of communicating messages about escaping slavery and fostering resilience)
- Blues (Blues music has its roots in slavery. Beginning as acoustic music in the American South, a new, electric version evolved as African Americans moved north during the Great Migration. The heightened emotion of blues music conveys themes such as despair and hope, love, and loss, using repetition, call and response, and vernacular language)
- Jazz (has been described as the United States’ most distinctive contribution to the arts. Like blues, jazz originated among African American communities in the South (New Orleans) and developed new styles following migration to the North, Midwest, and West. From big band to free jazz, the genre continues to evolve in the present day)
- R&B (originated in the 1940s within African-American communities as a fusion of jazz, blues, and gospel, characterized by heavy, upbeat rhythms. Developed during the Great Migration, it acted as a cultural soundtrack for urban Black experiences, later evolving through soul and funk into a global genre while breaking down racial barriers in music)
- Hip-Hop (Hip-hop refers to a culture born out of collaboration and artistic creativity among young Black and Latino community members in the 1970s. Rooted in New York City’s Bronx borough, hip-hop has developed into a global phenomenon- blended elements such as Black Panthers’ and Afrocentric fashion, Black nationalism, jazz, and poetry to articulate uniquely African American experiences and identities)
Describe how Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois differed in their opinion on the best way to resist racism
Dubois advocated for a liberal arts education and working towards total civil rights
The impact of Loving v. Virginia
Legalized interracial marriage
Series of migrations from 1500 BCE to 500 CE triggered by population growth due to technological and agricultural advancements, led to an increase in linguistic diversity
Bantu Expansion
Name of the collective that in 1977 argued that Black women’s liberation would free all members of society as it would require the destruction of all systems of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, homophobia).
The Combahee River Collective
One of the earliest ironworking societies of West Africa, emerged around 500 BCE. They are best known for their pottery, naturalistic terracotta sculptures of animals and people adorned by various hairstyles and jewelry, and stone instruments. These artifacts are the most ancient extant evidence of a complex, settled society in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Nok Society
Rebellion led by enslaved people in South Carolina in 1739- inspired by the promise of freedom in Spanish Florida and the first free Black town, Fort Mose. Many of the enslaved people that participated in the rebellion were from the Kingdom of Kongo and were familiar with Catholicism. The rebellion led to stricter slave codes in South Carolina.
Stono Rebellion
Name of the ship on which enslaved Africans revolted and the Supreme Court granted them their freedom.
La Amistad