Black History Trivia!

Global Blackness

100

What is the capital of Ethiopia?

Addis Ababa

200

Describe the apartheid regime

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa between 1948 and 1991, when it was "abolished".The country's first multiracial elections under a universal franchise were held three years later in 1994. Prior to the 1940s, some aspects of apartheid had already emerged in the form of minority rule by white South Africans and the socially enforced separation of black South Africans from other races, which later extended to pass laws and land apportionment. Apartheid as a policy was embraced by the South African government shortly after the ascension of the National Party (NP) during the country's 1948 general elections. Apartheid was also enforced in South West Africa until it gained independence as Namibia in 1990.

300

Which African country was founded through the immigration of freed Black people from the antebellum United States

Liberia.

400

What country has the largest population of Black people outside of the African continent?

Brasil

500

What are the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria?

Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.

Movement

100

Who provided guidance to the SNCC, urging them to maintain independence from the control of the SCLC

Ella Baker

200

Who is widely noted as the first proponent of Black Nationalism?

Martin Delany. His book "The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States, Politically Considered" (1852) argued that there was no place for Black people in the United States and it was therefore necessary to create a new nation elsewhere.

300

Describe the plot of the documentary "Paris is Burning" and how it relates to Black resistance.

The 1991 film describes Black/Latinx ballroom drag/trans culture of Harlem in the 1980s. It features interviews with several legends of the NYC ballroom scene including Dorian Corey, Pepper Labeija, Angie Xtravaganza, and Willi Ninja. There are several problematic elements of the documentary, mostly produced by the narration/positioning of Jennie Livingston, its white-cis director. Nonetheless, the film is a testament to the resilience of Queer/Trans communities of color that provide systems of support and affirmation for members who are constantly under attack by dominant social institutions.

400

Name the speaker of this quote. "The only politics in this country that's relevant to black people today is the politics of revolution... none other." A) H. Rap Brown/Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin B) Malcolm Little/Malcolm X/el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz C) Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture D) Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A) H. Rap Brown/Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin Rap Brown spoke these words in his 1968 address to the Black Panther Party.

500

Name the three founders of the organization that describes itself as "an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression."

Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza.

Receipts

100

What year was the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS decision handed down by the United States Supreme Court?

1954. Because of this decision, 1954 is commonly used as a marker for the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. (Though this is misleading...)

200

Who was the chairperson of the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense from 1974 - 1977? A) Huey Newton B) Elaine Brown C) Bobby Seale D) Kathleen Cleaver E) Eldridge Cleaver

B) Elaine Brown. Brown was the only woman to chair the BPP. In her words during a lecture at Emory University celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the organization, she recalled having control of "the guns, money, and power."

300

What are the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution?

13th Amendment (December 6, 1865) abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. 14th Amendment (July 9, 1868) defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post-Civil War issues. 15th Amendment (February 3, 1870) prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

400

Who integrated the University of Alabama in 1956? A) James Meredith B) Medgar Evers C) Autherine Lucy D) Stokely Carmichael

C) Autherine Lucy After being admitted to the school and attending for one day, she was illegally suspended. Hon. Thurgood Marshall served as her legal council

500

In what city did the "race riot" (i.e. mass lynching) of 1906 take place?

Atlanta

Arts

100

Name this Black gay writer and social critic who immigrated to France in 1948 AND two of his notable works

James Baldwin moved to France in 1948 to escape American racism and homophobia in addition to avoid being pigeonholed into the strictures of being a "Negro writer." Some of his notable works are Go Tell it on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time, Notes of a Native Son, The Amen Corner, Blues for Mister Charles, and Going to Meet the Man.

200

Name this artist, whose 1952 song "Hound Dog" was appropriated three years later by Elvis Presley and contributed to much of his success. Hint: Little Richard and Chuck Berry were not the only ones to be ripped off by white artists and record labels in the 1950s

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton recorded "Hound Dog" in 1952 and it spent seven weeks at number one of the Billboard R&B Chart in 1953. Her success was overshadowed by Presley's recording of the song. The same thing happened when her song "Ball N' Chain" was covered by Janis Joplin in the late-1960s. Note: More often than not, the original (Black) artists of popular songs in the 1950s were not compensated for the appropriation of their songs by white musicians. This is detailed in "Split image : African Americans in the mass media" edited by Jannette L. Dates and William Barlow.

300

Who was the first Black woman to receive an Academy Award?

Hattie McDaniel won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1940 for her role as Mammy in "Gone with the Wind". To the haters: "I'd rather play a maid than be one."

400

Who in this group was an anthropologist? A) Zora Neale Hurston B) Michele Wallace C) Alice Walker D) bell hooks

A)Zora Neale Hurston Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an African-American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist. In addition to publishing notable works such as "Their Eyes Were Watching God," "How It Feels to be Colored Me," and "Sweat," Hurston studied anthropology at Barnard College of Columbia University with Franz Boaz (the founder of the discipline) and the Works Progress Administration Writers' Project.

500

What New Orleans artist was sampled on the highest-debuting single of Beyonce's career?

Freddie "Big Freedia" Ross, one of the popularizers of New Orleans hip-hop, called "bounce music" by some, was vocally sampled in the song "Formation"

Vocab

100

Who coined the term "womanist"? Why?

Alice Walker coined this term in her collection In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens (1983) to address the problems she saw in dominant feminist movements. Walker noticed that many Black feminists faced prejudice and anti-blackness within white feminist organizations. Additionally, these dominant movements were also homophobic and in defining a womanist, Walker wrote: "a woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually." Finally, recognizing the deeply spiritual experience of Black womanhood, she added "womanist is to feminist as purple to lavender."

200

Define misogynoir and provide an example of where you see it in your communities

Misogynoir is the hatred and oppression of Black women. The term, coined by queer Black feminist Moya Bailey, addresses the erasure of Black women within the term misogyny. (Similar to the erasure of Black womanness in "feminism")

300

Describe the concept of "the talented tenth." Who was its first major Black proponent? Why is it problematic?

W.E.B. DuBois wrote in his "Talented Tenth" essay: "The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst.” Problematic for too many reasons to enumerate.......

400

Define the concept of "throwing shade"? What are its origins?

According to Dorian Corey, "shade" is an indirect insult born out of the Black/Latino LGBTQ community practices of "reading". She says: "Shade is, I don't have to tell you you're ugly, because you know you're ugly..." The term has since been appropriated by both (straight) Black and white communities. Notice the paradoxes

500

Define neoliberalism and name one problem for people of color associated with it.

Neoliberalism refers primarily to the 20th century resurgence of 19th century ideas associated with laissez-faire economic liberalism. These include extensive economic liberalization policies such as privatization, fiscal austerity, deregulation, free trade, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society. One large problem with U.S. neoliberalism is the privatization of prison. For instance, outsourcing of prison healthcare to private companies relieves prisons of the responsibility of complying with federal guidelines on prison healthcare. This allows prisons to deprive incarcerated individuals (who are overwhelmingly Black and Brown) of adequate healthcare, while turning a profit.