Négritude & Negrismo
This French word meaning “Blackness” named the literary and political movement of the 1930s–50s led by Francophone writers.
What is Négritude?
This term describes mid-1940s to 1970s activism that combined U.S. Civil Rights gains with global Black Power efforts.
What is the Black Freedom movement?
Despite U.S. military segregation, over this many African Americans served in WWII by draft or enlistment.
What is two million?
This 1954 Supreme Court decision declared “separate but equal” unconstitutional in public schools.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
This 1938 FHA policy labeled predominantly Black neighborhoods as “hazardous,” denying them mortgage support.
What is redlining?
This parallel Spanish-language movement celebrated African heritage in Latin American music, art, and folklore.
What is Negrismo?
In 1957, this newly independent West African nation drew visits from MLK, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Du Bois.
What is Ghana?
This all-Black fighter pilot group flew in Europe and North Africa, breaking racial barriers in the Army Air Corps.
Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
Psychologists Mamie and Kenneth Clark conducted this famous test showing segregation’s harm to Black children’s self-esteem.
What is the doll test?
Enacted in 1968, this law banned discrimination in home sales and rentals based on race, color, or national origin.
What is the Fair Housing Act?
This U.S. cultural awakening influenced Négritude and Negrismo by promoting Black pride and political liberation.
What is the New Negro movement?
This campaign, launched during WWII by James G. Thompson, called for victory over fascism abroad and segregation at home.
What is the Double V Campaign?
Enacted in 1944, this law provided returning veterans—including 1.2 million Black servicemen—with education and housing benefits.
What is the G.I. Bill?
Despite Brown, this type of segregation—borne of housing patterns and private choice—persisted in many districts.
What is de facto segregation?
Black families who moved into white neighborhoods sometimes faced violent retaliation by these groups.
What are white mobs (or white supremacist vigilantes)?
This Martinican poet argued that European colonialism rested on racial ideologies rather than true “civilizing” missions.
Who is Aimé Césaire?
In 1960—the “Year of Africa”—this many African nations gained independence from European rule.
What is 17?
Thwarted by Jim Crow at the local level, this program’s benefits were often disproportionately awarded to white vets.
What is the administration of the G.I. Bill?
These nine African American students braved Arkansas resistance to integrate Little Rock High School in 1957.
Who were the Little Rock Nine?
This informal taxi service sprang up in segregated cities when public transit failed Black neighborhoods.
What are jitneys?
This African American editor of The Crisis condemned racism and colonialism as intertwined dehumanizing systems.
Who is Jessie Redmon Fauset?
In 1960, this heavyweight champion led an African American delegation to Cuba to scout it as a refuge from Jim Crow.
Who is Joe Louis?
The “Double Victory” editorial appeared in this African American newspaper in 1942.
What is the Pittsburgh Courier?
This 1875 law outlawed racial discrimination in public accommodations but was effectively nullified by later Court decisions.
What is the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
Because of decades of housing discrimination, predominantly Black areas often lacked these key public services, exacerbating health and economic gaps.
What are clean water, transportation, and healthcare?