1. John Henrik Clarke was a self-taught African-American historian; international scholar, pan-Africanist, Black Nationalist, political activist, and pioneer of developing college level African American Studies programs and academic institutions throughout America in the 1960s. The interest in history was infused in him at a young age when his great-grandmother told him stories concerning their family’s experiences in the American enslavement system. When John Henrik Clarke taught Sunday school, he was concerned that there were no Black African people in the Bible. An objective reading of the Bible would show that many of the nations and people in its pages were located in eastern and northern land masses on the continent of Africa, where the skin color of the …show more content…
John Henrik Clarke was an insightful child, born into a poor sharecropper’s family in Union Springs, Alabama, January 1, 1915. His sharecropping and farming parents were named John and Willie Ella Clark. He moved to New York at 18 years old during the Harlem Renaissance movement. John Henrik Clarke developed a desire to learn about Black history when he came across two writers named Arthur Schomburg and Alan Locke, who helped pioneer the cultural, creative, philosophical and intellectual Harlem Renaissance era or New Negro Movement, 1920s and 1930s. Arthur Schomburg 's "The Negro Digs Up His Past" and Alain Locke 's "The New Negro", 1925 essays were postmarks in Clarke’s life to motivate him to take the first real step on the pathway of intellectual development and historical African discovery. In addition, the hard suffering times of Black people during America’s great economic depression, continual racial hatred towards Black people, the increase in Black protest against segregation, and the rise of the millions of Black people in Mosiah Marcus Garvey’s UNIA organization were factors that influence John Henrik Clarke’s development to a great scholar for the benefit of his
In the “Mis-Education of the Negro” (Woodson, C.G., 1933), Carter G. Woodson, the founder of the black history movement, argues that many of the black spiritual leaders of the church have led the people astray. He suggests that far too many pastors of institution of spiritual uplift are manipulating the people for their own self-centered gains. Moreover, that their interest is only to benefit themselves.
The “Black Great Migration” represents one of the greatest social, political, and economic alterations in American history.
African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.
On top of this, he argues that the white middle class are unrelenting with their methods of depriving black advancement in American society. Knowledge of this incites many blacks to occupy dead-end jobs, or to settle for mediocrity in the face of adversity. A large number of black males in America find themselves forced to take jobs that offer no security, or socioeconomic growth. He also contends that many blacks are not very literate and therefore left behind in cultural revolutions like the information age. For twelve months between 1962 and 1963, Liebow and a group of researchers studied the behavior of a group of young black men who lived near and frequently hung around a street corner in a poor black neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C. Liebow’s participant observation revealed the numerous obstacles facing black men on a day-to-day basis, including the structural and individual levels of racial discrimination propagated by whites in society.
Professor Khalil Girban Muhammad gave an understanding of the separate and combined influences that African Americans and Whites had in making of present day urban America. Muhammad’s lecture was awakening, informative and true, he was extremely objective and analytical in his ability to scan back and forth across the broad array of positive and negative influences. Muhammad described all the many factors during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries since the abolition of slavery and also gave many examples of how blackness was condemned in American society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Professor Muhammad was able to display how on one hand, initial limitations made blacks seem inferior, and various forms of white prejudice made things worse. But on the other hand, when given the same education and opportunities, there are no differences between black and white achievements and positive contributions to society.
Dr. John Henrik Clarke was an author, historian, educator, poet, civil activist and -autodidact leader. Born John Henry Clark on January 1, 1915, in Unions Springs, Alabama to John Clark, a sharecropper, and Willie Ella Mays Clark, a laundress. Although he was born in Alabama, he grew up in Georgia. “Clarke decided to add an “e” to his family name Clark and changed his middle name to “Henrik” after the Scandinavian rebel playwright Henrik Ibsen” (Markoe, 120). He grew up during an era where Jim Crow was pervasive in which “equal but separate” became the custom and repressive law for African Americans.
His role in the progressive era was significant and he did most of what he set out to do with the help of “The Crisis” journal. He brought about major reforms and culture to African Americans and also shed light on many issues that African Americans
In his landmark collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, a professor of sociology at Atlanta University, disputed the main principle of Washington’s political program, the idea that voting and civil rights were less important to black progress than acquiring property and achieving economic self-sufficiency and then Du Bois’s striving to dramatize in his narrator a synthesis of racial and national consciousness dedicated to “the ideal of human brotherhood” made The Souls of Black Folk one of the most
Student Name Instructor’s Name Class/Subject Name 11 March 2016 Harlem Renaissance Introduction At the end of World War I in 1948 new era began to emerge in which African American culture, art, literature, music and trends in dance began to flourish in Harlem, a district of New York City. It started during 1920s to 1930s and also known as the moments of blacks provided a great opportunity to African Americans to make their voice heard by the world which had been suppressed for a long time.
People generally agree that the religious life of African American forms the foundation of their community life. However, in the 1770s, less than 1% of African Americans were connected to a church. Was the church/ Christianity force upon African Americans while enslaved? Scholars estimated that about 30% of African Americans that came to the United States as slaves were Muslims while 70% practiced indigenous forms of worship. Today, in the 21st century, more than 87% of African Americans identify as Christian and claims that religion plays a major role in their everyday life.
African-American historian W.E.B Dubois illustrated how the Civil War brought the problems of African-American experiences into the spotlight. As a socialist, he argued against the traditional Dunning interpretations and voiced opinions about the failures and benefits of the Civil War era, which he branded as a ‘splendid failure’. The impacts of Civil War era enabled African-Americans to “form their own fraternal organizations, worship in their own churches and embrace the notion of an activist government that promoted and safeguarded the welfare of its citizens.”
In the analysis of the abundance of wonderful leaders who made a difference in the African American community since emancipation, W.E.B Du Bois made a special impact to advance the world. From founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to his influential book The Souls of Black Folk, he always found an accurate yet abstract way of verbalizing the strives of African Americans as well as making platforms for them to be known. Although he had less power than most of the bigger named African American leaders of his time, W.E.B Dubois’ overweighing strengths verses weaknesses, accurate and creative analogies, leadership style, and the successful foundations he stood for demonstrates his ability to be both realistic and accurate in his assessment since emancipation. Though Du Bois did have a beneficial impact
’d get all kinds of work.” (page 38). This statement shows the systemic oppression since the system truly believes that black people couldn’t do anything important. This central idea builds upon separation and the teachings of Marcus Garvey since the blacks wanted to separate from the white people and the oppression they faced pushed them to break away even more.
Carter Godwin Woodson remains a legendary figure among black scholars, especially in the field of Afro-American history. He initiated the annual celebration of the Negro history, which marked a stride in an attempt to eliminate racial based discrimination. Woodson’s commitment to scholarly work was formidable. For instance, he pioneered research work on Negro migration, history of nonprofessional’s, the mind of the Negro, and Negro’s orations. His numerous work shed light on the extent of economic exploitation, cultural isolation, and segregation that dominated the society.
At the 1963 March on Washington, American Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of his most famous speeches in history on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the height of the African American civil rights movement. King maintains an overall passionate tone throughout the speech, but in the beginning, he projected a more urgent, cautionary, earnest, and reverent tone to set the audience up for his message. Towards the end, his tone becomes more hopeful, optimistic, and uplifting to inspire his audience to listen to his message: take action against racial segregation and discrimination in a peaceful manner. Targeting black and white Americans with Christian beliefs, King exposes the American public to the injustice