African American Studies

1) For this blog post, choose at least four (4) key concepts from Grazian Ch. 1 and use them as inspiration to describe four questions about Blackface Minstrelsy, which you learned about from the Lott reading and the online exhibit, The History of Minstrelsy. Explain to the reader why these concepts provoke the questions you have, and how answering those questions will help us understand blackface as a cultural object, the context within which it is produced and consumed, and/or what we learn about America and the United States by studying blackface critically. Use specific references to class readings and to the cultural objects you encountered in the online exhibit. Cite using basic MLA or Chicago style parenthetical citations with a bibliography at the end of your post as necessary. 2)Write 1-2 sentences on a list of what you consider to be the five (5) most important terms or concepts from Grazian, Ch. 1. Look the whole Chapter over and think about what the main arguments of the chapter are and then decide what terms or concepts best lead toward that overall argument. 3)From reading this chapter and learning about blackface minstrelsy, why do you think Lott describes America’s original popular cultural object in terms of love and theft? What (or who) is being loved? What (or who) is being stolen? Write a short paragraph in your notebook exploring these questions.

1) For this blog post, choose at least four (4) key concepts from Grazian Ch. 1 and use them as inspiration to describe four questions about Blackface Minstrelsy, which you learned about from the Lott reading and the online exhibit, The History of Minstrelsy. Explain to the reader why these concepts provoke the questions you have, and how answering those questions will help us understand blackface as a cultural object, the context within which it is produced and consumed, and/or what we learn about America and the United States by studying blackface critically. Use specific references to class readings and to the cultural objects you encountered in the online exhibit. Cite using basic MLA or Chicago style parenthetical citations with a bibliography at the end of your post as necessary. 2)Write 1-2 sentences on a list of what you consider to be the five (5) most important terms or concepts from Grazian, Ch. 1. Look the whole Chapter over and think about what the main arguments of the chapter are and then decide what terms or concepts best lead toward that overall argument. 3)From reading this chapter and learning about blackface minstrelsy, why do you think Lott describes America’s original popular cultural object in terms of love and theft? What (or who) is being loved? What (or who) is being stolen? Write a short paragraph in your notebook exploring these questions.

African American Women Leaders between 1877 and 1940 African American women are rarely recognized as leaders so we want to bring these women back into history. Of course, we must define what a leader is. Select one leader to write on, but since there are so few, it is quite possible that some of you may choose the same person. The focus of this essay is the period from 1877 through World War II. You must use at least one source from the APUS library or the course bibliography. You may also search online, but if you do, you must use credible sources only (Wikipedia, About.com, blogs etc are not credible sources, for example).  The following links can help you determine which sources are credible or non-credible during your research: Credible vs non-credible sources, Getting Started With Research, Why I Shouldn’t Use Wikipedia and Identifying your Resources.

For the exam, students shall write an essay in response to the following question: The struggle for equality against discrimination among Black Americans experienced both highs and lows in the years following Brown v. Board of Education. First, identify and discuss three barriers against the advancement of African Americans in the post-Brown era as highlighted in the textbook. How did these obstacles threaten the progress made by civil rights leaders? Second, identity and discuss three examples that highlight advancements made by African Americans in the post-Brown era that have overcome previous obstacles. How do you see these advancements shaping the future of American society? Explain. Completed exams must reflect a solid understanding of the questions posed. Each response should be doubled spaced with 12-point font and a minimum of two full pages.

Examine the socio-religious philosophies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X as outlined in the Karenga text (and in King’s “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” [in the file called KingonChristianity]). Explain the similarities of these philosophies. How did the philosophies of these men bring them into conflict with others who shared their respective religions? How does John Mbiti’s statement “I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am” apply when considering the ideology of either of these men?

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS: This is a proposal for the final paper Just to get you started thinking about your oral history project, briefly provide a 1.5 – 2 page, double-spaced proposal (that you can modify or alter at any point in the future) regarding what you were planning on doing for your Oral History Project. You should include in your proposal a) a rough idea of the historical event pertaining to African-American history you are examining. b) some suggestion about what living persons you may want to interview for the project and why you believe they will be strong subjects. You may also want to include a) what you think you may find in your interviews. b) what differences in perspective, upbringing, background you may find between your two interviewees. c) what you know about the event, and what you anticipate you may learn about the event. d) why applying the lens of African-American history to this particular event is valuable, original, and important. You should also start thinking at this point about what kinds of questions you may want to ask, and you could certainly include that in your proposal if you’d like. This is relatively informal, so feel free to brainstorm, suggest different avenues of inquiry, topic, etc.

This assignment is a 200-word journal. What is the “theme” of The poem Sympathy.

This assignment is a 7 page paper on the hypersexualization of and responses to black women in music. There should be an analysis on the intersection of gender/sexuality and race/ethnicity, more specifically, misogynoir and colorism. You should analyze the music (song lyrics, musical and visual analysis) of a certain musician (Beyonce) and/or you can explore a certain concept (misogynoir, colorism) in the examples of multiple musicians (Beyonce, Whitney Houstan, Nicki Minaj, Donna Summer, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson)

This post should be a well-developed paragraph responses to each prompt with reference to contemporary examples or to textual evidence from the assigned reading to support your position. 1. The Protest period entailed a comprehensive push for civil rights that included legal suits, civil disobedience and artistic cultural production. A major part of both projects was the protest or civil rights songs. Using one of the songs featured in the vernacular folder, discuss how figurative language is used to convey the songs message? How does the message of the song support the project of social justice and/or racial advancement? 2. In addition to music, fiery polemical speeches were a central aspect of black vernacular during the Civil Rights Movement. Perhaps no statesmen or intellectual of the period was as skilled as Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Yet, we oft times only here of two of major speeches: I Have a Dream and I Have Been to the Mountain Top. These speeches read in isolation provide a much different image of Dr. King, his writing style and his vision for the nation than one gets when reading his works in a larger context. Taking a close look at either Letter from A Birmingham Jail or The Three Evils of American Society, explain the thesis of the speech. How does King employ figurative language, repetition, logos, ethos, allusion and/or pathos to craft the thesis? How does your understanding of King’s message in this speech alter or enhance your understanding of Dr. King’s legacy? 3. Amiri Baraka and other Black Arts poets and political organizations like the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party often shared a philosophy of Afrocentrism, a cultural and political emphasis on black identity and community and its shared roots in the African Diaspora. How does the concept of Afrocentrcism reflect the generation’s frustration with older political philosophies such as agitation or the New Negro’s concept of Double Victory? 4. Frequently Dr. King and Malcolm X are presented as foils for one another, and emphasis is placed on how their philosophies diverged. However, there was actually a great deal commonly shared in their philosophies and writings, particularly towards the end of each man’s life. Comparing any two written or spoken texts of Dr, King’s or Malcolm X discuss the common themes or questions you see between their texts. 5. We have now studied the abolitionist movement, the Reconstruction efforts of Uplift & Agitation, New Negro efforts for Double Victory, and the Civil Rights era efforts. How can we read our current moment and the BLM protests as a recognition of the success and or failure of the ongoing search for African American racial equity?

1. Use proper grammar, punctuation and a formal tone. Avoid slang or other informal phrases. 2. Do not use first person. For example do not write, “I think the book was great.” Instead, write “the book was great.” 3. Make sure that your paragraphs are between 4-8 sentences long. 4. Do not use contractions. For example, write do not instead of don’t; cannot instead of can’t; will not instead of won’t; etc. 5. Either Underline or Italicize a book’s title. Same for court cases. 6. Once you have used a person’s first and last name, you only refer to them by their last name throughout the rest of the paper. Do not repeatedly use titles like Mr. or Mrs. or Dr. or Judge. 7. Place punctuation inside quotation marks. 8. Spell numbers that are two words or less. For example, twenty-eight, sixty-three, twentieth century are spelled out. Numbers like 383, 1935 remain numerical 9. Eliminate unnecessary words. For example, “Caldwell shows the importance of race.” This is far better than “Caldwell is able to show the importance of race.” 10. Diversify your verb choice and vocabulary. Instead of “Caldwell shows” try using “Caldwell demonstrates” or “Caldwell discusses” or “Caldwell highlights” or “Caldwell chronicles 11. Do not misuse words. If you are uncertain of the meaning of word—look it up. Dictionary.com is a wonderful website. Use it! 12. Organize your paper in a clear, logical manner. 13. Do not use block quotes Jack Johnson was a controversial individual, but was he worthy of respect? After reading all of Papa Jack: Jackson and the Era of White Hopes, your assignment is to write a essay that argues whether or not Jack Johnson was worthy of respect. This is an argumentative paper. follow the guidelines listed above have a thesis, and support the thesis with ample supporting evidence selected solely from the reading, and properly cite all supporting evidence. Lastly, papers should focus on Johnson’s adult life.