African-American Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of Black Americans. Throughout this spring semester, I took the opportunity to take this class because it was required for my major. I was thinking of taking another course instead because I thought I’m from Africa and know about Africans and should learn other cultures too. Little did I know I was going to love this interesting class and it really hurts that this class has ended but I know for sure I will be taking classes in African American Studies. Introduction to African American Studies was taught by Dr. Mark Christian who is also the chairman for the department. The course was to introduce my classmates and I into …show more content…
King used non-violent protest and While taking this class I have been exposed to so many things and I have learned to stand up for my race as the civil rights leaders did and fight for whatever I believe in. I have improved my writing skills as we had to write papers for this class. I have gained more knowledge about my race and how America was built, slavery and racial inequality in America. I now know more about inequality which I strongly this will assist me in achieving further academic and work related goals. This class has educated me to work hard and shown me how the society we live in basically made to favor the whites and the blacks must struggle to get up there. Blacks must learn to work hard and create their own businesses or farms where they can work and get their money rather than working as laborers for the whites and receive low wages.one thing I noticed while learning about the leaders was that MLK wanted African Americans to love the whites because the that’s what the bible urges us to do while Malcolm X wanted blacks to separate themselves from white and fighting back physically. I liked MLK’s way of protest because he was fighting for equality for all and as this course has ended I am hoping to stand up for my race and fight for the …show more content…
When you have knowledge in this field, you know your rights and what you can do so nobody can take that away from you. Having this kind of knowledge will help us understand and speak about equality knowing what it entails, the past racial inequality and everything that has occurred in the past. This will help African Americans to create more movements like the Civil rights movements. The movements will help minority groups to fight for equality and obtain their many
In order to better understand why King and X took the course of action each took, one must take into account a little bit of their background. Martin Luther King jr., was born in Atlanta, Georgia into a middle-class family. The church was his source of leadership development and it helped provide him with moral values. Home and church were the most important influences in the early life of King. In both contexts, he was introduced to the integrationist values of protest, accommodations, self-help and optimism as they were related to the religious themes of justice, love and hope. He was introduced to the value of education as a potent way of helping him assert his self-worth to become a church and community leader and to fight racism in the larger society. “King’s basis for his campaign of nonviolence originated in the highest type of love - love for people who hate you. King preached that the combination of agape (spiritual love) with nonviolent action would elicit change”(Walton 78).
MLK would always preach about the nonviolent way being better and this was true because it showed the white moderates that they meant no harm. Whenever violence broke out they would be able to easily tell who was the one who started it. His methods inspired the Cngress of Rational Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to ride a bus throughout the southern states to see if there were any problems and if they had any desegregated buses. In Alabama they encountered a white mob who lit the bus on fire and beat the passengers. This made world news so it started the conversation and encouraged JFK to take action. JFK then started brings up a strong civil rights bill to congress called the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned different voting standards for blacks and whites, witheld federal funds from public/provate programs that practiced discrimination, and banned discrimination based on religion,sex,or national origin by employers and unions. MLK's peaceful method was the effective in inspiring change in
Thought to contain a hundred years of one of the races of people that helped build and shape America as we know it. Being overlooked for centuries. IN 2003 Bush signed a law creating the African American history museum. It was one of the most educational and invigorating experiences of my life. Not many The museum is not only enlighten but enriching by capturing African American history in its entirety.
Being a resident of South Carolina, African-American Culture was chosen as part of the applied learning project for the Intercultural Nursing class, because African-Americans make up more than a quarter of this state’s population. According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, the total population for South Carolina (S.C.) is 4,625,364, with 27.9% being of African-American descent. The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding and sensitivity to issues and cultural variances or phenomena that are unique to the African-American Culture. Another goal is to identify nursing interventions that are important for the nurse to consider in caring for this population. These phenomena’s include variances in social organization, communication, space, perception of time, environmental control, and biological variations associated with the African-American culture. (Giger, 2013 and South Carolina minority, n.d.)
The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans.
Next is John Henrik Clark, who refers to African America Studies as Africana Studies because he believes that Black tells you how you look, not who you are. He goes on to state that he calls African American Studies “a dilemma at the crossroads of history” (Clark 32). This is because European people knew history well enough to distort it and use it, as well as political weapons such as the gun and bible, to control the world. This is the reason why a look at African culture will show what Africana Studies are about or should be about. Africana Studies should embrace the Africans all around the world, in places like Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean Islands even those in Asia and the Pacific Islands. Clarke states that Africa is
Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist who was constantly engaging in peaceful protests to eliminate segregation. He was a minister who believed that there was four basic steps to a nonviolent campaign which are: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action,” (King). Therefore, he constantly used these steps to perform sit-ins and marches in order to face the unjust racism he and other black people in America were facing at the time. Similarly, he had to use these tactics because the whites in society refused to listen to King when he wanted to negotiate with them (King). Dr. King made many sacrifices throughout his
Hypertension will continue to be a major cause of death all for Americans especially African Americans. Limitations in care for the under-served will continue to be a growing problem. Solutions must be made to provide the delivery of high quality, lower cost and especially effective primary care to the underserved populations.
In From Slavery to Freedom (2007), it was said that “the transition from slavery to freedom represents one of the major themes in the history of African Diaspora in the Americas” (para. 1). African American history plays an important role in American history not only because the Civil Rights Movement, but because of the strength and courage of Afro-Americans struggling to live a good life in America. Afro-Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. We as Americans have studied American history all throughout school, and took one Month out of the year to studied African American history. Of course we learn some things about the important people and events in African American history, but some of the most important things remain untold which will take more than a month to learn about.
Despite the restrictions imposed by slavery, African Americans have made significant contributions to American culture in music, literature, and cuisine.
King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He organized non-violent student sit-ins and fought for the rights of the black population. In his speech, he proclaimed a free and better nation of equality and that both races, the blacks and the whites, should join together to achieve common ground and to support each other instead of fighting against one another. King’s vision is that all people should be judged by their “personality and character and not by their color of skin”(‘I Have a Dream”). All the points he made in his speech were so strong that lots of people were interested in his thoughts. He dreamed of a land where the blacks could vote and have a reason to vote and where every citizen would be treated the same and with the same justice.
In today’s society, is Black History Month still necessary to learn about Black History? Should it be removed or should we keep it? The argument goes both ways. Some ask why there are no other history months and others say that it is important to learn about the heritage of black people. Black History Month started as what was called “Negro History Week” by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. It was said to be the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of two pivotal people in black history, Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery later to become a leading abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln was the president who wrote the emancipation proclamation that was intended to free slaves in the confederate states. Celebrating Black History Month allows us to reflect on the achievements of the significant civil rights activists in the black community, provide a time for us to learn about the factors that prompted change for civil rights, and to show all Americans why Black History is American History.
Imagine living in a world at which you are harassed and abused just because of the color of your skin. Since the beginning of America’s existence, Whites have had this strong hate towards the black population. The whites wanted to continue to have the power and control in their hands. In order for them to achieve this, the white southerners came up with the Jim Crow laws to prevent the African Americans from achieving their god given right of being free and equal. This did not end the African hope of becoming equal. After many years of mistreatment, African Americans knew that change in society was necessary. The members of the black population have been enslaved, beaten, abused, neglected and just taken advantage of, since the end of the civil war, even into present times, African Americans have struggled for equality and rights that white Americans often take for granted. Arguably, no post-war struggle was larger or more significant than the movement to eliminate the Jim Crow laws from existence in the South. As a large portion of the Civil Rights movement, many works are dedicated to the efforts put forth and the ensuing results, including “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka”, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, “Black Revolution”, “Bigger Than a Hamburger,” and the act from Rosa Parks.
Throughout his education, Martin Luther King Jr. tried to find a way to demonstrate his belief of racial equality with the most effective means possible. He quickly realized that the best strategy to end segregation was to use nonviolent forms of protest. At Crozer, Morehouse and Boston University, he studied the teaching of Mohandas Gandhi, who used nonviolent methods to help India claim its independence from Britain. King read several books on the ideas of Gandhi, and eventually became convinced that his methods could be employed by African Americans to obtain equality in America. King knew that any violence on the part of African Americans would lead to violent responses from segregationists, which would lead to injury or maybe even death for his followers. He had to teach his followers not to respond violently to cruel attacks from segregationists. King decided to sponsor workshops to train African Americans in nonviolent beh...
As I reflect on who I am and which culture I identify with, I am met with reservation. My parents are both Black Americans, they were both born and raised in the United States, their parent were also born and raised in the US. It is obvious that we derive from African descent; our skin color and physical features yet I find it difficult to relate or identify with my African heritage as slavery has played a pivotal role in separating us from our African origin. African enslavement left us devoid of a way to define ourselves. It severed familial ties and deprived us of any viable opportunity to reclaim them.(www.huffpost.com) We are descendants of African slaves but when I speak to someone who was born in Africa or research African culture, I