In our society, there are many standardized ways that are assumed to be applicable everyone. This idea of standardization can be seen in school testing, theories on the human mind and behavior, and in the way people communicate with one another. This is certainly not the case, everyone goes through different experiences that are influenced by their race, gender, ethnicity, and culture. Black studies breaks that standardization of individuals and can be utilized as a tool anywhere in the world. This discipline acknowledges the difference of people from all backgrounds and understands that not all people are the same. Black studies is formulated with areas such as black history, black religion, black sociology, black psychology, black economics, …show more content…
The communication and understanding of different racial groups comes into play when I have to take on cases that involve different types of people. It becomes very important for me to have a strong multicultural grounding in order to successfully provide these individuals with the proper information and strategies needed to communicate with them. The history of humanity has major influences on how the world is shaped today. In regular history textbooks, the information provided is very microscopic and is formulated with a ethnocentric foundation. With that, it is impossible to fully understand be aware of all the successes many different groups have had in the past. Black studies as a discipline provides a full perspective of history for the third world. In the book, “Introduction to Black Studies” by Maulana Karenga, the author stresses the importance of black history. Black history “ is the struggle and record of Africans in the process of Africanizing the world, i.e. shaping their world in their own image and interests”(pg 66). This definition perfectly explains how a racial groups needs to know their roots in order to understand their struggles as a whole. This is useful to me because it shows me the perspective of a group, without Black studies I would have never known the experience, successes and struggles of African peoples around the …show more content…
This is necessary for my field because It allows me to be ready and informed on how I should approach someone based on the way they think. In black studies, black psychology is one of the core areas that gives insight on how different people see the world. For many years, the idea of normal psychology has been mainly focused on the minds of white middle class men. Anything that does not fit this dynamics is considered foreign or abnormal. This idea of psychology is just not enough to accurately reflect all entities across the globe, which makes black psychology a necessity in order to truly understand people's bodies, minds and souls. Karenga defines black psychology as, “Discipline which not only studies the mind, heart, spirit, and behavior of black persons, but seeks to assist them in transforming themselves into self-conscious agents of their own mental, emotional and social liberation”(pg 398). Black psychology then is used not only to see how racial groups think, but also educates the peoples on their culture and how to get past similar struggles that have experienced that has lead them to the way they see things today. There are many worldview components that are essential for the understanding of these groups and this includes their values, morals, way of reasoning, and more. This is useful for me because not only can I understand
Through out history in the United States what it means to be a black person has taken on different meanings. This is a result of forced the segregation that occurred during the post slavery era. Whites wanted to keep the Caucasian race “pure” and in order to do so anyone that had one drop of black blood in them was considered black. This is very different from the way today’s society identifies black people. Presently, a black person is more likely to be identified by the color of their skin or their phenotype instead of their genotype. However, the boundaries for the black community are very permeable and black people come in all shades. Blackness can be defined as the set of beliefs, music, language, morals and ancestry that blacks tend to
This sense of empowerment was gained through the establishment of independence from European organizations and structures dominating the field of psychology. Black psychology as a discipline allowed for the empowerment of African Americans within the field of psychology through its ability to evaluate the Black psyche from an African American perspective. Karenga (1993) argues for the inclusion of Black Psychology in Black studies programs and dedicates a chapter to the discipline in his Introduction to Black Studies text. Among his discussion of Black psychology he identifies the traditional school, the reformist school and the radical school as the three schools of thought to Black Psychology. Each school is a reflection of the changes in approach taken by Black psychologists in their efforts to examine and assess the African American
Stewart’s essay “The Field and Function of Black Studies”, he implies that black history is dominated by continuing challenges by its critics and the weak attachment of many scholars to the black studies movement and to black studies units even when the research of such scholars examines the black experience (pg. 45). Statistics show that 70.2 percent indicated that the number of full-time faculty members who have appointments outside black studies and another academic units is stable, proving the fact that black studies has established a beachhead in higher education. This statistic demonstrates how things have been stable in terms of growing the teachings of black studies, which causes challenges. A challenge that can be seen from this issue, is the lack of financial support available to faculty and students. Small budgets are provided to Black Study departments at many universities, therefore, making it difficult to purchase materials and hire more educated, experienced staff
When you think of a psychologist, you typically do not think about what minority they are. It never did occur to me before this assignment was due, that a book was prejudice against which they select to be referenced in books. In any subject, not just psychology, why would it matter if someone were of color, what his or her gender is? Many psychologists have not been given any recognition or an opportunity because they are not in the stereotype of a “white male.” When you intentionally type, “psychologists” on Google, the results are all white males. Ironic? That is up to interpretation. I did some more browsing, and eventually came across an African American man, who was psychologist. He is known by, Joseph white. Joseph is well known as the “ Godfather of the field of Black Psychology.”
Throughout the years, the black community has been looked down upon as a community of criminals and a community of lesser educated and poor who have a lesser purpose in life. Journalist Brent Staples, the author of Black Men And Public Spaces, takes us into his own thoughts as a young black man growing up in Chester, Pennsylvania to becoming a journalist in New York City. He tells us his own challenges that he faces on a daily basis along with challenges that many black men his own age faced and the way he changed in order to minimize the tension between himself and the common white person. Growing up in the post-segregation era was a challenge for most blacks. Having the same rights and privileges as many white Americans, but still fighting for the sense of equality, was a brick wall that many blacks had to overcome.
African American history plays a huge role in history today. From decades of research we can see the process that this culture went through and how they were depressed and deculturalized. In school, we take the time to learn about African American History but, we fail to see the aspects that African Americans had to overcome to be where they are today. We also fail to view life in their shoes and fundamentally understand the hardships and processes that they went through. African Americans were treated so terribly and poor in the last century and, they still are today. As a subordinate race to the American White race, African Americans were not treated equal, fair, human, or right under any circumstances. Being in the subordinate position African Americans are controlled by the higher white group in everything that they do.
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.
He makes a very good point when he says that the more knowledge black workers have the less control unions would have on them. Blassingame goes on to state that African American Studies will have a relatively short cycle because it has already been deemed a “soft program that these students can pass” (Blassingame 152) and institutions “are not seriously committed to African American Studies because they feel the demand will die out shortly” (Blassingame 153). Blacks need to broaden their horizons to be able to teach other fields such as math, biology, engineering and law. This will begin to truly integrate schools and there won’t be any unfair “separate but equal” facilities. Blassingame makes an argument saying that African American Studies shouldn’t serve as an “emotional reinforcement” (Blassingame 160), which means black students having support from other blacks to better live with racism, because there have been many blacks before them at a time when racism was more prevalent and they have succeed without it. African American Studies should be used to enrich educational experiences of all students and teach them to think and understand more clearly, the problems of their
Black Liberation Theology can be defined as the relationship that blacks have with god in their struggle to end oppression. It sees god as a god of history and the liberator of the oppressed from bondage. Black Liberation theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggle daily under the oppression of whites. Because of slavery, blacks concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, the reflection of God for blacks came in the struggle for freedom by blacks. Although the term black liberation theology is a fairly new, becoming popular in the early 1960’s with Black Theology and Black Power, a book written by James H. Cone, its ideas are pretty old, which can be clearly seen in spirituals sang by Africans during the time of slavery nearly 400 years ago.# It was through these hymns that black liberation spawned. Although Cone is given credit for “the discovery of black liberation theology,” it’s beliefs can quite clearly be seen in the efforts of men like preacher Nat Turner and his rebellion of slavery in mid 1800’s or Marcus Garvey, one of the first men to “see god through black spectacles” in the early 1900’s. More recently black theology emerged as a formal discipline. Beginning with the "black power" movement in 1966, black clergy in many major denominations began to reassess the relationship of the Christian church to the black community. Black caucuses developed in the Catholic, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. "The central thrust of these new groups was to redefine the meaning and role of the church and religion in the lives of black people. Out of this reexamination has come what some have called Bla...
...ature can be used in reconstructing the image of Blacks/Africans to take apart and decipher the theories and documents that conceal the Africans existence and role in the origins of humanity and civilization. Throughout life you see Africans portrayed as inferior, the theory of Africans coming from monkeys but history books do not tell you the contribution’s and the ideals and values of Africans, the most you learn about Blacks are that they were slaves. White America tries to conceal the Black peoples presence is history because the only time you hear about Blacks is Black History Month or when you take a class specifically pertaining to Africans. From my readings and the films watched, we see the hidden truths of the Africans and we are able to analyze these truths to better our learning of African’s so we can better our understanding and spread what we now know.
Through research of the literature, this paper will explore the history of black experiences in higher education, and the effects of historically black colleges on the field.
... Much of the dualism described by Kelly sounds universal. Is there some figment of basic human tendency that divides one’s self from within or without? Works Cited DeOtis Roberts, "Black Theology in the Making," Review and Expositor 70 (Summer 1973):328. Emmanuel McCall, "Black Liberation Theology: A Politics of Freedom," Review and Expositor 73 (Summer 1976):330; cf.
Essay 1: WRITE A COHERENT ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE USE OF BLACK ICONIC IMAGES (AND OTHER ETHNIC IMAGES) TO SELL PRODUCTS AS THE ECONOMY OF MASS CONSUMPTION EXPANDED IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO INCLUDE IMAGES IN YOUR PAPER! During the 19th and 20th century, America –mostly white collar, middle class Americans- saw a great increase in salaries and a huge rise in mass production which paved the way for the modern American consumerism which we know today. The advertising scene saw a dramatic boost during that period and tried to latch on to this growing pool of emerging consumers. Although only limited to print, advertising during this pivotal period showed panache and reflected American society and popular culture.
Although black theology became popular in the early 1960’s, it was not an entirely new subject. Black theology views God and Christianity as a gospel relevant to blacks who struggled daily under the oppression of whites. The origins of it are clearly seen in spirituals sang by African Americans during the time of slavery nearly 400 years ago. Because of slavery, Blacks’ concept of God was totally different from the masters who enslaved them. White Christians saw god as more of a spiritual savior, while the reflection of God for blacks came in their struggle for freedom. Slave theology then opened up to Black theology which first began when churches began to become segregated. Many could not understand how Whites could continue to behave this way in the Lord’s house. It was soon realized that this was because, according to them, their God allowed segregation.
Another strong belief of the African Psychologists, of the was his rejection of Euro-American methods of measuring the intelligence and behavior of Black People. Psychologists believe that blacks needed to be self-reliant. They needed to do things for themselves, by themselves, instead of relying on the Euro-American or Western psychologists as the standards or absolutes.