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History and Culture of African Americans |
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African Americans generally are persons living in the western hemisphere who are descendants of Africans, especially black Africans. African immigration to the Americas may have begun before European exploration of the region. Blacks sailed with Christopher Columbus even on his first voyage in 1492, and the earliest Spanish and Portuguese explorers were likewise accompanied by blacksAfricans who had been born and reared in Iberia. In the following four centuries millions of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa were brought to the New World as slaves. Today, their descendants form major ethnic minorities in the U.S. and several Latin American countries, and they are the dominant element in many Caribbean nations. Over the centuries, African Americans have contributed to the cultural mix of their respective societies and thus exerted a profound influence on all facets of life in the western hemisphere.
The term African American is especially used to refer to blacks living in North America. Other terms are sometimes used to refer to African Americans from a particular locality, such as Afro-Brazilian or Afro-Jamaican.
The declining effectiveness of the radicals gave more moderate black leaders a chance to reassert themselves, although they, too, often adopted elements of the black consciousness rhetoric. Thus, during the 1970s public attention was increasingly directed toward leaders reflecting a variety of strategies that did not threaten the American social order. Thurgood Marshall, the first black appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, symbolized the possibilities for working within the political system. The executive director of the Urban League, Whitney M. Young, Jr., transformed his organization into an important social welfare institution. The formation of the Congressional Black Caucusprovided black U.S. representatives with the means to determine priorities of racial reform. The National Black Political Convention, held in 1972 in Gary, Ind., was attended by 8000 delegates and marked an effort to broaden black participation in discussions of political alternatives. In that year Representative Shirley Chisholm, a Democrat from New York, became the first black woman to run (albeit unsuccessfully) for the presidential nomination of a major party.
Blacks in the Arts
The upsurge of activism in the 1960s significantly affected black social and cultural life. As in the 1920s, black people manifested growing interest in African and African American history and closer identification with the distinctive aspects of their culture. The writers Ralph Ellisonand James Baldwinand the playwright Lorraine Hansberry(193065) had suggested the new direction even before the 60s, but the dramatist and poet Imamu Amiri Baraka (originally named LeRoi Jones; 1934 ) set the tone for the late 60s with his emotional condemnations of white values. The cultural revival continued, although not always within the confines of the earlier militant mood. Writers such as Alex Haley, Paule Marshall (1929 ), the 1993 Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Gloria Naylor (1950 ) committed themselves to describing and analyzing the black experience. Among the playwrights of that period were Pulitzer Prize winners Charles Fuller (1939 ), who received the prize in 1982 for A Soldiers Play (1981), and August Wilson, who in 1987 received the prize for Fences (1986) and The Piano Lesson (1990). Poets also contributed their voices, among them Gwendolyn Brooksin her To Disembark (1981) she calls for a disembarking from oppressive white cultural patternsMaya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni (1945 ), and poet-playwright Ntozake Shange (1948 ). The poet, playwright, and novelist Rita Frances Dove (1952 ) was appointed U.S. poet laureate in 1993, the first black woman to hold that honor. In other media there have been the world-renowned operatic soprano Leontyne Price; dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey, whose works expressed the black heritage; filmmakers such as Gordon Parks(1912 ), Melvin Van Peebles (1932 ), and Spike Lee; and painters, working in different styles, among them the poetic Romare Bearden (191488), the realist Jacob Lawrence(19172000), and Benny Andrews (1930 ). Andrews, whose paintings are social commentary in allegorical form, was one of the organizers of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, which in 1969 protested against the inadequate representation of blacks in American art. From rhythm and blues in the 1950s to hip-hopin the 90s, black performers have had a major influence on the development of popular musicin the U.S. and throughout the world.
Political Gains
Despite setbacks, the black activism of the 1960s produced some lasting political gains. As black residents of central-city areas became sizable minoritiesand, sometimes, majoritiesof the electorate, black candidates were able to win elections. During the 1970s black mayors were elected in Cleveland, Ohio; Gary, Ind.; Newark, N.J.; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; New Orleans, La.; Los Angeles; and other U.S. cities. The 1980s brought the election of black mayorsin Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, and other cities throughout the country; the total number of black mayors was 318 in late 1990, the same year that Democrat L. Douglas Wilder(1931 ) took office as governor of Virginia. Overall, the number of black elected officials in the U.S. rose from about 300 in 1965 to some 7480 (including 26 members of Congress) in late 1990. Two years later, the first black woman senator, Carol E. Moseley-Braun(1947 ), was elected from the state of Illinois. Gen. Colin L. Powellbecame the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1989, played an important role in the Persian Gulf War (1991), and remained one of the nations best known and most admired public figures throughout the 1990s into the 2000s, becoming secretary of state in George W. Bushs administration in 2000.
These gains were counterbalanced by less favorable trends. An upsurge of black voter registration, stimulated in part by the 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential primary campaigns of Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and social activist, came to a halt in 1988. Since that time, black voter registration and turnout have declined. The 1994 congressional election, in which only an estimated 37 percent of eligible black voters cast ballots, resulted in the loss of the Democratic partys majority in the House of Representativesand a consequent decline in influence by the Congressional Black Caucus. Moseley-Brauns reelection defeat in 1998 meant that, as the 1990s ended, the U.S. had not a single African American senatoror state governor. There were 39 black members of the House, of whom all but one were Democrats.
Income and Employment
The economic status of African Americans was also a mixture of highly visible improvements and persistent problems. Throughout the 1970s and early 80s, blacks made steady gains in academic achievements, greatly increasing the size of the black middle class. In the late 80s, it became increasingly difficult to sustain earlier gains, and in some instances small reverses occurred. In 1980, 9.2 percent of all blacks were enrolled in college. By 1990, only 8.9 percent were enrolled. While the median black family income rose to more than $19,700 a year and about 29.6 percent had annual incomes higher than $35,000, black family income remained at less than three-fifths the median family income of whites. In ironic contrast to the economic dynamics that first brought Africans to North America, some of the most vital U.S. industries began to use foreign workersusually not unionized, and unprotected by minimum wage lawsinstead of unskilled urban black workers. Unable to obtain the industrial and domestic-service jobs that had attracted earlier generations of blacks to urban centers, ghetto residents were increasingly mired in economically depressed urban areas that offered few opportunities for upward or outward mobility. The long-term movement of blacks from agricultural and domestic-service jobs to urban industrial occupationswhich some think did more for 20th-century black economic progress than all the civil rights laws and affirmative action programshad become a spent force.
U.S. economic expansion in the mid- and late 1990s brought a corresponding improvement in the economic position of black Americans. Black college enrollments began to rise again, and by the late 1990s median black family income had increased to about $25,350, or approximately 62 percent of the median family income of whites. More than one of every three black families had an annual income greater than $35,000. On the other hand, about the same proportion of black families were still earning less than $15,000 a year, and unemployment rates among young black men and women were more than double those of whites. Black students also lagged behind whites in access to computers and the Internet, a significant impediment in competing for jobs.
Cultural Dichotomy
The common historical experiences and cultural values that made possible previous black movements for racial advancement remain a source of creative energy and cultural innovation. Many blacks have become enmeshed in middle-class society, with its pervasive institutions that supplant or absorb the distinctive aspects of African American culture. Nevertheless, poverty and alienation continue to shield segments of the black populace from complete cultural absorption. Du Boissplea in Souls of Black Folk(1903) that blacks maintain their cultural heritage was combined with a realization that they have a double consciousness. He wrote, One ever feels his two-nessan American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
African American History and Culture Resources
African American Culture: Some Sites You Should Bookmark
This annotated listing of recommended African American Web sites was prepared by Elna L. Saxton and Joe McClamroch, and published in the January, 1999 issue of College and Research Libraries News (vol. 60, no. 1). It is organized into five categories: Getting started, Educational sites/research centers, Organizations/associations, Afrocentric sites, and E-journals/news services.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/resjan99.html
The African-American Journey
World Book editors have assembled a comprehensive look at the history of African Americans and their struggle for freedom in honor of Black History Month. The articles in this feature were taken from the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. There are also numerous links to World Wide Web sites concerning important figures and events in black history, as well as issues surrounding current events.
http://www.worldbook.com/fun/aajourny/html/index.html
African-American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship
An online exhibit from the U.S. Library of Congress' American Memory project that showcases the Library's extensive African-American collections. It traces the African-American experience through nine chronological periods that document the long and difficult path from slavery to Reconstruction to
the fight for civil and social equality in the twentieth century. With an emphasis on historical materials, it contains images of rare books, manuscripts, government documents, sheet music, movie posters and
photographs.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aohome.html
African-American Studies home page of the University of Arizona
This site is maintained by the University of Arizona Library. It offers links to current holdings, the Black Information Network, the African-American News Service, and other useful sites.
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/users/hernande/african.html
African-American Women
Duke University's on-line archival collections featuring scanned pages and texts of the writings of African-American women. Includes the memoirs of Elizabeth Johnson Harris (1867-1942), an 1857 letter from Vilet Lester, a slave on a North Carolina plantation, and several letters from Hannah
Valentine and Lethe Jackson, slaves on the estate of David Campbell, a governor of Virginia.
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/collections/african-american-women.html
Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery
The companion site to the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) documentary explores the odyssey of African slaves in America, from the arrival of Europeans in Africa to the American Civil War. It is divided into four chronological sections, with each section featuring a teacher's guide keyed to a resource bank of more than 400 items including biographical information, full-text reproductions of related historical documents, and commentaries from contemporary experts. It boasts a major collection of images, documents, stories, biographies, and commentaries.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/
Afro-American Sources in Virginia: A Guide to Manuscripts
The first on-line book by a university press, this guide was prepared in collaboration with the University of Virginia Library's Electronic Text Center and the University's Information Technology and Communication
Department. Michael Plunkett, the library's director of special collections, has updated the 1990 print version. It describes in detail the African American history holdings of the 26 institutional collections in
Virginia, which range from early plantation records to diaries and letters to minutes of modern-day civil-rights movement meetings. The electronic edition includes some 18 historical photographs and images of key manuscripts and is searchable in full text.
http://www.upress.virginia.edu/plunkett/mfp.html
American Slave Narratives -- an Online Anthology
Transcripts of interviews with a dozen former American slaves conducted in the 1930s by employees of the Works Progress Administration.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html
The Amistad Case
"A collection of primary documents related to the Amistad slave uprising. The site, provided by the U.S. National Archives, includes an account by the captain of the ship that captured the Amistad after it was taken over by slaves, a letter from former President John Quincy Adams requesting information about the incident, and the opinion of the Supreme Court in which the Amistad Africans were given their freedom."
http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/amistad/home.html
The Amistad Research Center
"On-line index of the holdings of the Amistad research Center at Tulane University. The center's archives include more than 10 million documents from the American civil-rights movement and several collections of African and African-American Art."
http://www.tulane.edu/~amistad/
Been Here So Long: Selections from the WPA American Slave Narratives
"This site, from the New Deal Network, features a selection of seventeen interviews of former slaves conducted by members of the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As with the recollections featured at the University of Virginia's American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology, these narratives are from the 2,000 interviews with ex-slaves collected during 1936-1938 by journalists and other writers employed by the Federal Writers Project. In addition to the narratives, it features an introductory essay, three lesson plans, and a modest annotated guide to related online resources.
http://newdeal.feri.org/asn/
Black Archives of Mid-America
The Black Archives of Mid-America, located in Kansas City, Missouri, was founded to collect and preserve the cultural history of African Americans in the Midwest, particularly in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. With funding from the Missouri State Library, the Black Archives have collaborated with the Kansas City Public Library to digitize its collection. The ongoing digitization project has developed a database of more than 800 online images that chronicle the African-American experience. The archives may be browsed by subject area or by material type, which includes photographs, letters, narratives, documents, articles, artifacts, and publications.
http://www.blackarchives.org/
BlackVoices.com
One of America's largest African-American virtual communities on the Internet. The site features a variety of lifestyle, career and community activities, including news, information, entertainment, sports, a full-service career center, special interest clubs, chat rooms and its popular member photo page.
http://www.blackvoices.com/
The Caldwell Journals
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, a 22-year-old nonprofit organization named after an African-American journalist, has published the first part of a series about the experiences of
African-American journalists during the 1960s civil rights movement. The site, essentially an interactive archive, is written by veteran journalist Earl Caldwell, who is seen by many as a pioneer for other African-American journalists. The purpose of the series is to tell the story of those journalists who were pioneers in this era.
http://www.maynardije.org/home_con.html
Chronology on the History of Slavery and Racism
Researched and compiled by Eddie Becker, this site arose from independent research into the Smithsonian Institution's oldest building in Washington, DC, the Holt House. It includes comprehensive footnoted entries from archival and secondary source documents, including links to full text Internet sites. It includes details on the integral role played by slavery in the formation of the U.S. Capital and political system, spanning the period from 1619 to the present -- with sections covering 1619-1789, 1790-1829, and 1830 to the present.
http://www.innercity.org/holt/slavechron.html
The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences
Part of the Louisiana State University Library site, Faces profiles African American men and women who have contributed to the advancement of science and engineering. African American chemists, biologists, inventors, engineers, and mathematicians have contributed in both large and small ways that can be overlooked when chronicling the history of science. By describing the scientific history of selected African American men and women we can see how the efforts of individuals have advanced human understanding
in the world around us.
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/lib/chem/display/faces.
Lives: The Biography Resource (Special Collections: African Americans)
This award-winning site features links to sites that focus on the lives of individuals or groups of people; to sites that contain worthwhile collections of links to other biographical resources and to primary biographical source material such as images, diaries, memoirs, correspondence, interviews, and oral histories; and to some of the best biographical dictionaries.
http://members.home.net/klanxner/lives/Collect_spec.html
Madam C. J. Walker
One of the best sources of information about this African-American entrepreneur, hair care industry pioneer, philanthropist and social activist. The site comes from A'Lelia P. Bundles the great-great-granddaughter and biographer of Madam Walker.
http://www.madamcjwalker.com/
Nineteenth Century Documents Project
Produced by the History department at Furman University in South Carolina, this site features full texts of primary documents in nineteenth-century American history "with special emphasis on those sources that shed light on sectional conflict and transformations in regional identity." Materials will aid researchers examining issues of Slavery and Sectionalism, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854, the Dred Scott Case, the election of 1860, the succession of the Southern states, and the immediate aftermath of the Civil
War in the South.
http://www.furman.edu/~benson/docs/
One America: The President's Initiative on Race and The President's Initiative for One America
This is the official site of President Clinton's initiatives on race, which began with the President's year-long initiative to present to the United States his vision of a more just and united American community: The
President's Initiative on Race. The President's Initiative for One America builds on the foundation laid by the Race Initiative's Advisory Board and continues the work of the President's Initiative on Race. Of special interest under the President's Initiative on Race is Pathways to One America In the 21st Century: Promising Practices for Racial Reconciliation, a reference guide of race-based programs that exemplify effective programs contributing to the Unites States' on-going dialogue on racial reconciliation.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/Initiatives/OneAmerica/america.html
Pop + Politics: The Site for Insight
The site of Farai Chideya, an ABC News correspondent, who says that Pop and Politics has all sorts of deep and quirky information. She does everything from detailed statistical analysis of how the U.S. budget treats urban America, education, crime, and welfare to a piece called "I'm Glad I'm Not Black." that arose from something that a little girl said to her mother while sitting on a plane and staring at her. She ended up having a discussion with the mother about why we should talk to children about race, and it ended up with a happy ending.
http://www.popandpolitics.com/
Resegregation in American Schools
This new report, issued by Gary Orfield and John T. Yun of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, analyzes recent US educational data and focuses on four significant demographic statistical trends in American Schools: the resegregation of the American South, the rising segregation of Latino students, the heightened segregation within suburban schools surrounding major metropolitan areas, and the rapid emergence of schools with three or more racial groups.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/resegregation99.html
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The Schomburg Center, one of the research libraries of the New York Public Library, is an institution devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. The Schomburg Center promotes the study of these histories and cultures of the peoples and interprets its collections through exhibitions, publications, and educational, scholarly and cultural programs. This site includes information on the Center's various divisions: art and artifacts; general research and reference; manuscripts, archives and rare books; moving image and recorded sound; and photographs and prints. It also contains links to other Internet sources of information on Africa and the African diaspora.
http://gopher.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html
Selections from the African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource
Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture
The information in this site is based on an exhibit marking the publication of the African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture, the first Library-wide resource guide to the institution's African-American collections. Covering the nearly 500 years of the black experience in the Western hemisphere, the Mosaic surveys the full range, size and variety of the Library's collections, including books, periodicals, prints, photographs, music, film and recorded sound.
This sampler from a much larger exhibition now in development covers the beginnings of colonization, abolition, migration and the Works Projects Administration (WPA).
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Smithsonian: African-American History and Culture
Selected links to sites on African-American history and culture hosted by Smithsonian Institution museums and organizations. The site is divided into two sections: African American Resources, and Exhibitions. African American Resources includes links to sites such as "African and African American Resources at the Smithsonian," "The African American Studies Center," and "Anacostia Museum Reading Lists." Exhibitions such as "African Immigrant Naming Ceremony," the "Amistad Case," "Million Man March Documentary Photographs," and "Martin Luther King Jr. 'I Have a Dream'" are featured.
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/afroam.htm
The W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research
Founded in 1975, the Institute is the nation's oldest research center
dedicated to the study of the history, culture and social institutions of
African Americans. It sponsors research projects, fellowships for emerging
and established scholars, publications, conferences and working groups.
Named after the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard
University (1896), the Institute also sponsors two major lecture series each
year and serves as the co-sponsor for numerous public conferences, lectures,
readings and forums. The site provides information about upcoming
conferences as well as the various activities of the Institute.
http://web-dubois.fas.harvard.edu/
We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil-Rights Movement, A National
Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary
An electronic guide to historic sites of the civil-rights movement, launched
at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Washington, DC. The guide is a
joint project of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service,
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, and
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. The online
travel itinerary includes 41 historic places in 21 states associated with
various aspects of the movement.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/
African American Art and Literature
African American Literature and History
Includes a brief history of African-American literature, online e-texts from
the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center, full text poetry for several
African-American poets, and online resource documents on literature by and
about blacks.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/afroamer.htm
African American Writers: Online E-texts
Includes biographical information on as well as the writings of a host of
African-American writers, ranging over time from Jupiter Hammon in the 1700s
to contemporary writers.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/afroonline.htm
Digital Schomburg African American Women Writers of the 19th Century
A digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women
writers. A part of the Digital Schomburg, this collection provides access to
the thought, perspectives and creative abilities of black women as captured
in books and pamphlets published prior to 1920. A full text database of
these 19th and early 20th- century titles, this digital library is
key-word-searchable. Each individual title as well as the entire database
can be searched to determine what these women had to say about "family",
"religion", "slavery" or any other subject of interest.
http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/writers_aa19/toc.html
I'll Make Me a World
Based on "I'll Make Me a World," a six-hour public television special aired
early in 1999, the site features the lives and work of African-American
writers, dancers, painters, actors, film makers, and musicians from 1900 to
the present. Users can query a database of the featured artists which may
include video clips, images of the artists and their work, and links to
sources of additional information. All entries indicate in which segment the
artist appears in the television special.
http://www2.blackside.com/immaw/
Marian Anderson: A Life in Song
Explores the artistry and personality of one of America's most famous
vocalists, a woman known for both her contralto and the grace with which she
stood as a pioneer among African-American voices in opera. The site is part
of an exhibition from the Department of Special Collections at the
University of Pennsylvania Library. It offers photos and video and audio
excerpts of Ms. Anderson's performances and interviews.
http://www.library.upenn.edu/special/gallery/anderson/index.html
The Poetry and Prose of the Harlem Renaissance
Provides biographical information on many talented African-American writers
of the 1920s, along with numerous examples of their work.
http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/poetryindex.html
Portrait of Black Chicago
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's Online Exhibit Hall
is currently featuring John H. White's photographs of Chicago's African
American community.
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/americanimage/chicago/white1.html
Presenting Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party: Famous Female Activists & Artists
In creating this Web site as a contribution to Black History Month, Penny
Hanks, of Illinois State University, chose to utilize a section of American
artist Judy Chicago's book, The Dinner Party, because it focuses on women's
contributions to culture and displays the fact that many women, both black
and white, contributed a great deal to American culture and the modern-day
civil rights movement. It features influential women such as Sojourner
Truth, Marian Anderson, Zora Neale Hurston, Harriet Tubman and Ida B. Wells.
http://www.cas.ilstu.edu/English/351/hypertext98/hankins/african/african.html
SAC LitWeb: A Brief Chronology of African American Literature
From San Antonio College, a listing and several links to the foremost
African-American writers and their works, from the mid-1700s to the present day.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/aframlit.htm
Voices From the Gaps: Women Writers of Color
A project from the University of Minnesota that focuses on the lives and
works of women writers of color in North America. Designed primarily to
serve as an active learning component in the literature classroom, the site
relies upon students and scholars from around the world to contribute author
"home pages" for women writers of color. Each author page presents
biographical, critical and bibliographical information about the writer,
images and quotes pertinent to her life and works, and links to other
Internet resources which contain significant information about that writer.
The pick "Meet the writers by racial/ethnic background" offers a pick for
"African American writers." In addition to the author pages, which comprise
the heart of this website, there is a list of sites related to the study of
women writers of color.
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/
Women of Color / Women of Words: Critical and Biographical Resources
An alphabetical listing of resources which contain critical as well as
biographical information about African-American women writers. Individual
writers' pages list the author's works. Books marked with the Amazon.com
logo are available for sale.
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~cybers/listb.html
Writing Black
Links to literature and history written by and on African Americans.
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/as/Literature/amlit.black.html
Martin Luther King Jr.
AFRO-Ameri@'s Salute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
AFRO-Americ@'s tribute page includes photographs and articles about Dr. King.
http://www.afroam.org/history/mlkpage/mlkmainpage.html
AITLC Guide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This ACCESS INDIANA Teaching & Learning Center Web site links to a wide
variety of sites on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Among them are various
biographies of Dr. King, his speeches and writings, and Black Collegian
Online's Quotable King and The Student Days of Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://tlc.ai.org/mlk.htm
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: A Man Who Stirred the Nation
Black Voices, one of the most visited African-American Web sites, features
Martin Luther King, Jr. for Black History Month. The site features
background articles and facts on Dr. King, a photo tour of his birthplace,
and links to related sites.
http://www.blackvoices.com/feature/blk_history_98/main.html
Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life Tribute
Life magazine's tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. includes classic Life
images of Dr. King, magazine covers, a pictorial history in celebration of
Black History Month and "The Gandhi of American Civil Rights," Life
magazine's "hero of the week" profile of Dr. King.
http://www.lifemag.com/Life/mlk/mlk.html
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Rasin, an online news service for parents of young children, offers a
listing of events taking place across the United States to commemorate the
birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://www.raisinnet.com/mlk.htm
Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the Net
This site has sound, pictures and information on Dr. King and the holiday
that celebrates his birth.
http://www.holidays.net/mlk/
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
The U.S. National Park Services offers basic information on the Martin
Luther King, Jr. National Park and its surrounding community. It features
the home where Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up in the residential section of
"Sweet Auburn," the center of Black Atlanta, and Ebinezer Baptist Church,
the pastorate of Dr. King's father and grandfather. The site is of special
interest to visitors.
http://www.nps.gov/malu/Martin Luther King Jr.: Never Again Where He Was Time magazine's tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., Time "Man of the Year" for 1963.
http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/1963.html
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project.
Located at Stanford University, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
is producing what will almost certainly become the definitive collection of
the great civil rights leader's writings. When completed, the
fourteen-volume "The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr." will serve as an
indispensable reference tool for historians of the civil rights movement. In
the meantime, teachers and students can make use of the resources offered at
this site. These include a number of full-text primary documents (including
the "I Have a Dream" speech and the "I've Been To The Mountaintop" sermon),
a general biography, a chronology of King's life, a recommended reading
section, and scholarly articles produced by Project staff members (under
construction). The Project plans to continually add new documents to the
site as they are digitized. Free registration is required to view the
papers, and registered users may choose to be informed about future site
updates and related events.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/
The Nobel Prize in Peace 1964 (The Nobel Foundation Web site)
Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of the "Southern Christian Leadership
Conference," was awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace in 1964. The site features
the presentation speech, by Gunnar Jahn, Chairman of the Nobel Committee,
and a biography of Dr. King.
http://www.nobel.se/laureates/peace-1964.html
The Seattle Times Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Web Site.
Provides background on King, his legacy, and a timeline and photo tour of
the civil rights movement. Links to other sites include a voting rights
chronology, the U.S. Code section on civil rights and significant
African-American figures past and present.
http://www.seattletimes.com/mlk/
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
This site was created by Western Michigan University in observance of Martin
Luther King Day, 1996. An ongoing project supported by students at Western
Michigan University's Department of Political Science, it features a
timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965, which includes
photos and documents such as Justice John Marshall Harlan's dissenting
statement in the Plessy v. Ferguson case and Dr. King's "I have a Dream"
speech and "Letter from Birmingham City Jail."
http://www.wmich.edu/politics/mlk/
Race Relations/Civil Rights
Law and Race in the U.S.
Civil Rights and Discrimination Law Materials and Equal Protection Law Materials
Provided by the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University's Law
School, these sites offer a hypertext overview of the topic and a menu of
sources material including key court decisions.
http://wwwsecure.law.cornell.edu/topics/civil_rights.html
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Source of numerous publications discussing discrimination or denial of equal
protection of the laws because of race, national origin, and other factors.
http://www.usccr.gov/index.html
U.S. Dept. of Justice. Civil Rights Division
Includes key speeches, special issues publications, texts of cases, and a
newsletter.
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/crt-home.html
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
This site provides facts about employment discrimination, enforcement,
litigation, and technical assistance.
http://www.eeoc.gov/
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action and Diversity Project: A Web Page for Research
A comprehensive academic resource that seeks to present diverse opinions
regarding affirmative action topics. Contains policy documents, current
legislative updates, articles and analyses, and an annotated bibliography as
well as a substantial amount of information on California politics and the
recent Proposition 209.
http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/
Affirmative Action Review: Report to the President
Published on July 19, 1995, this key Administration document is a
comprehensive review of Federal Affirmative Action Programs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/aa/aa-index.html
American Civil Rights Institute
American Civil Rights Institute. Created in January of 1997 by Ward Connerly
to "educate the public about racial and gender preferences". Connerly served
as chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209)
campaign. The site includes text of the Proposition, a chronology of the
lawsuit and related material.
http://www.acri.org/
Americans United for Affirmative Action
Co-foundered by Martin Luther King, III, Americans United for Affirmative
Action is a "national organization established to defend affirmative action
programs and uphold the principles of equal opportunity and diversity
championed by the civil rights movement." The site includes news about legal
and legislative issues affecting affirmative action. AUAA's narrative
chronology of racial relations in the U.S. and their "library"of key
statutes, caselaw, and documents are noteworthy.
http://www.auaa.org/
California Votes NO! on 209
This website was dedicated to defeating the Proposition 209 ballot
initiative. The site is now focusing on mobilizing efforts to reverse the
initiative. Includes link to other organizations opposed to Proposition 209.
http://www.ajdj.com/noccri/index.html
Californians Against Discrimination and Preferences
Created in August, 1994, this political committee backed the California
Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209) which passed in November of 1996.
The site continues to provide updates as to the status of implementation of
Proposition 209.
http://www.cadap.org/
The Center for Individual Rights
A "non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of
individual rights, with particular emphasis on civil rights, freedom of
speech, the free exercise of religion, and sexual harassment law." CIR
litigated the landmark case, Hopwood v. Texas, the case that struck down
affirmative action in higher education in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
CIR is representing the plaintiffs in the University of Michigan affirmative
action lawsuit.
http://www.cir-usa.org/
Desegregation of the Armed Forces
A collection of Project Whistlestop, the digital archive of the Truman
Presidential Library. The desegregation collection contains hundreds of
pages of digitalized documents - press releases, letters, and diary entries
- covering 1945 to 1952. The site is keyword-searchable, with a browse
capability by date and topical folders.
http://www.whistlestop.org/study_collections/desegregation/large/deseg1.htm
Documents in the News - 1997/2000: Gratz and Hamacher / Grutter v. The
Regents of the University of Michigan
From the University of Michigan's Documents Center, this site provides
comprehensive materials surrounding the University of Michigan affirmative
action lawsuit, Gratz and Hamacher / Grutter v. The Regents of the
University of Michigan. The "legal aspects" section of the site includes
relevant laws, court decisions on affirmative action.
http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/umaffirm.html
50th Anniversary of the Desegregation of the Armed Forces
On July 26, 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending
segregation in the armed forces of the U.S. This site includes digitalized
and text versions of the order and a chronology of events leading to the
signing of the order.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/9981.htm
Washington State I-200
This sub-page of the Affirmative Action and Diversity Project is devoted to
Washington State Initiative 200, modeled roughly after California's
Proposition 209. Passed in the November 3rd, 1998 mid-term elections, this
measure eliminates "preferences" in state and municipal hiring and
recruitment to the state university system. This page offers the full text
of the Initiative, news stories, and opinions pro and con.
http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/pages/I-200.html
Race and Ethnic Diversity
Black/White Relations in the U.S. - - Latest Social Audit
The 1999 Gallup Poll Social Audit updates long-term Gallup race relations
trends and adds new series of questions.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/indicators/indrace.asp
Black/White Relations in the U.S. -- Special Report from the Gallup
Organization
The Gallup Organization presents findings from a 1997 comprehensive study of
the attitudes of black and white Americans. Study updates trends in
attitudes and behavior and provides measurements to track changes in the
future.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/socialaudits/sa970610.asp
DiversityWeb
Part of the Diversity Works family of projects, this Web site includes
institutional profiles of over 200 universities and colleges with diversity
programs. Also links to the University of Maryland at College Park's
Diversity Database, a comprehensive index of multicultural and cultural
diversity resources.
http://www.inform.umd.edu/diversityweb/
The Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health
This site elaborates on the US Department of Health and Human Services'
Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health, focusing on
six key areas: Infant Mortality, Cancer Screening and Management,
Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, HIV Infection, and Child and Adult
Immunizations. This Initiative is the cornerstone of HHS's contribution to
the President's Initiative on Race.
http://raceandhealth.hhs.gov/
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Highlights the research, publications, and outreach programs of the Joint
Center, a national, nonprofit institution, which focuses on public policy
issues of special concern to black Americans.
http://www.jointctr.org/
Race and Ethnicity Online
Created by the American Political Science Association's Section on Race,
Ethnicity, and Politics, this site focuses on research related to Native-,
African-, Latino and Asian Pacific Americans.
http://www.providence.edu/polisci/rep/
Race Data
Official statistics from the U.S. Census.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race.html
Race in America - Atlantic Unbound Roundtable
In November 1997, the Atlantic Monthly magazine posted an online roundtable
discussion on race in America between Nicholas Lemann, a national
correspondent for the magazine, and panel of distinguished commentators --
Dinesh D'Sousa, Christopher Edley Jr., and Glenn C. Loury. The site also
includes a link to past articles on race and affirmative action from the
Atlantic Monthly archives.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/forum/race/intro.htm
Race Relations
This Online Backgrounder provides a list of recent PBS interviews and
programs on racial issues. Transcripts are available online.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/race_relations.html
Racial Legacies and Learning Initiative
In April 1998 the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U),
initiated "Racial Legacies and Learning: An American Dialogue." Its mission
is to foster "campus/community dialogues that address issues of race and the
vision to 'Build One America.'" The site includes a list of the lead
colleges on the project and sample actitivies that took place during the
Campus Week.
http://www.aacc-edu.org
Organizations
American Civil Liberties Union, Racial Equality
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is the "nation's foremost advocate
of individual rights -- litigating, legislating, and educating the public on
a broad array of issues affecting individual freedom in the United States."
The Racial Equality page includes ACLU's briefing papers on Racial Justice,
Affirmative Action, Hate Speech on College Campuses, and background material
on racial profiling.
http://www.aclu.org
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
One of the oldest and largest U.S. civil rights coalitions, leading the
fight for equal opportunity and social justice. Beginning with 30
organizations, LCCR now consists of "more than 185 national organizations,
representing persons of color, women, children, labor unions, individuals
with disabilities, older Americans, major religious groups, gays and
lesbians and civil liberties and human rights groups." The LCCR's site
includes a News Center and civil rights "issues" pages that offer extensive
background and resource material.
http://www.civilrights.org/lccr/index.html
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the "oldest, largest and strongest Civil
Rights Organization in the United States." Its mission is to "ensure the
political, educational, social and economic equality of minorities" in the U.S.
http://www.naacp.org/
The National Urban League
A premier civil rights organization founded in 1910, whose mission is to
"assist African Americans in the achievement of social and economic
equality". Headquartered in New York, the NUL serves more than 2 million
people each year through its 114 affiliates in 34 states and the District of
Columbia.
http://www.nul.org/
Promising Practices - The President's Initiative on Race
Part of the President's "One America" site, Promising Practices provides
details about the numerous organizations, national and local that are
working successfully to promote reconciliation in communities across the
United States. Each organization's listing includes a statement of its
purpose, brief background and contact information, including a link to its
web site, if available.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/Initiatives/OneAmerica/Practices/
Race Relations Institute
Founded in 1942 by Charles Johnson, sociologist and first black president of
Fisk University, the Institute held its 32nd annual conference in July,
1998. Its mission is to promote racial understanding through dialogue,
scholarly research, and training. John Hope Franklin, chairman of President
Clinton's Advisory Board on Race was the keynote speaker.
http://www.fiskrri.org
The YWCA of the U.S.A.
Founded in 1859, the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is the
largest and oldest women's organization in the United States. It's mission
is to empower women and girls and to work to eliminate racism, achieve
racial justice and embrace diversity. Serving over one million women and
girls in the U.S., globally, the YWCA represents more than 25 million women
throughout 101 countries. The YWCA sponsors the annual "Race Against Racism"
5K run/walk and spearheads the "Stop Racism Youth Challenge" campaign.
http://www.ywca.org/
The U.S. Postal Service offers two Internet sites featuring U.S. commemorative stamps, with stamps commemorating famous African Americans featured on both sites.
The Black Heritage series includes such famous African Americans as Madam C.J. Walker, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Benjamin Banneker, Whitney Moore Young, Jackie Robinson, Scott Joplin, Carter G. Woodson, Mary McLeod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, James Weldon Johnson, A. Philip Randolph, Ida B. Wells, Jan E. Matzeliger, W.E.B. Du Bois, Percy Lavon Julian, Dr. Allison Davis, Bessie Coleman, Ernest E. Just and Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
Because the stamps in the Black Heritage series are scattered throughout the
site, you'll need to search for them. Stamp Images from the U.S. Postal Service
http://www.usps.gov/images/stamps/
Selected Stamps
Martin Luther King, Jr.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a
Dream" speech to some 2500 supporters in Washington, DC. He eloquently
described his faith in equality, justice and freedom for all.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/mlk.jpg
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa, a variation of the Swahili word for "first", is a seven day holiday
observed by many Black Americans. It begins each December 26 and ends
January 1. Each day celebrates a different principle: umoja or unity,
kujichagulia or self-determination, ujima or collective work and
responsibility, ujamaa or cooperative economics, nia or purpose, ukuumba or
creativity, and imani or faith.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/kwanzaa.jpg
Jesse Owens
Six World Records: On the afternoon of May 25, 1935, Ohio State University's
track star Jesse Owens was credited with setting 5 world records and tying
another. The following year he earned 4 gold medals in international
competition at Berlin.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/jowens.jpg
Jazz Flourishes
Created in the Unites States, jazz was spread by radio and recordings in the
1920s. Among the leading performers were Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton,
Joe "King" Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, and Bix Beiderbecke. The stamp art is
based on two photographs and live models.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/jazz.jpg
W.E.B. Du Bois, Social Activist
An educator and author, W.E.B. Du Bois promoted the cause for equality for
all Americans. He helped found the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP).
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/webduboi.jpg
George Washington Carver
Botanist George Washington Carver improved the economy of the South by
demonstrating the commercial possibilities of peanuts and sweet potatoes.
His "Movable School" educated impoverished farmers.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/carver.jpg
Madam C.J. Walker
Madam C.J. Walker was an early 20th century beauty product pioneer and one
of the nation's first female millionaires. "Madam C.J. Walker realized her
dreams of business success by relying upon a unique combination of steadfast
determination and entrepreneurial spirit....Using her success for the good
of others, she earned a reputation as a philanthropist to African-American
institutions such as the NAACP, Tuskegee Institute, and Bethune-Cookman
College.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/walker.jpg
Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)
The 22nd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Malcolm X, one of the
most influential African-American leaders of the 1960s. His controversial
ideas sharpened America's debate about racial relations and strategies for
social change. Born Malcolm Little in 1925, Malcolm X became the most
visible spokesperson for the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s. He later
broke away from the organization, disavowed his earlier separatist preaching
and supported a more integrationist solution to racial problems. Under the
name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he attempted to organize an independent
movement to put his new ideas into effect. On Feb. 21, 1965, he was shot to
death while giving a speech to his followers in Harlem. The photograph
featured on the stamp was taken by the Associated Press at a press
conference in New York City on May 21, 1964.
http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/stamps/malcolmx.jpg
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