Nannie Helen Burroughs - Civil Rights Contribution

7/9/2020 Portfolio Assignment - Research Paper - AASP 201 6980 Introduction to African American Studies (2205)

https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/485331/viewContent/18316260/View 1/1

Research Projects will include an Annotated Bibliography, a Presentation, Critiques of Two of the Presentations and a Final Paper.  Altogether, the Portfolio Assignment will count for 45% of the total course grade.

For Week 4, pick ONE of the following areas for this project.  In 3-4 sentences, explain in the Week 4 discussion area what you want to do with your research project and what you think the main point of your research paper will be.  Here are the two broad areas from which you will pick a paper topic:

1)  Relate an issue facing African-Americans in the past and the present condition of that issue. For example, The Voting Rights Act, Equal Employment/Affirmative Action, public education, economic justice, representations in the media, etc. You might compare the deaths of Emmitt Till and Trayvon Martin to see what lessons can be/have been learned about the law's treatment of young African American men.  All papers should describe the reasons why situations improved for African Americans and the forces that kept or eroded those improvements over time.

2)  Take an icon of Black History and find out more about the person (or people) from primary documents or sources not usually used in standard histories. Part of your task will be to find out about their less well-known contributions to Civil Rights or African American history.  For example, Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph, Marian Anderson, Lorraine Hansberry, Angela Davis,  Ralph Bunche, Shirley Chisholm, The Little Rock Nine, Bobby Seale, Louis Armstrong, Paul Robeson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Daisy Bates, Carl Stokes, Carl Rowan, and John Louis.  You may suggest someone else, but you must get written approval from me for the person you choose. Your paper will also offer an explanation on why the "official" version of this person differs from what you have uncovered.