WEEK 5 - FINAL PROJECT

1. African Americans

They are also known as the black Americans or the Afro Americans. They are a group of citizens or residents living in the United States of America and they have partial or total ancestry from any native population of the sub-Saharan Africa. Some are also descendants of African Slaves. They are the second largest ethnic and racial minority in the United States

2. Events

Event 1: 1877 to 1945

Event: National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP)

In 12th February 1909 the National Association for advancement of colored people was founded by sixty prominent black and white intellectuals, reformers and socialists like James Weldon, Ella Baker, Moor field Storey, Walter white, Roy Wilkins, Benjamin among others they were led by W.E.B Du Bois in New York. The organization was founded when the United States was facing a national crisis of racism to secure the civil and political rights of African Americans and fight for justice for all Americans.103 years later since its inception it’s the oldest, largest and most influential civil rights organization (Tishkoff, Reed, Friedlaender, Ehret, Ranciaro, Froment & Williams, 2009).

Event 2:1877 to 1945

Event: Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

In August1914 Marcus Garvey established the universal Negro Improvement association an influential nationalist organization in Jamaica where it operated until he moved to England in 1935 ( Sitkoff, 2009). The organization was founded to promote the spirit of race and pride and also create the sense of peace in black people and to unite all Africa and its Diasporas and redeem it from white rule. The UNIA closed in 1982 but it is recognized as a historic landmark by the National Register of Historic Places and the Ohio Historic Preservation Office (Marable, 1991).

Event 3: 1945 to present

Event: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Between January and February 1957 a civil rights group named the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded by Martin Luther king, Charles k Steele and Fred L Shuttle worth in New Orleans to fight all forms of segregation (Harding, 1981).

Event 4: 1945 to present

Event: The first African American President and Attorney General

In 2008 senator Barack Obama from Chicago became the first African American President nominee as a major party nominee for president. On November 4th 2009 he became the first African American president to be elected president and the 44th president of the United States of America. On February 2nd Erick H Holder became the first African American to serve as Attorney General.

3. Sources

Primary Sources

Washington, J. M. (1986). The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.

In 28th August 1963 martin Luther King in his speech spoke of how he longed for unity between the white and black Americans and freedom for the black Americans his speech has been recited by many people and it clearly shows that the black people in America were discriminated and treated unfairly and this is what led to formation of civil rights activists groups. This is a helpful source.

Higginbotham, E. B., Litwack, L. F., & Hine, D. C. (Eds.). (2001). The Harvard Guide to African-American History (Vol. 12). Harvard University Press.

The Harvard guide to African American history contains manuscripts, which feature the lives of the black Americans from the time of slavery to the time they formed different organizations to fight for their rights. The manuscripts offer context for analyzing racial discrimination among the Americans.

Secondary Sources

Sitkoff, H. (2008). The struggle for black equality. Macmillan.

Harvard Sitkoff proves the thesis for his book the struggle for black equality when he offers a brilliant and clear interpretation of the dynamics and personalities of the civil rights organizations and by analyzing the problems affecting the African Americans he states that there is a difference between knowing you are black and knowing what it means to be black in America. His book highlights the struggle for blacks to fight racism to gain equality and justice his book helped me get to now different civil rights organizations like the NAAP and SCLC and how they fought hard for justice for the blacks.

Karenga, M. (1988). Black studies and the problematic of paradigm: The philosophical dimension. Journal of Black Studies, 395-414.

The journal of black studies publishes original and creative research on issues concerning the progress of the people from African descent both professionally and displinary. The publishers discuss topics concerning the social transformations that impact the life of Africans from the 16th century. The journal is descriptive and well researched.

4. Thesis statement

Thesis: All Americans black or white should be treated equally to shun racial differences.

References

Tishkoff, S. A., Reed, F. A., Friedlaender, F. R., Ehret, C., Ranciaro, A., Froment, A., ... & Williams, S. M. (2009). The genetic structure and history of Africans and African Americans. Science, 324(5930), 1035-1044.

Sitkoff, H. (2009). A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue: The Depression Decade. Oxford University Press on Demand.

Harding, V. (1981). There is a river: The Black struggle for freedom in America (p. xiii). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Marable, M. (1991). Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction in Black America, 19451990. Univ. Press of Mississippi.