African American Studies Commons^™

Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical, Judith Smith

Judith E. Smith

A son of poor Jamaican immigrants who grew up in Depression-era Harlem, Harry Belafonte became the first black performer to gain artistic control over the representation of African Americans in commercial television and film. Forging connections with an astonishing array of consequential players on the American scene in the decades following World War II—from Paul Robeson to Ed Sullivan, John Kennedy to Stokely Carmichael—Belafonte established his place in American culture as a hugely popular singer, matinee idol, internationalist, and champion of civil rights, black pride, and black power.

In Becoming Belafonte, Judith E. Smith presents the first full-length interpretive …

A People's History Of Baseball, Mitchell J. Nathanson

Mitchell J Nathanson

Baseball is much more than the national pastime. It has become an emblem of America itself. From its initial popularity in the mid-nineteenth century, the game has reflected national values and beliefs and promoted what it means to be an American. Stories abound that illustrate baseball's significance in eradicating racial barriers, bringing neighborhoods together, building civic pride, and creating on the field of play an instructive civics lesson for immigrants on the national character. In A People's History of Baseball, Mitchell Nathanson probes the less well-known but no less meaningful other side of baseball: episodes not involving equality, patriotism, heroism, …

Actions Speak Louder Than Words - Nixon's Effect On School Desegregation, Demetri L. Morgan

Demetri L. Morgan, Ph.D.

A review of Preisdent Richard Nixon’s deeds rather than his rhetoric or policy stances, illuminates a previously under investigated reality that Nixon’s education civil rights record has been the most progressive and beneficial for the education of students of color to date. How can this be? As this presentation will outline, Nixon’s rhetoric and stances on education were symbolic measures to appease both the ‘silent majority’ and conservative southern democrats, which Nixon identified as vital to his election aspirations in the 1968 presidential campaign. This political ploy eventually collided with Nixon’s efforts to acquiesce to his campaign mantra and governing …

A Law Unto Themselves: Historical Consequences And Cultural Realities From The Neglect Of Africana Studies In Policymaking Processes, Seneca Vaught

Seneca Vaught

No abstract provided.

Haiti's Condemnation: History And Culture At The Crossroads, Marc E. Prou

Marc E. Prou

As Haiti emerges from its recent bicentennial, the persistent underdevelopment combined with the absence of independent social and judicial institutions denote an increase in the level of repression and social division. Such social divergence has been intensified since the overthrow of (Baby Doc) Duvalier in 1986, and subsequent political turmoil throughout the 1990's and beyond. Thus, political instability, violent overthrows, successive coups and countercoups, persistent poverty, the state against the nation, all constitute the trademarks of this economically collapsed but cultural rich Caribbean island. Interestingly, individual Haitians are relatively successful peple abroad. Thus the question then becomes: what explanations do …