African American Studies Commons^™

Union Presbyterian Seminary Hosting African Odyssey Exhibit

Joanne Braxton

African-Americans And The Administration Of Justice, E. Yvonne Moss, Roy Austin, Nolan Jones, Barry Krisberg, Hubert Locke, Michael Radelet, Susan Welch

Barry A Krisberg

The status of African Americans in relationship to the administration of justice has improved since the 1940s. Significantly, however, researchers continue to find racial discrimination and racial disadvantage operating in various aspects of the criminal justice process in numerous jurisdictions. Such findings are unacceptable in a society that claims to honor equal justice under law.

This article is reprinted from Summary, Volume 1 of the Assessment of the Status of African-Americans series, published in 1990 by the William Monroe Trotter Institute, University of Massachusetts at Boston, and edited by Wornie L. Reed. Materials included in the article were adapted …

The Confederate Flag, A College Mace And Becoming America Again, Joanne Braxton

Joanne Braxton

No abstract provided.

The 'Battle Flag' Finally Comes Down, Joanne Braxton, Michael Sainato

Joanne Braxton

No abstract provided.

Dylann Roof Is The Product Of A System That Has Bred Racist Hatred For Centuries, Joanne Braxton, Michael Sainato

Joanne Braxton

Carter G. Woodson: The Early Years, 1875 – 1903, Burnis Morris

Burnis R. Morris

When Carter G. Woodson departed West Virginia in 1903 for the Philippines and other distant datelines, few people other than Woodson himself could have imagined his final destination. He would eventually enjoin millions to follow his lead in promoting African Americans’ contributions in history; however, the scholarly people in Washington, where he settled in 1909, laughed at him and predicted failure.

The City Is Full Of Bugs, Michael Stanley

Michael A Stanley

This essay explores the use of symbolism and metaphor in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, focusing on a particular scene inside Mary Rambo’s apartment in the middle of the novel. The use of symbolism in the novel is extensive, and many objects and characters serve as metaphors for social classes and groups, and often these representations also function as direct satire for various political groups, folkways, and the expectations or prejudices of the time period in which the novel is set. The objects and events that take place in Mary Rambo’s apartment go beyond symbolism to include a forecast of future …

'The Last Honest Film Critic In America': Armond White And The Children Of James Baldwin, Daniel Mcneil

Daniel McNeil

Ruby Dee, 1922-2014, Judith Smith

Judith E. Smith

Ruby Dee was a marvelously expressive actor, and a lifelong risk-taking radical committed to challenging racial and economic inequality. She made history as part of an extraordinary group of Black Arts radicals — including Paul Robeson, Lorraine Hansberry, Harry Belafonte, John O. Killens and Julian Mayfield, as well as her husband Ossie Davis — who actively protested white supremacy and thought deeply about the political implications of conventional racial representations, creating new stories and introducing new Black characters to convey deep truths about Black life.

In small parts and choice roles, Dee’s presence lit up stage and screen. In her …

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 …

Desire And Disaster In New Orleans: Tourism, Race, And Historical Memory, Lynnell Thomas

Lynnell Thomas

Most of the narratives packaged for New Orleans's many tourists cultivate a desire for black culture—jazz, cuisine, dance—while simultaneously targeting black people and their communities as sources and sites of political, social, and natural disaster. In this timely book, the Americanist and New Orleans native Lynnell L. Thomas delves into the relationship between tourism, cultural production, and racial politics. She carefully interprets the racial narratives embedded in tourist websites, travel guides, business periodicals, and newspapers; the thoughts of tour guides and owners; and the stories told on bus and walking tours as they were conducted both before and after Katrina. …

Maya Angelou, Poet, Activist And Singular Storyteller, Dies At 86

Joanne Braxton

The Young White Faces Of Slavery, Mary Niall Mitchell

Mary Niall Mitchell

No abstract provided.

Two Tales Of A City: Nineteenth-Century Black Philadelphia, Nick Salvatore

Nick Salvatore

[Excerpt] In the tension between Forging Freedom and Roots of Violence certain themes present themselves for further research and thought. Neither volume successfully analyzes the historical roots of the African-American class structure. This is especially evident in each book's treatment of the black middling orders. While neither defines the category with clarity, their basic assumption that small shopkeepers and regularly employed workers were critical to the community's ability to withstand some of the worst shocks of racism is important. The clash between these books also raises questions concerning the role of pre-industrial cultural values in the transition to industrial capitalism. …

Black Youth Nonemployment: Duration And Job Search: Comment, Ronald Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Holzer's paper has a number of attributes that I find very appealing. It focuses on an important topic and uses two different data bases to test the robustness of its findings. It uses alternative specifications of the variable of interest (reservation wages), examines the sensitivity of the results to alternative sets of control variables, uses a variety of statistical methods to confront a number of statistical issues, and honestly reports cases in which any of the above leads to differences in results. Finally, the paper does not claim more than the evidence warrants—a feature not present in enough academic …

The Tripled Plot And Center Of Sula, Maureen Reddy

Maureen T. Reddy

Critics of Sula frequently comment on the pervasive presence of death, the uses of a particular cultural and historical background, the split or doubled protagonist (Sula/Nel), and the attention to chronology in the novel. However, as far as I am aware, no one has presented a reading of Sula that explores the interrelatedness of these elements; yet it is the connections among them that most usefully reveal the novel's overall thematic patterns. Sula can be, and has been, read as, among other things, a fable, a lesbian novel, a black female bildungsroman, a novel of heroic questing, and an historical …

Stanford University's Paul Laurence Dunbar Conference-Dunbar: The Originator-Part Ii, Joanne Braxton

Joanne Braxton

Stanford University's Paul Laurence Dunbar Conference-Dunbar:The Originator Part I, Joanne Braxton

Joanne Braxton

Civil Rights, Labor, And Sexual Politics On Screen In Nothing But A Man (1964), Judith Smith

Judith E. Smith

The independently made 1964 film Nothing But a Man is one of a handful of films whose production coincided with new civil rights insurgency and benefited from activists' input. Commonly listed in 1970s surveys of black film, the film lacks sustained critical attention in film studies or in-depth historical analysis given its significance as a landmark text of the 1960s. Documentary-like, but not a documentary, it offers a complex representation of black life, but it was scripted, directed, and filmed by two white men, Michael Roemer and Robert Young. This essay argues that the film's unusual attention to labor and …

Targeting Diseases Beyond Our Borders, Richard Wamai

Richard G. Wamai

No abstract provided.

Atelier@Duke: Intellectuals And Activism, Joanne Braxton

Joanne Braxton

Haitian Creole For Health Care (On Cd), Marc Prou

Marc E. Prou

Haitian Creole for Health Care on CD Haitian Creole for Health Care is a a thematic course in Haitian Creole, especially designed for health care personnel at the beginning-to-intermediate levels. The complete course consists of twenty-four lessons, depicting situations in the context of hospitals, clinics, and health care needs.

Battling Hiv/Aids And The Healthcare Crisis In Africa, Richard Wamai

Richard G. Wamai

No abstract provided.

A Conversation On African Diaspora, Richard Wamai

Richard G. Wamai

No abstract provided.

Toward Collaborative Coalitions: From Internationalism To Interdisciplinarity, Leila Neti

Leila Neti

No abstract provided.

Finding Your Own Voice: Braxton Interviews Cortez, Joanne Braxton

Joanne Braxton

“Foreword”, Marc Prou

Marc E. Prou

The Haitian Creole Language is the first book that deals broadly with a language that has too long lived in the shadow of French. With chapters contributed by the leading scholars in the study of Creole, it provides information on this language's history; structure; and use in education, literature, and social interaction. Although spoken by virtually all Haitians, Creole was recognized as the co-official language of Haiti only a little over twenty years ago. The Haitian Creole Language provides essential information for professionals, other service providers, and Creole speakers who are interested in furthering the use of Creole in Haiti …

Embodying Black Experience: Stillness, Critical Memory, And The Black Body, Harvey Young

Harvey Young

In 1901, George Ward, a lynching victim, was attacked, murdered, and dismembered by a mob of white men, women, and children. As his lifeless body burned in a fire, enterprising white youth cut off his toes and, later, his fingers and sold them as souvenirs. In "Embodying Black Experience," Harvey Young masterfully blends biography, archival history, performance theory, and phenomenology to relay the experiences of black men and women who, like Ward, were profoundly affected by the spectacular intrusion of racial violence within their lives. Looking back over the past two hundred years---from the exhibition of boxer Tom Molineaux and …

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.

Readers Review: “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” By Maya Angelou

Joanne Braxton