African American Studies Commons^™

Political Theory, Activism, And Visual Media: The Ideology Of Protest Symbols, Jilly E. Crane-Mauzy Mx.

Whittier Scholars Program

Art changes culture while policy codifies it. Radical revolutionary movements are often accompanied by equally radical shifts in art and design. I cataloged, compared, and contrasted the semiotic power of three specific symbols and their most significant historical moments in the United States. Through the examination of; Stonewall, The Equality March March Against Death, The Day The World Said No To War, The 1968 Summer Olympics, and The 2020 Black Lives Matter, the shifting of each ideologies symbol from inflammation in the media to recognition showcases the clarifying function along with creating unity and pride in community that is integral …

Marietta J. Tanner, Mark Naison

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

Interviewee: Marietta J. Tanner

Interviewers: Mark Naison, Donna Joseph, Saudah Muhammad

Date: July 2020

Summarized by Sophia Maier

Marietta J. Tanner was born in 1928 in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Influenced by the activism of her father and the wartime experiences of her uncle, Marietta is a life-long political activist. Her parents explained to her from a young age their experiences in Jim Crow era Pennsylvania and by the age of six she was passing out political pamphlets and registering people to vote with the rest of her family. After attending a segregated school in her youth and a brief period …

Law School News: Remembering John Lewis 07-18-2020, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Womxn Of Color In Print Subculture: 1970-2018, Lenora Yee

Summer Research

My research is rooted in the archival analysis of primary alternative print mediums produced by womxn of color collectives. Through the exploration of numerous databases and archives, I analyzed and explored the different ways in which the written word was, and continues to be, utilized by womxn of color as a site for activism. Focusing on the work of five different womxn of color collectives spanning from 1970-2018, I evaluated works by the collectives Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC), Las Buenas Amigas (LBA), The Groit Press (African Ancestral Lesbians), the book #NotYourPrincess Voices of Native American Women and …

Black Student Union 50th Anniversary Closing Remarks, Taylor Terry

Black Student Union

From BSU 50th Anniversary Kick-off Event - Closing Remarks

Black Lives Matter: A Call To Action For Counseling Psychology Leaders, Candice Hargons, Della Mosley, Jameca Falconer, Reuben Faloughi, Anneliese Singh, Danelle Stevens-Watkins, Kevin Cokley

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Police brutality and widespread systemic racism represent historical and current sources of trauma in Black communities. Both the Black Lives Matter movement and counseling psychology propose to confront these realities at multiple levels. Black Lives Matter seeks to increase awareness about systemic racism and promote resilience among Black people. Counseling psychology states values of multiculturalism, social justice, and advocacy. Executive leadership in counseling psychology may seek to promote racial justice, yet struggle with how to participate in Black Lives Matter movements and address racial discrimination within larger systems spontaneously and consistently. However, counseling psychology trainees and professionals are actively involved …

Reimagining Movements: Towards A Queer Ecology And Trans/Black Feminism, Gabriel Benavente

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to bridge feminist and environmental justice movements through the literature of black women writers. These writers create an archive that contribute towards the liberation of queer, black, and transgender peoples.

In the novel Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler constructs a world that highlights the pervasive effects of climate change. As climate change expedites poverty, Americans begin to blame others, such as queer people, for the destruction of their country. Butler depicts the dangers of fundamentalism as a response to climate change, highlighting an imperative for a movement that does not romanticize the environment as heteronormative, but …

Civil Rights Gone Wrong: Racial Nostalgia, Historical Memory, And The Boston Busing Crisis In Contemporary Children’S Literature, Lynnell L. Thomas

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

On May 14, 2014, three white Boston city councilors refused to vote to approve a resolution honoring the sixtieth anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education because, as one remarked, “I didn’t want to get into a debate regarding forced busing in Boston.” Against the recent national proliferation of celebrations of civil rights milestones and legislation, the controversy surrounding the fortieth anniversary of the court decision that mandated busing to desegregate Boston public schools speaks volumes about the historical memory of Boston’s civil rights movement. Two highly acclaimed contemporary works of children’s literature set during or inspired by Boston’s …

Smith, Carolyn & Jack, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Carolyn Smith was born in Metropolitan Hospital and lived in Harlem until around the age of 6 when she moved to the Melrose Housing Development in the early 1940’s. Her mother and a community of friends she grew up with in Hell’s Kitchen would all move around together. They moved around in Harlem a few times before settling in at Melrose. Carolyn discusses a common theme among those who grew up in this time of a sense of community where people in the neighborhood would watch others children. When they moved to Melrose it was a new housing project and …

African American Women Leaders In The Civil Rights Movement: A Narrative Inquiry, Janet Dewart Bell

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to give recognition to and lift up the voices of African American women leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. African American women were active leaders at all levels of the Civil Rights Movement, though the larger society, the civil rights establishment, and sometimes even the women themselves failed to acknowledge their significant leadership contributions. The recent and growing body of popular and nonacademic work on African American women leaders, which includes some leaders’ writings about their own experiences, often employs the terms “advocate” or “activist” rather than “leader.” In the academic literature, particularly on …

Freedom Indivisible: Gays And Lesbians In The African American Civil Rights Movement, Jared E. Leighton

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This work documents the role of sixty gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals in the African American civil rights movement in the pre-Stonewall era. It examines the extent of their involvement from the grassroots to the highest echelons of leadership. Because many lesbians and gays were not out during their time in the movement, and in some cases had not yet identified as lesbian or gay, this work also analyzes how the civil rights movement, and in a number of cases women’s liberation, contributed to their identity formation and coming out. This work also contributes to our understanding of opposition to …

Study Guide For United In Anger: A History Of Act Up, Matt Brim

Open Educational Resources

The United in Anger Study Guide facilitates classroom and activist engagement with Jim Hubbard’s 2012 documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Study Guide contains discussion sections, projects and exercises, and resources for further research about the activism of the New York chapter of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The Study Guide is a free, interactive, multimedia resource for understanding the legacy of ACT UP, the film’s role in preserving that legacy, and its meaning for viewers' lives.

Rhythms Of Rebellion: Artists Creating Dangerously For Social Change, Susan J. Erenrich

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

On December 14, 1957, after winning the Nobel Prize for literature, Albert Camus challenged artists attending a lecture at the University of Uppsala in Sweden to create dangerously. Even though Camus never defined what he meant by his charge, throughout history, artists involved in movements of protest, resistance, and liberation have answered Camus’ call. Quite often, the consequences were costly, resulting in imprisonment, censorship, torture, and death. This dissertation examines the question of what it means to create dangerously by using Camus’ challenge to artists as a starting point. The study then turns its attention to two artists, Augusto Boal …

Everich, William, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

This is a very personal account of Mr. Everich's youth and his involvement in collectives and as a community activist. His parents are Ukraninan and he grew up in the Bronx, in a mixed neighborhood. His father was a violent man, beating his wife and children. He was also a racist man and it was this attitude, juxtaposed with the kindness of the very neighbors that he criticized, that convinced the young William of the injustices of prejudice. Everich discusses his school days and the games they played in the neighborhood, from wiffle ball to building scooters from milk crates. …

Meeting Minutes And Workshop Plans April 1971, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

Workshop notes on the Senate, Government, and Community at University of San Francisco

Ethnic Studies Committee Meeting March 14, 1971, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

Page 1 - Agenda for meeting

Page 2 - Requisitions for Fall 1971 Establishment of Ethnic Studies department

Page 3-10 - Meeting minutes

Page 11 - Letter from Samuel J. Skinner (Sun Reporter)

Page 12 -13 - Letter from Wilson Riles (superintendent of Public Instruction and Director of Education)

Black Community At The University Of San Francisco, Adrienne Landry

Black Student Union

An essay about the Black Community at University of San Francisco. Possibly written by Adrienne Landry but the document is unsigned. May 1st, 1970

Black Student Union Meeting Minutes And Notes, April 1970, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

April 13th, 1970 BSU meeting minutes and Student Body meeting minutes notes from April 30th, 1970.

Happenings Of March 2nd - 12th 1970, Black Perspective Week And Uop Vs. Usf Game, Harold Logwood, Adrienne Landry

Black Student Union

Page 1 - 3/5/1970 A letter to Chairman Al Downing requesting $4,000 for the Black Perspective Week.

Page 2 - 3/2/1970 Letter to the Student Body of McClymond High School requesting attendence of the University of San Francisco vs. University of Pacific basketball game where McClymonds is set to perform at half time.

Page 3 - 3/6/1970 BSU's Reaction to the basketball game. Harold Logwood discusses the racist behavior of the USF rooters and the subsequent "scuffle" that took place.

Page 4/5 - 3/12/1970 Urgent letter to Mohamed Ali detailing the cancellation of the Black Perspective Week and a request …

Conference On The Role Of The Artist In The Cultural Revolution 1970, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

Plan for a two-day conference "On the Role of the Artist in the Cultural Revolution"

Black Reflections 1970, Gwen Harrison, Sandi Flewellen, Harold Logwood

Black Student Union

Black Reflections published by the BSU, 1970

Bsu Critiques Of Usf And The Administration's Response 1970, Black Student Union, Albert Jonsen

Black Student Union

This collection includes a summary of critiques of the University of San Francisco's administration and culture by the BSU (pages 1-6).

Pages 7-11 are a letter from Albert R. Jonsen, USF president detailing the steps taken so far to meet the requests of the BSU and plans for the future.

Pages 7-16 are meeting minutes from the BSU detailing remaining concerns and frustrations.

Page 17 is a letter to Mr. William Grommesch, the Director of Personnel, from Albert Jonsen stressing the importance of being an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Page 18 is a letter from Albert Jonsen to Rev. James M. …

Petition Of The Bsu Proposals 1969, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

This is a petition by the Black Student Union to the Administration of University of San Francisco from 1969. The points include:

• The gymnasium to be renamed in honor of Bill Russell, the Athletic Director Pete Peletta to resign, a Black Athletes Alumni Association be formed, and that the University hire Black coaches for all sports.
• Strengthening and expansion of EOP
• Institution of the Black Studies Program
• Recruitment of Black teachers and counselors

Black Cultural Week Flyer And Bsu Newsletters 1969, Black Student Union, Joseph E. Marshall Jr.

Black Student Union

Documents include a flyer for Black Cultural Week 1969, "dedicated to slain Brother Malcolm X. The flyer shows the week's agenda. The following pages are BSU newsletters from January and February, 1969 explaining the events that will take place during Black Cultural Week, February 17-21, 1969.

Black Student Union Newsletter And Subsequent Flyers Oct. 1968, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

A BSU Newsletter from October 24, 1968 calling members to attend Black Thursday, Oct. 31, 1968 to protest the selection of White, blonde women as Homecoming Queen candidates. The newsletters asks BSU members to handout flyers and write on blackboards to promote the event. The newsletter also mentions the BSU's takeover of the Buchanan Street project SWAP, a Thanksgiving food drive, a tutoring at Sacred Heart Grammar School and a meeting at Joe Marshall's house the upcoming Saturday.

The two following pages are flyers from the Irish Student Union and the Black Student Union protesting the "institutional ethnic prejudice in …

Organizational Plan Of The Black Student Union And First Bsu Ballot 1968, Black Student Union

Black Student Union

Planning notes and format of University of San Francisco's Black Student Union, created in 1968. This group of documents includes the planned format, officers, an organizational flowchart of the BSU members, and the first BSU ballot from Tuesday, September 10th 1968.