Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

Swerdlow, Marian, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Marian Swerdlow was born on November 8^th, 1949. Her mother was born in the Bronx, and her father’s family emigrated from Russia and lived on the Lower East Side. After marrying, they moved to a small house in Morrisania, at 3660 Park Avenue. Marian’s parents were active members of the communist party, although Marian herself did not find this out until she became involved in Vietnam protests and her parents informed her of their political inclinations.

Marian and her family lived as one of the only white families in their area, although Marian did not grow up with …

Byron, Cyril, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Dr. Cyril O. Byron was born atLincolnHospitalin theBronxonApril 15, 1920. His parents moved fromJamaicatoNew Yorkin the early 1900s. His father, who had been chief chef on Marcus Garvey’s ship, cooked for severalNew York Cityrestaurants and hotels, and founded Byron Caterers, one of theBronx’s largest black owned catering services. His mother did housework for prominentNew York Cityfamilies. Both were politically active, and his mother was a staunch follower of Marcus Garvey. His father was also superintendent for various buildings in which the family resided in theBronx, and Byron recalls doing much custodial work in the buildings with his brother.

In his …

American Commemorative Panels: Kwanzaa, United States Postal Service. Stamp Division

Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr. Stamp Collection

Informational pages for Kwanzaa Commemorative Stamp – American Commemorative Panels, includes images of the stamps, information about the physical stamp and information about Kwanzaa. First issued October 6, 2006.

Speller, Kathryn, Mark Naison

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

Interviewer: Brian Purnell, Princess Okieme

Interviewee: Kathryn Speller

Date of Interview: September 23, 2006

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury, January 31, 2006

Kathryn Speller grew up in what was referred to as welfare island, and then moved to the Bronx in the 1950’s. While growing up in the city, she experienced the racial segregation that limited what areas she was allowed in. She described the racism she experienced in not being allowed in certain places or having to enter buildings through the servants entrances.

While looking to move into the Bronx, Kathryn experienced a lot of difficulty in finding apartments available …

Who Was Cock Robin? A New Reading Of Erna Brodber's Jane And Louisa Will Soon Come Home, Daryl Cumber Dance

English Faculty Publications

Much has been written about the quest of Brodber's protagonist Nellie for identity, for wholeness, for balance, for sanity, for finding her way back home into the community. Nellie's efforts to find herself and to integrate into the community will be easier, Brodber declared in a speech in 1988, "when Jane and Louisa come home, i.e., when the women find themselves" (Notes). Brodber also observed in that same speech, "'coming' rather than 'being' is the appropriate action word with which to address the issue of integration into the community," a fact suggested by the game that gives the title to …

Shedding Light Upon The Shadows: An Examination Of The Use Of Voice As Resistance And Reclamation Of The Black Woman From Enslavement To Freedom., Courtney Erin Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My research examines the enslaved black woman's reclamation of self through the use of voice and resistance from enslavement into freedom. I argue that the enslaved black woman's voice was one that grew stronger and louder, in an effort to have her story heard, through her attempts of reclamation of self and transition from slave to a free woman. I begin with an introduction to the purpose of my research. Chapter one describes my approach to my research. Chapter two describes the conditions of slavery for black women. Chapter three describes enslaved black women's mechanisms of resistance. Chapter four examinations …

Ford, Bernadette, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Inerviewee: Bernadette Jackson Ford

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Date of interview July 28, 1006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Bernadette begins the interview by talking about her parents coming to New York. Both grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and met when they were younger. Neither one of them said that they felt the sting of segregation, and were in New York when most of the civil rights activities were occurring in Birmingham. When they moved to New York, they moved to Harlem with her father’s cousins.

She is the oldest of three and was born in 1958. She …

Chappell, Marguerite, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Marguerite Chappell grew up in the Morrisania area of the Bronx. Her mother was from Atlanta Georgia, and her father was from South Carolina. Her parents moved to New York City for more work, like most other people, she says. They first moved to Brooklyn, and when the Forest Houses were completed, they moved to the Bronx. Her mother worked as an educator at P.S. 140 in the Bronx and she was also a paraprofessional. She describes her mother as one of a group of people who helped reshape the face of her neighborhood, and Marguerite saw her as an …

Schlitten, Don, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

No abstract provided.

"A Contingent Somebody": Hannibal Hamlin's Claim For A First Reading Of The Emancipation Proclamation, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

On more than one occasion, the historical record has implied that Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a hastily composed document: an impulsive reaction to military events surrounding the Civil War. In fact, it was an evolving idea that began to take shape long before Lincoln had read the initial draft of the Proclamation to his cabinet on July 22, 1862. A closer look at the role of Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin of Maine during the most divisive presidency in American history sheds new light on the consideration and deliberation that went into drafting a document that, on January 1, 1863, essentially …

Abroad At Home: Xenomania And Voluntary Exile In The Middle Passage, Salt, And Tide Running, Kevin Frank

Publications and Research

This essay re-examines the causes and consequences of Caribbean alienation, with implications for understanding alienation in other postcolonial societies. The author argues that while externalization does follow colonial incursions or international travel by the colonized, exile and alienation also result from emotional or psychological migrations within the mind, a consequence of neocolonial mechanisms tied to globalization.

White, Nat And Drayton, Bernard, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Nat White and Bernard Drayton were the men responsible for producing a series of jazz concerts at the Blue Morocco in the 1960’s. The Blue Morocco was located on Boston Road and 167^th, but today no longer exists. The two men worked for Del Shields who was a DJ for WLIB FM, playing all jazz for 12 hours after midnight. Del knew Sylvia and Joe Robinson who owned the Blue Morocco. They began recording these jazz concerts on Monday nights for WLIB FM radio around 1964 and continued until 1967. While these jazz concerts were successful, it was …

Bataan, Joe, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

173/4(?)^th Interview

Interviewee: Joe Bataan

Interviewer: Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon

Interview took place June 12, 2006

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 2-1-07

Bataan Nitalano’s mother is African-American and his father is Philippine. His father joined the navy and did a lot of seasonal work as a short-order cook. Bataan would see his father only six months of the year. His racially mixed family was a rarity in Spanish Harlem where he grew up. His father was Catholic and his mother encouraged his attending Church. Although the neighborhood was mostly Spanish, there was a lot of Blacks, Chinese and Jewish people …

Milano And Singleton, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Ms. Milano and Ms. Singleton are the Principal and Vice Principal of P.S. 153 in the Co-op City section of the Bronx. Ms. Milano grandparents were born inItaly, but her parents were raised inAmerica. Ms. Milano’s father was born and raised on115th Streetand Hone and her mother was born and raised onBathgate Avenueand181st Street. Milano’s parents married and moved toGlover Street, nearWestchester AvenueandHavemeyer Avenue. After Ms. Milano was born, the family moved to thePelham Parkwaysection of theBronx. Ms. Singleton parents originate fromSouth Carolina. Her mother moved toCentral Islip,Long Islandand her father was living inHarlem. After Ms. Singleton’s parents were married, …

Faire Taire Les Silences Du Corps Noir, Cilas Kemedjio

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

From the middle passage to modern day red light districts, from human zoos to the “compassionate” forum of the TV screen, the display of the black body has long formed the narrative thread of a monologue uttered by a West pleased with the sound of its own voice. The staging of the black body can be said to have rendered black voices silent, and this study sets out to break this silence.

L’Imagination Du Corps Greffé : Filtres Bilingues, Mireille Rosello

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Contemporary narratives featuring organ transplants speak of a painful but also life-saving contact when the “donor” body is African and the receiving body is European. At this point the surgical operation and that of the imagination assume a whole other dimension, as the inequality and interdependence of these two bodies invite the reader to re-imagine the links between the concept of the “body,” on the one hand, and culture and language, on the other. This article looks at the transplanted body as an imagining machine capable of articulating a vision of itself different from the one that words impose upon …

Martinez, Tony, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Tony and his family immigrated to the US as refugees from Cuba in 1966. When the family moved to the Bronx, they were living in an apartment in a cardboard factory. His father was also a worker at a cardboard factory in Long Island City. Unfortunately, when he immigrated, he spoke no English and was consequently put into the special education class at PS 26. One teacher that particularly inspired him was Mr. Krinler. He was able to teach Tony and because of Mr. Krinler’s efforts, Tony was moved into the top class of his grade. When he was in …

Hines, Eric And Johnson, Lance And Wheeler, David, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewers: Brian Purnell, Mark Naison, Princess Okieme, Dolores Munoz

Interviewees: Eric Hines, Lance Johnson, Joshua Wheeler

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury

Eric “DJ Cool Clyde” Hines and Lance “DJ Lightnin’ Lance” Johnson were both born and raised in theBronxin the 1960’s. Eric Hines was born July 31, 1966 and grew up in the Soundview section of theBronx, in the Skylar House. Lance Johnson was born August 6, 1962 and was raised mostly in the Lafayette-Boynton Avenue Houses betweenStory AvenueandBoynton Avenue. Both men briefly discussed their childhoods and the negative environments of drugs and gangs that attracted many children their age. Hines …

Is The Civil Rights Movement Really Dead: The Social Philosophy Of Congressman John Lewis, Kevin Hoover

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

The path from rural Pike County, Alabama to the floor of the nation's Capitol was one litters with hatred, bigotry, and injustice for John Lewis; however, it was this true American hero who helped pave-over this scarred road with tolerance, truth, and compassion in the hopes of building "The Beloved Community." Born the son of two sharecroppers 1940, John Lewis entered a world which subjected him to the harshest times of segregation and souther racism. Over the next sixty-six years of his life, Lewis would dedicate himself to not just the cause of black Americans, but moreover, to the cause …

Conzo, Joe Jr., Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Joe Conzo, Jr.

Interviewer: Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon, Marvin Cabrerra

Interview on May 9, 2006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Joe Conzo is the first hip-hop photographer and was born February 6, 1963. His grandmother Evelina Antonetty was a community activist. She moved from Puerto Rico to the Bronx and immediately got involved with politics in the 1950’s. She started the United Bronx Parents. His entire family, starting with his grandmother, stayed in the Motthaven area of the Bronx and all attended P.S 25. He grew up in the St. Mary’s Projects on 149^th street. Music played a very …

"Don't Believe The Hype": The Construction And Export Of African American Images In Hip-Hop Culture., John Ike Sewell Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines recurring motifs and personas in hip-hop.

Interviews with influential hip-hop scholars, writers and music industry personnel were conducted and analyzed using qualitative methods. Interview subjects were selected based on their insider knowledge as music critics, hip-hop scholars, ethnomusicologists, publicists, and music industry positions.

The vast majority of constructed imagery in hip-hop is based on a single persona, the gangsta. This qualitative analysis reveals why gangsta personas and motifs have become the de facto imagery of hip-hop. Gangsta imagery is repeatedly presented because it sells, it is the most readily-available role, and because of music industry pressures.

This …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 81, No. 47 [51], Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles in this issue:

• Brandenburg, Katie. Commuters Join Global Fight - Uganda
• Brandenburg, Katie. Student Government Association Budget has $30K Remaining
• Coulter, Amber. Sigma Alpha Epsilons Break Ground on New House
• Harrell, Bobby. Searching for Truth, Team Finds Trophies – WKU Forensics Team
• McNamara, Andrew. Campus Updates, Repairs Picked Based on Priority
• Wooden, Kevin. Herald Not Responsible for Lack of Student Government Association Enthusiasm on Campus
• Kerby, Molly. Western Should Not be Deterred by Arson Attacking Cherry
• BSAs Should be Thanked – Building Service Attendants, Cherry Hall
• Coulter, Amber. …

Effects Of Extended Time Programs On The Academic Achievement And School Attendance Of African American Students And Students In Poverty In Title I Schools In The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Cathlin S. Gray

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study examined the effects of participation in after school programs and summer programs on the academic achievement and school attendance rates of students living in poverty and African American students who attended Title I schools in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) in Evansville, Indiana during the 2004 school year. The researcher examined data from the 2004 Indiana State-wide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP+) test for students in grades 3-9, school attendance rates and the number of days a student attended after school or summer programs. The results of this study indicate that there is a significant difference between …

The Unknown Struggle : A Comparative Analysis Of Women In The Black Power Movement., Elizabeth Michele Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis comparatively analyzes the experiences and roles of women in the United States and Caribbean Black Power Movements. Using the Black Panther Party and Trinidadian National Joint Action Committee as case studies, the researcher isolates similarities and differences among women in these two regions of the African Diaspora. Black Feminist and Caribbean Feminist theoretical perspectives aide in understanding how the interlocking social forces of race, class, and gender impacted women participating in the Black Nationalist movement of the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Theresa, Loretta, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Her mother and father were from St. Croix, Virgin Islands and St. John’s, Antigua respectively and they met at St. Mark the Evangelist School. They both graduated from St. Mark’s Elementary School, and they married when they were about 18-19 years old. The family lived initially in Harlem but when her parents separated, she moved with her mother to the Bronx, which she felt was “less crowded … just so bright and so beautiful.” She joined the Franciscan Handmaids of Mary, after some sisters from the Oblate Sisters of Providence from Maryland visited the Blessed Sacrament Sisters, and a nun …

Implications For Using Transpersonal Art Therapy With African Americans, Robin Coley Wooling

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Very little art therapy literature on racial and cultural themes exists. The purpose of this study was to expand on the literature that explores the use of art therapy with African Americans. The goal of this study was to determine if transpersonal art therapy would be an appropriate modality for working with African Americans.

Interaction with art materials, especially among adults, seems to be universal. Adults are initially nervous about their artistic abilities, but once at ease, are able to communicate their thoughts and feelings using the art media. In this study, the workshop participants’ reactions to using art materials …

Lightfoot, Joceyln, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Jocelyn Lightfoot

Interviewer: Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Jocelyn Lightfoot was an immigrant from Antigua and was born on October 6, 1946. She was number 4 out of 7 and her father was a mechanic and her mother a housewife. She had a very strict upbringing and did not go to many parties. For social activity, her family often went to picnics. She went to Christ theKingHigh School, which was a Catholic school although her family was Anglican. She first visited theUSin 1968. She was able to visit theUSfrequently because of her job with an …

Sabb, George And Mubarak, Naeme, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewees: Naeme Mubarak and George Sabb

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison and his Spring 06’ Oral History of the African American Experience Class

Date of Interview: April 23, 2006

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Naeme Mubarak and George Sabb are siblings who grew up on Boston Road in the Bronx. Their mother and father were originally from South Carolina and migrated to New York City during the early 1930’s. Their first stop was Brooklyn and they moved around quite a bit in the following six years until they finally settled on Boston Road in 1941. Their father worked in a steel mill …

Baily, Mary, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

158^th Interview

Interviewee: Mary Bailey

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Interview took place April 21, 2006

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 1-17-07

Bailey is a retired nuclear Medicine Technologist and grew up in Morrisania. Bailey’s parents are originally from South Carolina, but she was born in Harlem on 138^th Street. When she was six years old, the family moved to the Bronx. Bailey was baptized, but not necessarily raised with a Catholic upbringing because her mother had some issues with the Church after St. Augustine’s refused to enroll Bailey in their school. The family originally moved to Boston Road, but then …

Sanderson, Shelley, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Shelley Sanderson, a Spanish teacher in Co-op City, grew up in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. Sanderson spent her early elementary school years in the late 1950s living in her maternal grandmother’s apartment on Boston Road, which was shared amongst twelve family members. She explains that children in the family were independent and responsible, and that neighbors looked out for one another and the children. Girls and boys played outdoor games such as jump rope and Johnny on the Pony respectively, and boys’ stickball games were big neighborhood events. Music was a constant presence in Sanderson’s life growing up. …