Jenny was scared. The courtroom was a new place to her. Even though she was scared, she wanted to be there. Jenny wanted her freedom. She had asked the court to hear her case. She was suing John Whipple Jr., the man who said he was her master. He said Jenny was his slave. She said she was not a slave. Find out how the court case turned out in this exciting 15-minute book. Reading level 2.5
What kind of social studies knowledge can stimulate a critical and ethical dialog with the past and present? "Re-Membering" History in Student and Teacher Learning answers this question by explaining and illustrating a process of historical recovery that merges Afrocentric theory and principles of culturally informed curricular practice to reconnect multiple knowledge bases and experiences. In the case studies presented, K-12 practitioners, teacher educators, preservice teachers, and parents use this praxis to produce and then study the use of democratized student texts; they step outside of reproducing standard school experiences to engage in conscious inquiry about their shared present as a continuance of a shared past. This volume exemplifies not only why instructional materials—including most so-called multicultural materials—obstruct democratized knowledge, but also takes the next step to construct and then study how "re-membered" student texts can be used. Case study findings reveal improved student outcomes, enhanced relationships between teachers and families and teachers and students, and a closer connection for children and adults to their heritage.
This fresh new approach to African-American theology brings two creative theologians into a lively dialogue between womanist and Xodus" thought. Karen Baker-Fletcher writes from the perspective of womanism, reflecting the interlocking issues of sex, class, and race, that characterize the experience of African-American women. Garth KASIMU Baker-Fletcher writes from the perspective of what he has termed Xodus theology. With a name that resonates with reference both to the Exodus story, the Cross, and the self-naming identity of Malcolm X, Xodus reflects the perspective of a new generation of Black theology by males who have responded, among other things, to the challenges of womanist theology. In successive chapters based on core themes of theology, each author lays out his or her position. They then engage in mutual critique and dialogue. Both authors draw widely on the Bible and traditional theology, as well as incorporating elements from both African and African-American religious and cultural expression - from the novels of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker to rap and hip-hop. 'My Sister, My Brother' weaves a bright theological tapestry that integrates female and male experience, traditional and contemporary perspectives, in an African-American theology that promotes survival, resistance, healing, liberation, and transcendence. CONTENTS: Part I God: God as Spirit and Strength of Life; Xodus Intuitions of the Divine. Part II Christ: Immanuel, Jesus as Dust and Spirit; Jesus, the Scandal of a God with a Body. Part III Humanity: Xodus Anthropology; Womanhood, A Way of Being Human. Part IV Generations: Unto All Generations; Unto the Fathers' Fathers. Part V Church: Spirit-Church; Having Church." Part VI: Last Things: Future Now! Xodus Eschatology; Dust to Dust, Spirit to Spirit. A Womanist Eschatology.
In 'History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880' volumes 1 and 2, George Washington Williams meticulously traces the history of African Americans in the United States, providing a comprehensive account of their experiences from the beginning of slavery to the Reconstruction era. Williams' writing style is earnest and informative, blending historical facts with personal reflections and highlighting the resilience of the African American community in the face of adversity. This book serves as an invaluable resource for understanding the complexities of race relations in America during a critical period of transformation. Williams' meticulous research and dedication to uncovering the truth behind the African American experience make this work a standout in the field of African American history. George Washington Williams, a pioneering African American historian and social activist, was driven by a desire to give a voice to the marginalized and advocate for justice and equality. His firsthand experiences with discrimination and oppression fueled his passion for documenting the history of African Americans and shedding light on their contributions to society. I highly recommend 'History of the Negro Race in America' to readers interested in delving into the rich and tumultuous history of African Americans in the United States, as well as those seeking a deeper understanding of the enduring impact of slavery and racism on American society.
In See Justice Done: The Problem of Law in the African American Literary Tradition, author Christopher Michael Brown argues that African American literature has profound and deliberate legal roots. Tracing this throughline from the eighteenth century to the present, Brown demonstrates that engaging with legal culture in its many forms—including its conventions, paradoxes, and contradictions—is paramount to understanding Black writing. Brown begins by examining petitions submitted by free and enslaved Blacks to colonial and early republic legislatures. A virtually unexplored archive, these petitions aimed to demonstrate the autonomy and competence of their authors. Brown also examines early slave autobiographies such as Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative and Mary Prince’s History, which were both written in the form of legal petitions. These works invoke scenes of Black competence and of Black madness, repeatedly and simultaneously. Early Black writings reflect how a Black Atlantic world, organized by slavery, refused to acknowledge Black competence. By including scenes of Black madness, these narratives critique the violence of the law and predict the failure of future legal counterparts, such as Plessy v. Ferguson, to remedy injustice. Later chapters examine the works of more contemporary writers, such as Sutton E. Griggs, George Schuyler, Toni Morrison, and Edward P. Jones, and explore varied topics from American exceptionalism to the legal trope of "colorblindness." In chronicling these interactions with jurisprudential logics, See Justice Done reveals the tensions between US law and Black experiences of both its possibilities and its perils.
Early American libraries stood at the nexus of two transatlantic branches of commerce—the book trade and the slave trade. Slavery and the Making of Early American Libraries bridges the study of these trades by demonstrating how Americans' profits from slavery were reinvested in imported British books and providing evidence that the colonial book market was shaped, in part, by the demand of slave owners for metropolitan cultural capital. Drawing on recent scholarship that shows how participation in London cultural life was very expensive in the eighteenth century, as well as evidence that enslavers were therefore some of the few early Americans who could afford to import British cultural products, the volume merges the fields of the history of the book, Atlantic studies, and the study of race, arguing that the empire-wide circulation of British books was underwritten by the labour of the African diaspora. The volume is the first in early American and eighteenth-century British studies to fuse our growing understanding of the material culture of the transatlantic text with our awareness of slavery as an economic and philanthropic basis for the production and consumption of knowledge. In studying the American dissemination of works of British literature and political thought, it claims that Americans were seeking out the forms of citizenship, constitutional traditions, and rights that were the signature of that British identity. Even though they were purchasing the sovereignty of Anglo-Americans at the expense of African-Americans through these books, however, some colonials were also making the case for the abolition of slavery.
Originally published in 1961, this classic work remains the most comprehensive history of the many and important roles played by African Americans during the American Revolution. With this book, Benjamin Quarles added a new dimension to the military history of the Revolution and addressed for the first time the diplomatic repercussions created by the British evacuation of African Americans at the close of the war. The compelling narrative brings the Revolution to life by portraying those tumultuous years as experienced by Americans at all levels of society. In an introduction, Gary B. Nash traces the evolution of scholarship on African Americans in the American Revolution from its early roots with William C. Nell to this groundbreaking study. Quarles's work not only reshaped our thinking about the black revolutionary experience but also invigorated the study of black history as we know it today. Thad W. Tate, in a foreword, pays tribute to the importance of this work and explains its continuing relevance.
