African American Studies
A guide with resources and tips for doing research in African American Studies
Ethnic Studies Librarian
Books in the Library
- The African American Experience by Arvarh E. Strickland; Robert E. WeemsCall Number: E184.65 .A37 2001ISBN: 0313065004Publication Date: 2001Contents; Preface; African American Migration and Urbanization; The African American Worker in Slavery and Freedom; African American Families: Historically Resilient; African American Women; The African American Educational Experience; The African American Literary Tradition; The African American Musical Experience: There's a Story in the Song; African American Intellectual and Political Thought; The African American Political Experience; The African American Press; African Americans in the Military of the United States; The African American Athletic Experience
Constructing an Historiography of African American BusinessSexuality and Race; African American Consumerism; The Civil Rights Movement; African American Religion in the United States; Index; About the Editors and Contributors
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references and index. - Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies by Ernest CashmoreCall Number: GN495.6 .C37 2004ISBN: 0203380703Publication Date: 2004-03-01Developed from the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations, now in its fourth edition, Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studieshas been assembled by a world-class team of international scholars led by Ellis Cashmore to provide an authoritative, single-volume reference work on all aspects of race and ethnic studies. From Aboriginal Australians to xenophobia, Nelson Mandela to Richard Wagner, sexuality to racial profiling, the Encyclopediais organized alphabetically and reflects cultural diversity in a global context. The entries range from succinct 400 word definitions to in-depth 2000 word essays to provide comprehensive coverage of: all the key terms, concepts and debates important figures, both historical and contemporary landmark cases historical events Although unafraid to engage with cutting-edge theory, the Encyclopediais uncluttered by jargon and has been written in a lucid, 'facts-fronted' style to offer an accessible introduction to race and ethnic studies. The Encyclopediais also fully cross-referenced and thoroughly indexed with most entries followed by annotated up-to-date suggestions for further reading to guide the user to the key sources. It is destined to become an essential resource for scholars and students of race and ethnic studies, as well as a handy reference for journalists and others working in the field.
- The SAGE handbook of race and ethnic studies by Hill Collins, Patricia.; Solomos, JohnISBN: 1446248356Publication Date: 2010Situating race and ethnic studies / Patricia Hill Collins and John Solomos -- Theorising race and ethnicity : contemporary paradigms and perspectives / Caroline Knowles -- Studying 'race' and ethnicity : dominant and marginalised discourses in the critical North American case / Joe R. Feagin and Eileen O'Brien -- Researching race and ethnicity : methodological issues / Nancy A. Denton and Glenn D. Deane -- The spirit lives on : races and disciplines / Chetan Bhatt -- Racism, class and the dialectics of social transformation / Satnam Virdee -- The nexus of race and gender : parallels, linkages, and divergences in race and gender studies / Margaret L. Andersen -- Ethnicities and sexualities / Joane Nagel -- Nation and post-nation : nationalism, transnationalism and intersections of belonging / Floya Anthias -- Multiculturalism and racial democracy : state policies and social practices / Peter Kivisto -- Law, critical race theory and related scholarship / Athena D. Mutua -- Ethnic conflict / Ralph Premdas -- Globalisation, migration and citizenship / Liza Schuster -- The family as a race institution / Maxine Baca Zinn -- Race, ethnicity and education : the search for explanations / James A. Banks and Caryn Park -- Still the 'most segregated hour' : religion, race and the American experience / Cheryl Townsend Gilkes -- Whiteness in the dramaturgy of racism / Les Back -- No longer invisible : Afro-Latin political mobilisation / Michael G. Hanchard and Mark Q. Sawyer -- Diaspora and hybridity / Claire Alexander -- Issues for the twenty-first century / Patricia Hill Collins and John Solomos.
What is the state of race and ethnic studies today? How has the field emerged? What are the core concepts, debates and issues? This panoramic, critical survey of the field supplies researchers and students with a vital resource.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
- The Most Defining Moments in Black History According to Dick Gregory by Dick GregoryCall Number: E185 .G759 2017ISBN: 9780062448699Publication Date: 2017-09-05With his trademark acerbic wit, incisive humor, and infectious paranoia, one of our foremost comedians and most politically engaged civil rights activists looks back at 100 key events from the complicated history of black America. A friend of luminaries including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers, and the forebear of today's popular black comics, including Larry Wilmore, W. Kamau Bell, Damon Young, and Trevor Noah, Dick Gregory was a provocative and incisive cultural force for more than fifty years. As an entertainer, he always kept it indisputably real about race issues in America, fearlessly lacing laughter with hard truths. As a leading activist against injustice, he marched at Selma during the Civil Rights movement, organized student rallies to protest the Vietnam War; sat in at rallies for Native American and feminist rights; fought apartheid in South Africa; and participated in hunger strikes in support of Black Lives Matter. In this collection of thoughtful, provocative essays, Gregory charts the complex and often obscured history of the African American experience. In his unapologetically candid voice, he moves from African ancestry and surviving the Middle Passage to the creation of the Jheri Curl, the enjoyment of bacon and everything pig, the headline-making shootings of black men, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A captivating journey through time, Defining Moments in Black History explores historical movements such as The Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance, as well as cultural touchstones such as Sidney Poitier winning the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies in the Field and Billie Holiday releasing Strange Fruit. An engaging look at black life that offers insightful commentary on the intricate history of the African American people, Defining Moments in Black History is an essential, no-holds-bar history lesson that will provoke, enlighten, and entertain.
- Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin; Edward P. Jones (Foreword by)Call Number: E185.61 .B2 2012ISBN: 9780807006115Publication Date: 2012-11-20In an age of Black Lives Matter, James Baldwin's essays on life in Harlem, the protest novel, movies, and African Americans abroad are as powerful today as when they were first written. With documentaries like I Am Not Your Negro bringing renewed interest to Baldwin's life and work, Notes of a Native Son serves as a valuable introduction. Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in "The Harlem Ghetto" to a sobering "Journey to Atlanta." Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the twentieth century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic. His criticism on topics such as the paternalism of white progressives or on his own friend Richard Wright's work is pointed and unabashed. He was also one of the few writing on race at the time who addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses. Naturally, this combination of brazen criticism and unconventional empathy for white readers won Baldwin as much condemnation as praise. Notes is the book that established Baldwin's voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin's own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.
- River Flows on by Walter C. RuckerCall Number: E447 .R83 2006ISBN: 0807148873Publication Date: 2008-01-01The River Flows On offers an impressively broad examination of slave resistance in America, spanning the colonial and antebellum eras in both the North and South and covering all forms of recalcitrance, from major revolts and rebellions to everyday acts of disobedience. Walter C. Rucker analyzes American slave resistance with a keen understanding of its African influences, tracing the emergence of an African American identity and culture. Rucker points to the shared cultural heritage that facilitated collective action among both African- and American-born slaves, such as the ubiquitous belief in conjure and spiritual forces, the importance of martial dance and the drum, and ideas about the afterlife and transmigration. Focusing on the role of African cultural and sociopolitical forces, Rucker gives in-depth attention to the 1712 New York City revolt, the 1739 Stono rebellion in South Carolina, the 1741 New York conspiracy, Gabriel Prosser's 1800 Richmond slave plot, and Denmark Vesey's 1822 Charleston scheme. He concludes with Nat Turner's 1831 revolt in Southampton, Virginia, which bore the marks of both conjure and Christianity, reflecting a new, African American consciousness. With rich evidence drawn from anthropology, archaeology, and religion, The River Flows On is an innovative and convincing study.
- Beyond Blackface by W. Fitzhugh Brundage (Editor)ISBN: 1469602962Publication Date: 2011-07-15This collection of thirteen essays, edited by historian W. Fitzhugh Brundage, brings together original work from sixteen scholars in various disciplines, ranging from theater and literature to history and music, to address the complex roles of black performers, entrepreneurs, and consumers in American mass culture during the early twentieth century. Moving beyond the familiar territory of blackface and minstrelsy, these essays present a fresh look at the history of African Americans and mass culture. With subjects ranging from representations of race in sheet music illustrations to African American interest in Haitian culture, Beyond Blackface recovers the history of forgotten or obscure cultural figures and shows how these historical actors played a role in the creation of American mass culture. The essays explore the predicament that blacks faced at a time when white supremacy crested and innovations in consumption, technology, and leisure made mass culture possible. Underscoring the importance and complexity of race in the emergence of mass culture, Beyond Blackface depicts popular culture as a crucial arena in which African Americans struggled to secure a foothold as masters of their own representation and architects of the nation's emerging consumer society. The contributors are: Davarian L. Baldwin, Trinity College W. Fitzhugh Brundage, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Clare Corbould, University of Sydney Susan Curtis, Purdue University Stephanie Dunson, Williams College Lewis A. Erenberg, Loyola University Chicago Stephen Garton, University of Sydney John M. Giggie, University of Alabama Grace Elizabeth Hale, University of Virginia Robert Jackson, University of Tulsa David Krasner, Emerson College Thomas Riis, University of Colorado at Boulder Stephen Robertson, University of Sydney John Stauffer, Harvard University Graham White, University of Sydney Shane White, University of Sydney
- Black Culture and Experience by Venise T. Berry (Editor); Ayo Dayo (Editor); Anita Fleming-Rife (Editor)Call Number: E185.86 .B5246 2015ISBN: 9781433126475Publication Date: 2015-09-30Black Culture and Experience: Contemporary Issues offers a holistic look at Black culture in the twenty-first century. It is a collection of work that creates a synergy among authors and leads to a valuable resource on contemporary issues. Part One examines institutional, societal, and political issues like identity politics; the Rooney Rule; prosperity gospel; inequality in the criminal justice system; the American dream; the future of Black and Africana studies; and President Obama's double consciousness. Part Two investigates social, cultural, and community issues such as the Affordable Care Act; Black women and obesity; Black men's experience in marriage and relationships; sexual decision making; interracial relationships; and cultural racism. Part Three explores media, pop culture, and technology issues including the rise of urban fiction; hip hop and feminism; race in Super Bowl commercials; the construction of Black Diasporic identities; Whiteness in Black-oriented films; Black masculinity in Django Unchained; and the power of Black Twitter. This anthology contains work from leading scholars, authors, and other specialists who have been brought together to highlight key issues in black culture and experience today. The goal is to help readers understand where we are and where we still need to go, what is working and what we still need to work on, what is right and what is still wrong.
- Black Mirror by Eric LottCall Number: P94.5.A372 U559 2017ISBN: 9780674967717Publication Date: 2017-09-25Blackness, as the entertainment and sports industries well know, is a prized commodity in American pop culture. Marketed to white consumers, black culture invites whites to view themselves in a mirror of racial difference, while at the same time offering the illusory reassurance that they remain "wholly" white. Charting a rich landscape that includes classic American literature, Hollywood films, pop music, and investigative journalism, Eric Lott reveals the hidden dynamics of this self-and-other mirroring of racial symbolic capital. Black Mirror is a timely reflection on the ways provocative representations of racial difference serve to sustain white cultural dominance. As Lott demonstrates, the fraught symbolism of racial difference props up white hegemony, but it also tantalizingly threatens to expose the contradictions and hypocrisies upon which the edifice of white power has been built. Mark Twain's still-controversial depiction of black characters and dialect, John Howard Griffin's experimental cross-racial reporting, Joni Mitchell's perverse penchant for cross-dressing as a black pimp, Bob Dylan's knowing thefts of black folk music: these instances and more show how racial fantasy, structured through the mirroring of identification and appropriation so visible in blackface performance, still thrives in American culture, despite intervening decades of civil rights activism, multiculturalism, and the alleged post-racialism of the twenty-first century. In Black Mirror, white and black Americans view themselves through a glass darkly, but also face to face.
- The Harlem Renaissance: a Very Short Introduction by Cheryl A. WallCall Number: PS153.N5 W327 2016ISBN: 9780199335558Publication Date: 2016-07-05The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural awakening among African Americans between the two world wars. It was the cultural phase of the "New Negro" movement, a social and political phenomenon that promoted a proud racial identity, economic independence, and progressive politics. In this Very Short Introduction, Cheryl A. Wall captures the Harlem Renaissance's zeitgeist by identifying issues and strategies that engaged writers, musicians, and visual artists alike. She introduces key figures such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, and Jean Toomer, alongwith such signature texts as "Mother to Son," "Harlem Shadows," and Cane. In examining the "New Negro," she looks at the art of photographer James Van der Zee and painters Archibald Motley and Laura Wheeler and the way Marita Bonner, Jessie Fauset, and Nella Larsen explored the dilemmas of genderidentity for New Negro women. Focusing on Harlem as a cultural capital, Wall covers theater in New York, where black musicals were produced on Broadway almost every year during the 1920s. She also depicts Harlem nightlife with its rent parties and clubs catering to working class blacks, wealthywhites, and gays of both races, and the movement of Renaissance artists to Paris.From Hughes's "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" to W.E.B. Du Bois's novel Dark Princess, black Americans explored their relationship to Africa. Many black American intellectuals met African intellectuals in Paris, where they made common cause against European colonialism and race prejudice. Folklore -spirituals, stories, sermons, and dance - was considered raw material that the New Negro artist could alchemize into art. Consequently, they applauded the performance of spirituals on the concert stage by artists like Roland Hayes and Paul Robeson. The Harlem Renaissance left an indelible mark notonly on African American visual and performing arts, but, as Cheryl Wall shows, its legacies are all around us.
- Reading Contemporary African American Literature by Beauty BraggISBN: 0739188798Publication Date: 2014-11-12Reading Contemporary African American Literature focuses on the subject of contemporary African American popular fiction by women. Bragg's study addresses why such work should be the subject of scholarly examination, describes the events and attitudes which account for the critical neglect of this body of work, and models a critical approach to such narratives that demonstrates the distinctive ways in which this literature captures the complexities of post-civil rights era black experiences. In making her arguments regarding the value of popular writing, Bragg argues that black women's popular fiction foregrounds gender in ways that are frequently missing from other modes of narrative production. They exhibit a responsiveness and timeliness to the shifting social terrain which is reflected in the rapidly shifting styles and themes which characterize popular fiction. In doing so, they extend the historical function of African American literature by continuing to engage the black body as a symbol of political meaning in the social context of the United States. In popular literature Beauty Bragg locates a space from which black women engage a variety of public discourses.
- No Tea, No Shade by E. Patrick Johnson (Editor)Call Number: E185.625 .N59 2016ISBN: 9780822362227Publication Date: 2016-10-28The follow-up to the groundbreaking Black Queer Studies, the edited collection No Tea, No Shade brings together nineteen essays from the next generation of scholars, activists, and community leaders doing work on black gender and sexuality. Building on the foundations laid by the earlier volume, this collection's contributors speak new truths about the black queer experience while exemplifying the codification of black queer studies as a rigorous and important field of study. Topics include "raw" sex, pornography, the carceral state, gentrification, gender nonconformity, social media, the relationship between black feminist studies and black trans studies, the black queer experience throughout the black diaspora, and queer music, film, dance, and theater. The contributors both disprove naysayers who believed black queer studies to be a passing trend and respond to critiques of the field's early U.S. bias. Deferring to the past while pointing to the future, No Tea, No Shade pushes black queer studies in new and exciting directions. Contributors. Jafari S. Allen, Marlon M. Bailey, Zachary Shane Kalish Blair, La Marr Jurelle Bruce, Cathy J. Cohen, Jennifer DeClue, Treva Ellison, Lyndon K. Gill, Kai M. Green, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Kwame Holmes, E. Patrick Johnson, Shaka McGlotten, Amber Jamilla Musser, Alison Reed, Ram#65533;n H. Rivera-Servera, Tanya Saunders, C. Riley Snorton, Kaila Story, Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley, Julia Roxanne Wallace, Kortney Ziegler
- Are All the Women Still White? by Janell Hobson (Editor)Call Number: E185.86 .A74 2016ISBN: 9781438460598Publication Date: 2016-05-01Provides a contemporary response to such landmark volumes as All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave and This Bridge Called My Back.
Suggested Search Terms
- African Americans
- African Americans--Civil rights--History
- African Americans--Race identity
- African Americans--Social conditions
- African Americans and mass media
- African Americans in art
- African Americans in literature
- African Americans in popular culture
- African American women
When searching with these terms, make sure the search parameters are Subject is (exact) or contains. You can then narrow your search by adding your topic, such as gender, politics, or popular culture on a new search line using AND.
- Last Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:48 PM
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