African American Literature Reflection Paper

Upon graduating high school, I thought I knew everything there was to Black History. We were captured from Africa, forced into slavery for hundreds of years all around the world, became free with repercussions such as discrimination and segregation, and now today we are “officially free”. The Black history I knew, was scattered and filled with holes, which caused me to question my sense of worth. Why were African-Americans the most oppressed people in the world?

African American Studies is a very complex subject. To confuse African American studies with black history is a common occurrence. African American studies is much deeper and more profound than just Black history alone. There are many unanswered and unasked questions among the Black American culture which causes confusion and misunderstanding in modern day society. In unit one there were many themes, concepts, and significant issues in the discipline of Africana studies. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Vivian V. Gordan touched on many concerns.

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

The history of West Africa has its inhabitant traces is almost 6000 years ancient, but the earliest human beings who came here first were almost 12000 BCE. The enhancement in the farming took place after the arrival of a modern ancestor in the fifth millennium. After making connections with other civilizations like Mediterranean ones, the development of iron industry took place in every use of daily life. The common or traditional business of trade for them consisted of cotton, leather, metals, gold against horses, clothes, copper, salt, etc. They were modifying their lifestyles and politics as more as they were coming closer to other communities of the world (Ajayi, 1970).

1 . What issues most concerned black political leaders during Reconstruction? Reconstruction brought important social changes to former slaves. Families that had been separated before and during the Civil War were reunited, and slave marriages were formalized through legally recognized ceremonies. Families also took advantage of the schools established by the Freedmen's Bureau and the expansion of public education, albeit segregated, under the Reconstruction legislatures. New opportunities for higher education also became available with the founding soon after the Civil War of black colleges, such as Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Fisk University in Nashville,

Boudless. (2014, Noverber 14). The platation Economy and Planter Class. Retrieved from U.S History Boundless: https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/slavery-and-reform-1820-1840-16/the-old-south-121/the-plantation-economy-and-the-planter-class-645-6993/

It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of

African-American writing is the collection of writing created in the United States by journalists of African heritage. It starts with the works of such late 18th-century essayists as Phillis Wheatley. Prior to the high purpose of slave stories, African-American writing was commanded via self-portraying profound accounts. African-American writing came to ahead of schedule high focuses with slave accounts of the nineteenth century.

My idea of slavery is, that it is one of the blackest, the wickedest things everywhere in the world. When you tell them the truth, they whip you to make you lie. I have taken more lashes for this, than for any other thing, because I would not lie.One day I set the table, and forgot to put on the carving-fork - the knife was there. I went to the table to put it on a plate. My master said, - "Where is the fork?" I told him "I forgot it." He says, - "You d - d black b - , I'll forget you!" - at the same time hitting me on the head with the carving knife. The blood spurted out - you can see. (Here the woman removed her turban and showed a circular cicatrices denuded of hair, about an inch in diameter, on the top of her head.) My mistress took me into the kitchen and put on camphor, but she could not stop the bleeding. A doctor was sent for. He came but asked no questions. I was frequently punished with raw hides - was hit with tongs and poker and anything. I used when I went out, to look up at the sky, and say, "Blessed Lord, oh, do take me out of this!" It seemed to me I could not bear another lick. I can't forget it. I sometimes dream that I am pursued, and when I wake, I am scared almost to death.{Benjamin Drew was a Boston abolitionist who

“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.

A long time back, offspring of diverse races couldn't go to class together in numerous spots in the United States. School areas could lawfully isolate understudies into diverse schools as per the shade of their skin. The law said these different schools must be equivalent. Notwithstanding, numerous schools for offspring of shading were of lesser quality than the schools for white understudies. Separate schools for blacks and whites turned into an essential tenet in southern culture. Inside of time, the greater part of that was going to change.

During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousands of African-Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. As Locke stated, “the wash and rush of this human tide on the beach line of Northern city centers is to be explained primarily in terms of a new vision of opportunity, of social and economic freedom, of a spirit to seize, even in the face of an extortionate and heavy toll, a chance for the improvement of conditions. With each successive wave of it, the movement of the Negro becomes more and more a mass movement toward the larger

The abolition of slavery in the United States presented southern African Americans with many new opportunities, including the option of relocation in search of better living conditions. The mass movement of black people from the rural areas of the South to the cities of the North, known as the Black Migration, came in the 1890s when black men and women left the south to settle in cities such as Philadelphia and New York, fleeing from the rise of Jim Crowe Laws and searching for work. This migration of blacks from the South has been an important factor in the formation of the Harlem Renaissance. The period referred to as the Harlem Renaissance, was a flourishing period of artistic and literary creation in African-American culture and

African American literature is the body of work produced in the United States by writers of African descent. This particular genre traces back to the works from the late eighteenth century by writers such as Phillis Wheatley to later reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem Renaissance, and thus continuing today with authors such as Colson Whitehead and Maya Angelou. Among the themes and issues explored within African American literature are the roles of African Americans within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and equality. African American writing has also tended to incorporate oral forms such as spirituals, gospel music, jazz, and rap. Dating back to the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a creative dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in culture and social insight. These pieces offer illuminating assessments of American identities as well as its history. Since the time of early slavery African American literature has been overlooked within the literature criticism. This essay thrives to show that within the English profession African American literature does belong alongside the great works such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and poetry as A Road less taken by Robert Frost. I will dive deep into history to not only investigate what critics think about African American literature, but why is it not held to a higher standard just as American