Hi Teresa Analysis

The role of African American has changed over the centuries. They were treated differently because of their skin color. They were treated like property for others uses however change happened. It was not a easy matter to change but one of the main reason it did change was because Martin Luther King and his speech “I have a Dream”.

African Americans have fought a great battle to become a part of society in America. Since being taken from African as slaves in the 1600’s there has been a continuous battle for equality since. Since the end of slavery Black Americans have had many accomplishments along with hardships. In this paper I will discuss some of the Major events in African American history beginning with the end of slavery which has lead to the America we know today.

Still between 1865 and 1876, there was a culture identity crisis for African Americans. We cannot explain the roots of African American culture without

Africans have, since the early settlement of America, has had a great influence in the nation’s growth. These contributions to the United States from enslaved Africans have been greatly portrayed in American culture. Varying from cuisine, to song and dance are not only portrayed today but it has a deep-rooted impact throughout the United States. During the middle passage, enslaved Africans were forced to abandon their everyday lives, their families and their homes and forced to adapt to a new lifestyle they knew nothing of. However, upon arrival into the New World, due to their prior knowledge and wisdom from back home, they were able to quickly adapt and custom themselves to this new lifestyle in order to survive with the hope of potentially one day returning back to Africa. Unfortunately, African contributions to the culture of the United States has received little to no recognition and it has been taken credit for by Europeans and Whites since the early establishment of the United States.

Many of our life lessons were often given by our elders in the form of stories, jokes, and the spirituals which serve often song in the fields, as well as, on Sunday mornings. Yet, as a people, we thought it necessary to hold on these priceless teachings because it has served as the only link to our African ancestry. African American culture is both part of and distinct from American culture. African Americans have contributed literature, agricultural skills, foods, clothing, dance, and language to American culture.

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

During the 1920’s there was jazz and in the 1930s there was swing, in today’s society there is now a hip hop and rap genre. There are still great authors out there but nothing beats a book from Langston Hughes or a word of poetry by Maya Angelou. Art is still a beautiful thing but in modern society people barley capture a picture to tell a story but more so a selfie to tell how their day is going. The Harlem Renaissance opened up the doors of society to see the world as a different place. A place where blacks and whites can be seen in public as equals sharing a laugh. However due to the increase in technology there is barley any interactions apart from on Facebook, Snapchat or even Instagram. Instead of going to a poetry club, it is easier to read a poem from a Kindle Fire that was bought from Amazon. The Harlem Renaissance allowed African Americans to have a sense of expression, self-determination and unity. Unfortunately, in today’s society there is a sense of expression and self-determination but a lack of unity. The only time when us African Americans come together is when someone from a different race attacks us: yet daily we attack ourselves as a race. There is self-determination but it operates under the Machiavelli phrase “by any means necessary”, instead of working together to get to the top we tear each other down for our own self riches. Yes, there is a sense of expression but instead of motivation to move up through the ranks of the world, we express ourselves by saying and doing the things the white man use to do to us, to our own self. Instead of speaking positive things of our people and culture we bash them and turn to the Latin and Caucasians and worship them. During the Harlem Renaissance the African Americans came together through song, music and writing that their voices maybe heard, that their identity will be restored as a black community. The Harlem Renaissance allowed us

There is no doubt that African Americans have a rich cultural background and history like the many different ethnic groups who settled in the New World, whose origins lie in another country. For this reason, America was known as the melting pot. However, the backgrounds of each of these cultures were not always understood or, in the case of African Americans, accepted among the New World society and culture. Americans were ignorant to the possibility of differences among groups of people until information and ideas started to emerge, particularly, the African retention theories. This sparked an interest in the field of African culture and retention in African Americans. However, the study of African American culture truly emerged as a result of increased awareness in America, specifically through the publication and findings of scholarly research and cultural events like the Harlem Renaissance where all ethnicities were able to see this rich historical culture of African Americans.

Since the first slaves arrived in America in 1619, to Jamestown, Virginia in order to harvest tobacco , African Americans have been faced with many oppressions and have faced a long fight for freedom. After the abolishment of slavery due to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865, formally the 13th Amendment, lead to the Reconstruction Era. The Reconstruction Era brought great hope for African Americans. This brought some change, many schools were establish and blacks were elected into public offices. This period became known as the “Negro Rule” Era, unfortunately, their progress was short lived.

During the 1920s through the 1930s, blacks weren’t fulfilled with the way they were living. Before the Harlem Renaissance began, African Americans faced poor conditions in which they were treated. They had no rights and were given nothing during their time in the south. Blacks living in the south were treated as slaves. They were treated like dirt that the people of higher power could walk over. Many African Americans were promised things that they never received. For example, land, they wanted land in which they could use. They were guaranteed this land, but never got what they asked for. These people faced much grief and wanted to change this. They wanted to start a new life of freedom and respect. Thanks to the Harlem Renaissance, African Americans were able to accomplish this. The Harlem Renaissance supported African Americans through art, music and literature.

When slavery finally came to end, a lot of the African Americans had the ability to be free. The white community was no longer in control. The African American community had extended to where they had the chance to have their own churches that (only) allowed the same ethnicity. Having their own church allowed them to speak and express their rights along each other. If they were to

The Harlem Renaissance was a movement of new works in art and literature from African Americans in New York from about 1910 to about 1940. Harlem was originally a neighborhood consisting of white upper class people until the Great Migration, when large numbers of African Americans flocked to Harlem, causing some Whites to leave. The government in the South had made laws which stated that Blacks could now own their own lands but instead, former laws were reestablished, resulting in these blacks that had now owned land, in debt to former owners, causing the creation of Sharecroppers. They were given a choice between labor contracts which would fundamentally mean they were slaves once more or to be evicted from their homes. Eventually, this caused the Great Migration. These African Americans started migrating to the urban areas of the North to look for better lives and to seek work from businesses looking for cheap labor. (“Sharecropping”, 2010.)

The “Americanization” process of slaves brought to America is one that has been debated. Some say the slaves brought to America quickly abandoned most of their African ways and adopted the dominant culture against those who stress the continuing African cultural legacy among black Americans. The Africans that were brought to America involuntarily essentially remained Africans at heart. The descendants of Africans that were brought to America were not like the original Africans or white Americans. They were heavily influenced by the behavior of their masters but maintained some of their African culture. They formed a new culture known as African-American.

For many years, African-American culture developed separately from Westernized culture, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America. As a result, African-American slave descendants desired to create and maintain traditions of their own. Today, African-American culture has become a staple facet of American culture while still maintaining its individuality. African Americans who remained in the South have carved out their own path that continuously influences the socioeconomic and

The African American experience is one that is quite different from other racial/ ethnic groups. The majority of the first African American came over, unwillingly, on ships from various African countries. They were brought to America by white, European settlers to be used as slaves in an order to plant and harvest their crops and make money for the white man. This racial group was treated as if they were property and not people. However, with the ending of the American Civil War, African Americans gained freedom, freedom that not all white American were quite ready to handle. After gaining their freedom came the need for education, jobs and suffrage rights. Now in America this racial group has come a long way, having elected its first African American present for two terms, yet still there are many issues that are very prevalent. This racial group has been fighting their way to equality since the birth of this nation. African Americans have experienced an array of conflict, violence, stereotypes, prejudice acts, and discrimination against them throughout their history in America.