What Is Harold Cruse Consider The Contrarian Way?

The book’s overall theme is, as Henri states in the preface, that "black Americans in the early decades of the century had far more of a hand in shaping their future than historians of the period tend to perceive, or at least to convey." The same can be said to some degree for almost all periods of African and African-American recorded

Daudi Ajani ya Azibo describes the difference between Black Studies and the Study of Black People and they can be disguised to look the same until you look closely at the underlining message. It can be easily manipulated to make it look like the study is for good intent even though the sole purpose was to destroy the view of African Americans like in “Negro Scholarship” for example, which is made so that white supremacy can control Black studies. Azibo stresses that Black Studies is not Black Studies unless African worldview, which Wade Nobles says is a product of the African’s history, culture, and philosophy, is applied through and through as opposed to the European worldview. Azibo mentions how important Africentric paradigm is to the practice of Black Studies. Africentric paradigm described by Baldwin has four simplified characteristics: a) generates the foundation of African culture; b) Recognized the many African worldviews of the whole African population; c) recognize

The American Negro Academy, the first Black intellectual society, started the trend of establishing Black elitist groups who valued higher education. Unlike Booker T. Washington, Crummell’s Academy taught others that the race should learn self-sufficiency, not relying on social inclusion from Whites. He understood that Whites and Blacks would probably never peacefully coincide because the “race-problem” encompassed all of American history. In fact, the growth of Black and White populations would only continue to cultivate the problem.

Within both of Nathan Hare’s articles, he discusses his beliefs on what Black Studies can

Introduction to African American Studies was the class that I decided to take this summer because I am genuinely interested in learning more about the cultures and lifestyles of African Americans through out history and I want to further my knowledge beyond just learning about what was taught to me in secondary school. I do not know much about African American studies as I have not taken any courses on it or relating to it in the past but I hope that I can gain a lot of information on the topic through out this intellectual experience. I also hope to gain a better understanding of the history of Africans and African Americas and be able to dive deeper into this topic instead of just hitting the surface as I feel as though my previous experiences with this topic have covered. In just this first weeks lesson I have learned about the three great principles that characterize the “Black Intellectual Tradition” and how these three principles are used and perceived.

-Old Negro" as "more myth than a man" and the blind acceptance of this "formula" against ideas of "the thinking Negro" and the true diversity of actual human beings

In 1925, philosopher and leading black intellectual Alain Locke published the short essay The New Negro. In this essay, Locke describes the contemporary conditions of black Americans, and discusses the trajectory and potential of black culture to affect global change in its historical moment (Locke 47). Locke wrote this essay in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, a period in which black artists and intellectuals sought to reconceptualize black lives apart from the stereotypes and racist portrayals of prior decades (Hutchinson). The New Negro and the discourse around Locke’s work attempted to push forth a bold project: that of reshaping the cultural identity of black America with respect to the existent structures of American culture, as

The final film by Marlon Riggs, Black is…Black Ain't, is concerned with the state of the African American community. This film essentially asks the question, what does it mean to be black? The director and producer, Marlon Riggs, guides viewers along an “an up-front examination of racism, sexism, and homophobia within the black community itself. Bringing together personal stories, interviews, music, history, and performance, Black Is...Black Ain’t asks African Americans: What is black, black enough, or too black?”1

Chesnutt did not place blame on the whites outright, but strategically acknowledged the problem within his own race. Wintz, also the author of “Race and Realism in the fiction of Charles W. Chesnutt,” acknowledges that among black culture, there were "emotional and highly explosive subjects of racism...racial distinction and prejudice within the black community itself" (“Race and Realism” 126). And Chesnutt skillfully utilizes the unfortunate conflict as a tool to deliver his message. Instead of writing directly of the injustices blacks endured under the hands of white men, he writes from the critical view of racism among blacks, pitting light-skinned blacks against dark-skinned to gain sympathy, while avoiding a defensive response from the white audience.

The racism that runs deep in the blood of the United States is a complex issue to tackle. As white supremacy was the foundation on which the country was born, many believe that society breeds this racism and deny the possibility of change. bell hooks eloquently addresses the problems faced by those who seek to make change and establish equality in her essay, “Loving Blackness as Political Resistance.” She discusses these problems through the lens of her instruction by using responses to lectures. This brings to light the contemporary struggles in a very real context as most of her students are those who believe that they are progressive, yet hooks demonstrates where they lack: loving blackness. This notion goes

Alexander writes, “I have a specific audience in mind—people who care deeply about racial justice but who, for any number of reasons, do not yet appreciate the magnitude of the crisis faced by communities of color… I am writing this book for people like me—the person I was ten years ago” (p. xiii). By writing to an audience of readers who are not

Dawning the year of 1895, the future of Black America finally rested in the hands of the very people to whom it concerned, the black community. Two popular philosophies were presented, and the argument between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois began. These two advocated for very different means of acquiring equality, Washington promotes the economic survival of the masses while Dubois promoted the superior intelligence of the few. The struggle between representing the masses and isolating the few proved to be the deciding factor when determining which philosophy was capable of supporting the desired future of Black America. A future where the economic foundation of the masses proved to be the key to promoting equality among white and black America.

In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, racism and prejudice are clearly evident and talked about throughout the novel. The novel expresses the oppression of the blacks under a white-ruled society through the narrator, Grant. Grant is a well-educated black man who struggles to free himself from the oppression he has felt from the white community. Despite the fact that he is educated and a teacher, he initially lacks the vigor needed to take the first step against black discrimination. He has all this intellect, but does not realize until later on that it is not only intelligence he needs to overcome the oppression, but self-assertion, too. Education does not prove your intellectual worth in society; rather, it is what you do during difficult times that define your intelligence and strong character not just to yourself, but to the world.

In high school classrooms, the memoir, Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin, is being read and discussed by high school students. During class discussions concerning the book, there are many critiques that are talked about. At East Noble High school, freshmen are asked to write an essay forming their own stance on one critique. The critique that is handed out on the paper handout is , “ Although Griffin did observe racism firsthand, he can never fully empathize with the black race because he was only a temporary Negro for 6 weeks, knowing he would soon be returning to his white skin.” After reading the prompt, I believe that Griffin could fully empathize with African Americans. This can be evident by the many instances of racism he experienced viewed on his journey through the South.

He acknowledges that the resentments of the black and white communities “aren’t always expressed in polite company,” but these resentments are manifested within our society in destructive ways, like racism (Obama, par. 31). The audience feels that he is knowledgeable and credible on the immediate topics affecting our future and our daily lives.