Africans in the Americas: The Revolution

Greetings, Class. 

Be sure to view Africans in the Americas: The Revolution. If you have comments or concerns, please post them here and we will invite them into our next class discussion. 

Dr. Hill 

Africans in the  Americas: the Revolution  

Part 1

1.     1768 – 4000 British Troops arrived in the colonies to attempt to control the colonists. March 5, 1770 – 5 men were shot. Who was the first to die in what is remembered as The Boston Massacre?

2.     The poets are always present. J What was the name of the young African woman poet published in 1773?

3.     By the American Revolution of 1776, how many African Slaves were living in the American colonies?

4.     Why do you think the colonist continually compared themselves to ‘slaves’?  Why is that important to consider when exploring notions of liberty and American/African American History?

5.     Why do you think that George Washington initially refused to enlist any African, slave or free, in the revolutionary way?

Part 2

1.     How did David George’s experiences with reading influence his life and community?

2.     Many scholars of American/African American Studies find it interesting that Thomas Jefferson's comments on liberty often conflict with his writings about African Americans and further conflicted with his lifestyle.

I encourage you to continue to consider the contradictions you observed in Thomas Jefferson's life and then do some very hard work. The hard work is to consider how the contradictions in Thomas Jefferson's life and writings foreshadow or speak to some of the contradictions evident in American culture.

One could spend their lives writing several books on that topic. Do you think you could give a summary of your initial thoughts in 3 to 5 sentences?

3.     What year did George Washington feel the need enlist African American soldiers in the Revolutionary war?  Why?

4.     What precautions coincided with the British Armies surrender?

5.     Why did the import of Africans increase after the Revolutionary War? Hint: consider our class community theory of commodified bodies.

6.     Explore the ideology associated with the 3/5ths rule.  How did this rule aid in the forming of the United States of America?

7.     The census of 1880 indicated what figures concerning populations of free versus enslaved African Americans in the US colonies? 

The Impact of Gender and Intersectional Identity in Slave Communities

Study the Masters by Lucille Clifton

like my aunt timmie.

it was her iron,

or one like hers,

that smoothed the sheets

the master poet slept on.

home or hotel, what matters is

he lay himself down on her handiwork

and dreamed. she dreamed too, words;

some cherokee, some masai and some

huge and particular as hope.

if you had heard her

chanting as she ironed

you would understand form and line

and discipline and order and

america.   

-  Callaloo 22.1 (1999) 54

Greetings, Class. 

In this course, we are exploring the ways gender and intersectional identity may have impacted the experiences of enslaved people.  This poem by Lucille Clifton may help us to unpack some of the complexities associated with gender in slave communities.  

from http://clclt.com/charlotte/not-just-black-history-america-i-am/Content?oid=2774133

Consider how gender (male or female) and intersectional identity (Black/African and female) impacted the individual experiences of people in enslaved communities.  You may include examples from the The African American Odyssey or another form of previous knowledge.  Feel free to include links and additional resources as examples. 

Yours truly, 

Dr. Hill

Chattel Slavery, Demographics of the Colonies and Miscegenation in the Americas

from https://msualumni.wordpress.com/tag/domestic-slave-trade/

Greetings, Class.
We are discussing demographic information associated with the Trans-Atlantic Slavery, the establishment of the Chesapeake Region and Carolinas, as well as ideas and policies associated with miscegenation (bi-racial, multi-ethnic identity) and creolization in American culture. 

Considering what you read and previously understood about slavery in the Americas, list or describe what new information you have acquired or your new understanding you may have adopted.

How does it complicate or change your previous notions about slavery in the Americas and African American culture? 

Yours truly,

Dr. Hill

from http://americanhistoryrules.com/divisionandreunion/the-origins-of-slavery-in-america/

Equiano and Diallo of Bondu

Greetings, Students. 

Please review the readings on Equiano and Diallo of Bondu featured in your text. Take a moment to consider how these personal histories inform your perceptions of the Middle Passage and Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Then take a moment to consider how race and class complicate the norms and assumptions of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Please post your comments in the box below. Do not forget to sign in. 

from http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/essays-solomon.faces

from http://dcc.newberry.org/collections/olaudah-equiano

Interpretations of the Middle Passage

from https://secure.www.upenn.edu/themeyear/water/middle-passage-overview.html

Greetings, Students.

We began reading and discussing the Middle Passage in class. Please take a moment to review these two poems about the Middle Passage.

Nikki Giovanni - Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (We're Going to Mars)

Sonia Sanchez - Middle Passage

Our readings from The African American Odyssey provided an historical perspective on the Middle Passage. These two poems provided interpretations of the Middle Passage.  

Please take a moment to consider how the poems enhanced your reading and previous knowledge about the Middle Passage.  How is your understanding of the Middle Passaged changed?  Why? Use the comments box below. 

Class Discussion - The Slave Trade in Africa

Greetings, Students.

Please take a moment to answer and comment on the following questions pertaining to the Slave Trade in Africa based on our reading in The African-American Odyssey.

from http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/intro-maps/01.jsp

• What types of slave trade was conducted in Africa and for what purposes?

• What are the origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade in relation to the enslavement of African Americans in the New World?

• What contributions did interethnic rivalries in West Africa make in relation to enslavement African Americans in the New World?

• What colonies acquired slaves in the greatest numbers? What regions or countries became central to the slave trade and why?
• What are factories in the terms of slave trading?

Internet Memes and African American Studies post by Samuel Cardine

Greetings, Students. 

In recent years internet memes have become a means of articulating cultural expressions and creating new narratives.  In a Huffington Post article written by Carolyn Gregorie, she claims "that memes just might be the most democratic art form in history -- anyone with a good image and a funny can plug their ideas into a meme generator, and voila. Art is born."

Please take a moment to learn about memes and review the  blog post here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/are-internet-memes-a-form_n_1432076.html 

UK student, Samuel Cardine, posted an internet meme pertaining to African American Studies.

If you have any questions or concerns about the meme that Samuel posted please post them in the comment box.

Nathan Moore and the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute

Greetings, Students. 

Nathan Moore visited class today to discuss his research and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  Please read the information below.  If you have any additional questions about his experience or research opportunities at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, please post them below in the comments portion of this post. 

Dr. Hill 

by Brian Connors Manke

Originally from Indianapolis, Nathan Moore and his mother moved to Louisville when he was around 12. Growing up on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, Moore is somewhat conflicted as northern southerner, or is that southern northerner?

Regardless, one direction that Moore is certainly moving is up. The UK Junior was recently named a fellow for the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute in New York City, and as one of only 10 recipients to be bestowed that honor, it is helping to further define who Nathan Moore is and who he is quickly becoming as an academic....(more) 

Unit 1: Another Partial Review - Key Terms

from www.as.uky.edu

Greetings, Students.

We are also exploring some concepts and terms that we think impact the discussions and research in African American Studies. 

Biological Determinism/Essentialism

Biopolitics (Foucault)

Capitalism

Commodification

Demystification
Double Consciousness

Think about how these terms help us discuss African American tradition.   Please post your comments below.

Unit 1: A Partial Review

from http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m7a/activity3.php

Greetings Students,

For the first unit in African American Studies, we are looking at the some of the civilizations in African and the early conceptions of Africans, inclusive of race, in the Americas.

Use the comments box to post about a specific topic.

Some of the topics include

Berbers
Ancient Ghana
Mali
Sanghai
Arts and Culture in Africa
Griots

My Name Is

My name I Casey Bryan Cadle from the Greatly tiny town of Dayton Kentucky. In school I am a freshman senior; by which I mean that I have no idea what I want to do but am doing whatever it takes to get out and experience that which I do. But despite my indecisiveness I am a biology major. Why am I taking this class?  I could tell you that I have a thirst for the untold story, being the minor history buff that I am, and it wouldn't be a complete lie. The sheer fact is that this completes a core that until now I had yet to  find anything nearly interesting enough and compatible enough ( with my schedule) to sign up for.

Africans in America: the Terrible Transformation

Greetings, Students.

In class we watched and discussed  Africans in Americas: Terrible Transformation.  In the comments portions below, please comment on two or three new ideas you acquired from the movie about Africans, Americans, or  United States of America (inclusive of  the Colonies).  Be sure to include a sentence or two about why these details were important to your understanding of African American Studies.

You may also post additional questions.

Dr. Hill 

Introduction

Hello,
My name is Aileen O'Brien and I'm a senior. I'm a biology major and want to work in the healthcare field, as the course continues I'm interested in learning more about the role that African Americans played in healthcare and scientific discoveries.

Hello my name is...

Hello, my name depends on how you know me.To Facebook and Instagram I am Kayla Mae, to my friends I am Diva Kay and my mom often calls me go hard headed and stubborn. I am from Jeffersontown, a small town in Louisville, Kentucky. My major is Ag. Biotech. and I am taking this class because I've always loved learning more about where my ancestors are from. I feel like you can't know where you're headed until you know where you are coming from and can learn from your past.  But you can just call me Kayla!

African American and Africana Studies Minor at the University of Kentucky

This information is derived from https://aaas.as.uky.edu/declaring-minor-african-american-studies-aas

Declaring a Minor in African American and Africana Studies (AAS)

Minor in African American and Africana Studies:
By completing 21 hours of course work students can earn a minor in African American and Africana Studies. This minor offers a cultural, historical, and literary base that can strengthen any major in the Humanities or the Social Sciences. The African American and Africana Studies Program seeks to promote the interest and knowledge of the African diaspora experience through quality teaching and research. Multidisciplinary in scope, AAAS offers a selection of courses in English, History, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, Religion, and Language. Courses affiliated with the Program are listed each Fall and Spring semester on our website and in the University Schedule of Classes under the AAS prefix.

African American and Africana Studies lists three required courses: AAS 200, AAS 400, and AAS 401. Students must complete six hours in both the humanities and social sciences from the list of courses either cross-listed or approved by the director of AAAS.

AAS 200: Introduction to African American Studies, an interdisciplinary course which establishes the intellectual context for an examination of the African American experience: it introduces students to the various approaches scholars use to analyze that experience. This course employs a topical framework which permits focus on issues reflecting the diversity and richness of the African American experience across geographic boundaries.

AAS 400: Special Topics in African American Studies, a detailed investigation of a particular topic in African American Studies, with emphasis both on content and existing research. Topics will vary from semester to semester and are announced the preceding semester. This course may be repeated a maximum of six credits when identified by a different subtitle. Prereq: AAS 200

 AAS401: Independent Reading and Research:. The student pursues a course of reading and research under the guidance of an instructor, completes a major research project, and takes an examination. A written contract defining the area of study is negotiated between student and instructor at the beginning of the course. May be repeated a maximum of six credits.  Prereq: AAS 200.   see more ... https://aaas.as.uky.edu/declaring-minor-african-american-studies-aas 

Instructions for declaring the AAAS Minor:

1. Students planning on declaring a minor need to make the request to declare the minor in your primary college even if your major is in another college and the minor you want is an A&S minor. If your primary college is A&S (you are majoring in an A&S department) and you want to declare a minor in AAAS, please come to Patterson Office Tower 202 to fill out the declaration of minor form. 
2. Once you complete the declaration of minor form, please have your advisor sign the form and then submit it to the AAAS office in 112 Breckinridge Hall.  Please make sure to submit this form to the AAAS office so we have record that you are declaring the minor. 

If you have any questions regarding the AAAS minor, please contact Michelle Del Toro at 859-257-2284.