Final Blog

When looking at the things that I learned about over this past semester in class, it's tough to pick out one thing that I really enjoyed learning about the most because I liked learning about everything I didn't already know. By this I mean that I liked delving deeper into African American History and culture beyond the usual discussions on Slavery and the Civil Rights movement. The one thing I would have to say I enjoyed most if I had to pick it would be the Harlem Renaissance. This is such an influential part of not only African American History, but American History in general, and this is something that is often times skipped acknowledged but not studied in detail during other history classes. It's fun to look at pieces of this influential time period and break it down to see what effects they had on our country as a whole.

With that being said, I would really have liked to study this time period more. One could do an entire class on Reconstruction and the Harlem Renaissance so I'm not disappointed in not learning more because it'd be hard to do it justice; however, I would like to know a bit more on the subject. This would be one thing I could "change" if anything.

Last Blog Question

I've learned a lot over the semester, but the thing I would say I appreciated the most was the knowledge of how the past is so relevant to knowing about the future of African Americans. I am brought back to the film we watched called Black Is Black Ain't and the young boys who were saying, "What does knowing about Martin Luther King have to do with me getting a job?" Through this class I've learned that it does and also that it's not just Martin Luther King. I've learned that Black History does skip from slavery to the Civil Right Movement to today, that it was all the things in between that can give us a better understanding of who we are today. This class has really taught me the value of learning about those things (such as the idea of masculinity, and the struggles of GLBT blacks around the nation, etc.) because without an understanding of why they have come about, we can't work towards change.

-Briana Byrd

Final Blog Question

I really enjoyed this entire class. Because it was an introductory class we weren't able to go too in depth on all subjects but we were able to go over so much in such a short amount of time. Of all topics we covered in class, my favorite section regarded slavery, the technologies of slavery, and the important roles gender, class, and race played in it. I liked that unit the best because slavery is something we all have read and learned about since elementary school but every year we are taught the same story. Finding out that the slave experience was not universal and was much worse that I had known was unbelievable for me. Especially watching the short film on lynchings online, I realized I had no clue how terrible slavery and it's aftermath were.
After our unit on slavery and Reconstruction, my next favorite time in class was when we discussed the Black Panthers. Again, during that unit I realized I'd heard about the subject for many years of my life but had the wrong idea the entire time. The Black Panthers and the Black Panther Movement have such a bad rap so it was very eye opening and surprising to learn the roots of the movement were filled with good intentions.
All in all, Introduction to African-American Culture was better than I thought it would be. I'm very pleased with all the topics regarding African-American Culture we were able to cover. I knew there was more to it than Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and Hip-Hop. Although I did enjoy learning more about the mentioned topics, I most enjoyed learning about the people and issues I wouldn't have ever known without this class. Good Times.

I think that the most important thing I'll take from this semester was the section we did on lynching. I've learned about lynching in my history classes and seen the pictures, however this time it was different. I had a moment when I was writing my midterm paper when I was researching lynching happening in Iowa--I found one that happened right in my hometown and it made the issue of lynching even more real for me. The movie clip we also saw "Without Sanction" really moved me as well, wondering how in the world people could find themselves doing this to another human being. I'm glad we learned about the evils of lynching, and I hope that one day everyone can understand how awful the act, even the symbol, of lynching can be, and that there will eventually be peace.

Final Blog

There are many topics that I have enjoyed in this class. If I had to pick one I would have to say  I enjoyed the Hip-Hop/Music lecture the best. I really liked looking at different kinds of African American dance, and various music videos. Also listening to the music to explore the message that the artist was trying to tell and get across. Another unit that I really liked was the athlete readings and the movie "O". Even though the movie was very intense I thought that it portrayed an important message. Overall I think that it was a worthwhile semester, and I learned a lot from this class. 

Final Blog

I can honestly say that as the semester when on I found myself enjoying this class more and more. I can't say that one thing was more important than the other because I feel that it all makes African American Culture what it is today but what I found the most interesting was the music portion because I now know the aesthetics behind the music whether it be gospel, blues, jazz, or hip hop and r&b. I learned more about hip hop in this class than I ever knew before and when I hear the different beats, rhythm changes, flow and rupture I can now recognize it and know where it all comes from and why. I also found black athletes used as a commodity very interesting and I think it opened my eyes. Now anytime I see a commercial I can do my own analyzation of it. I would have liked to spent more time on the Harlem Renaissance because to me, that's when a lot of the greatest works were published but other than that I think we got a nice share of everything that makes African American Culture.

Final Blog

I really enjoyed this semester.  My favorite part was learning about the roots of the hip hop culture.  I knew nothing about how it had started and I gained a lot of respect for the art after learning its origin.  I also really enjoyed discussing athletics in African American Culture.  I was able to connect the history of African Americans with some of the aspects of athletics.

If I had to choose a point in the course I didn't enjoy it would be the first few readings on Afrocentricity.  I didn't understand it.

Final Post

The most important concept I have learned over the course of this semester is how stereotypes easily shape our views on the world. I was unaware of the impact of stereotypes on my own views until I took this course. I think this course has truly taught me to examine cultural aspects in a new light and will force me to be more aware of the stereotypes that can easily be applied before getting to know someone.

Although I certainly feel the history portion of the course is necessary, I wish we could have spent more time focusing on modern issues that directly affect us every day. Also, I would have liked to discuss the problems future generations of African Americans and how they will most likely react to them given their reactions in the past.

FINAL POST

Throughout the course, out of all of the material covered, I felt that the most interesting and potent material came for in the beginning of the course in the sections covering the history and African American culture. The facts, dates, etc were not the highlight of the section but instead a revelation of how a culture had adapted and become acclimated to a new land and created a diverse but never more fervent cultural practice with the means allowed. We find that even with the most opposition an African American culture was created and not only stands diverse but vibrant within our society today.
As far as actual material the best resource I utilized in this course was Signifying, Sanctifying, and Slam Dunking as the style and tone of the writing proved to not only be thoroughly academic but quite matter of fact as well. Materials like these are far more helpful and memorable as a straight on, honest, and bluntly put lesson will stick with and have more of an effect on a reader than one that fails to get to the point for the sake of sounding educated.

Final Blog

Looking back on this last semester I would have to say that the most important concept that I learned was how big of an impact stereotypes can have and how much they do actually factor in to everyday life. Stereotypes were in existence from the time of the slave trade until present day. They happen when people make assumptions about others based on past experiences. They were in the movie "O," our readings, and class lectures.
I would have to say the most interesting part of the class for me was the first half, the history section. I like to learn about history and factual information rather than people's opinions on issues and other non-factual stuff. Overall I thought the course was interesting, some information was new to me and others were not.

Final Blog

Looki

Final Blog

Although I'm a Black American I always find it interesting to learn something about my race or culture. Though everything we discussed and learned in class wasn't new to me, I still found the class interesting and enlightening. What I liked most was learning what all African Americans started. Some stereotypes have been made about Blacks not being organized or unified, this maybe true about some African Americans but as shown in history, we can get ourselves together for a good cause. Whether it was standing up for our rights or creating music to talk about the struggles that were endured. What I wish we could've gone over more is slavery but all in all this was a good class.

Final Blog about the Class

I really enjoyed this class and thought that we covered many important topics whether they were related to the history of African Americans or contemporary culture. This class really opened my eyes up to certain things and I feel that people would be lying if they said they didn't learn anything this whole semester. I really liked how the class started with the history of African American culture to make sure that everybody was on the same page, and then progressed to contemporary African American culture. I think the most interesting thing I learned are the meanings behind black cultural expressive forms in dance, sports, and art. I wish that we could have incorporated and talked more about African American culture in 2009 instead of in the 90's. I also wish that we could have watched more black comedy sitcoms such as "Girlfriends", as well as discussed the issues with our presidency now and what that means to African Americans as a race today. Overall though, I really think that for the amount of material we covered it was substantial and important to cover in a limited number of classes. Again, I really enjoyed this class and I feel it has made me more aware of things surrounding the African American community and culture. Thanks for making this class interesting and worthwhile Professor Whaley!

Professor Whaley Post: Painter Discussion Questions: 349-376; 377-393

1. Painter brings up several controversial issues of the 1980s. The first is how the "me" decade of the 1980s helped to dissolve former focuses on social movements, and programs such as affirmative action used to address past discrimination divided people. Is "diversity" the answer to affirmative action? (351) What about reparations? (357-358)
   
2. Why do you think there are not more Black conservatives as defined by Painter? Do you think Black conservatives are unfairly accused of being "less Black?" Is or should Blackness be tied to a particular political position, practice, or party? (353)
   
3. The Hammons painting on page 353 suggests that Jackson would have been more palatable to voters had he been white. Do you think this is true? Does our recent election disprove Hammons' opinion?
   
4. Why are the numbers of African American women being incarcerated going up? (384)
   
5. Did any of the statistics Painter provided in her last chapter surprise you? If so which ones and why? Painter writes that it would take 200 more years for Black families to rise to the number of White families in terms of wealth. What evidence does she provide for this? Do you think this is an overstatement?
   
6. Painter suggests that the incarceration of Black Americans is still predicated on social problems and unfair policies for particular types of charges. Do you agree? What evidence does she provide? If we were too look at other things besides drugs would the findings be the same?
   
7. On page 389, Painter includes a Boondocks comic strip about multiracial identity. Painter provides a lot of statistics about how people identify as well, and the implications. Should there be a multiracial category on the US census?
   

Final Blog

I think that the most important concept that I've learned from this class is the African American Culture all together. From learning about the dance from the in class video clips about Greek stepping and the Alvin Ale Dance troop, the music relating to the Harlem Renaissance, and the art from Kara Walker and just how African Americans expressed themselves through these things. And just how their sticking with their culture brought us to where we are today. It showed me why they did what they did.

I wish I still knew more about the violence back then. We did go in depth about lynching, about the Ida B. Wells and the anti-lynching crusade but there is a lot more about this subject and I would love to learn more. I know that it is a hard topic to talk about but I feel that it is something that needs to be talked about more to open the eyes to people that don't really know about it. I also wish that we talk more about the many movements in the past that have brought us to where we are now.

Last Blog

Looking back on this semester i would have to say the most important thing i take from this class is the history. I knew a lot of stuff before this class and i can say that the history has helped me be able to put it all into perspective. I feel i have a better understanding as to why African Americans do the things they do. The history behind the slave trade helped me better understand music, the history behind lynching enabled me to better understand the anti-lynching crusade led by Ida B. Wells, The depression and the Great Migration helped me better understand the blues and the history behind hip-hop enabled me to better understand the roots and intended message. All in all the history has allowed me to put things into perspective and better understand why things are the way they are.

Final Blog

This class has taught me a lot about African American history and culture. I think the most important thing that I learned was the history of African Americans. I never really knew all of the facts of the slave trade, Harlem Renaissance, or the Migration. It was great to finally hear the truth and the details about what really happened. It was nice to learn about other historians besides Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks. The thing that I enjoyed the most was learning about African American culture. I love all of the different types of music, art, and sports that African Americans have contributed to. It was also nice to learn different perspectives that people have on African American culture. Overall, I enjoyed the class and learned a lot.

Weekly Blog Question

Overall I think this class was great and very beneficial to my understanding and obtaining knowledge on the subject. The class has taught me some very valuable concepts that I hope to use in everyday life. I learned that you have to keep an open mind to different cultures in order to understand them. I've also learned a lot about African American Culture that I had never learned before in high school. This was very beneficial to me because now I have a some knowledge for the future if I continue to take African American Studies classes. Another thing I learned from this class was to not be afraid to speak up because you can really get a discussion going if you just voice your opinion once in a while.

One thing I wish I had learned more about is the history of African Americans but there is another class for that. There is so many things that I have yet to learn about the studies and hopefully in the future I will gain more knowledge.

Final Blog

I feel the most important thing I learned during this class is the diversity of blackness. As is well known, so many times throughout our society's history the dominant white culture has attempted to subjugate African Americans by stereotyping and categorizing them. Furthermore, as we saw in Black Is, Black Ain't, there are also many African Americans who attempt to rigidly categorize blackness and therefore feel that some African Americans aren't as "black" as they should be. Nevertheless, throughout this class, we learned that blackness is a diverse concept that does not discriminate according to things such as class or sexuality. In addition, one thing I wish I knew more about is African-American history after the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. I would still like to learn and know more about African-American history during the 1980s and 1990s and events such as the LA Riots.

Final Blog

This is not the first African American History class that I have taken, so I had previously learned most of the basic things but I learned about a lot more things in depth throughout this semester. Some new things i learned were many of the things that happened within the slave trade, and about the ties between slave owners and their slaves. I believe that is because it was a high school african american history class and in college a lot more can be said and is revealed such as harsh truths. Things about the Harlem Renaissance are the most important and enjoyable facts I learned about. I had taken this class as a Gen Ed because my major is art and didn't expect it to really relate or for me to get anything out of it but I like how it tied in. It was interesting to see how big of a part Art played during those times. And how much of an impact art had such as the Kara Walker pieces. I'm not really sure what else I would like to learn, I have learned so much I don't know what else there is to learn but I will take what i have learned and try to bulid upon it.

Final Blog

There were many things that I learned from this class and that I enjoyed. One of the first things is that I enjoyed reading about the overlooked happenings of their slave trade. I always knew the basic information surrounding the concept but I learned more about how the culture changed once slaves came to America and how they still tied together influences from Africa in their daily lives. Similar to that, I also like learning about the deeper knowledge of lynching and what events spurred the Great Migration/the Harlem Renaissance. My favorite thing that I learned this semester though was all about African American music throughout the ages. I loved learning about the aesthetics of hip hop and the meanings behind blues and jazz music. It really made me appreciate those kinds of music a lot more. I can't really say that I wished that I learned more because I believed that I learned of most that I wanted to. I just hope that after this class that I can keep all of the knowledge I learned and maybe pass it on to other people.

Final Blog

Throughout this class I have learned many concepts and theorys about African Americans that I had never known. Starting with the Slave trade and the middle passage, I never knew the specific details and trials they went through. I learned about the culture and effort they went through to hold on to and maintain a distict and unique culture. I realized that I was missing valuable history to my idea set of "American History."

My favorite thing I learned about this class was the comparison to modern culture, and historical past. From the clips of the dance troop for Wade in the Water, to Kara Walkers art, and The Song for Assata. There is so much black culture and expression that really relates to the past, and I had not seen that before now. I liked the comparisons because it helped me relate to the current times and how the past tied in to and influenced our current world. That was my favorite part of the class and I really enjoyed the differant art, dance, and music that we were able to listent to and watch because it helped me better understand the material.

I don't have just one thing I would like to learn more about rather, will take what I learned and apply to things I see to better understand and relate to the past. I think I learned a lot this semester and i know there is always more knowledge out there, but I found everything I learned to be helpful and teach me something new, so thank you!

Final blog entry

What I have most learned in this class is the effect essentialism has had on our culture. We are all guilty of making essentialistic statements about each other, whether it concerns race, class, gender or demographics. These statements create stereotypes, which then becomes part of our vernacular and ideology. African-Americans have especially been victims of this type of treatment throughout history. Essentialism is very destructive and has no basis in reality or true understanding of each other.
What would I most like to know more about? I have taken "American" history classes and now have studied African-American history. I now would like to take an integrated history class. In this way I could understand the important historical events and people in context to what is most familiar to me. In fact, the teaching of American history neeeds to change so that only one history class is needed. They say history repeats itself. In this way, we could understand the events and each others reaction to those events and maybe understand how we got to where we are. Thereby, breaking the cycle of making the same mistakes.

Last Blog

What is the most important concept you have learned in this class? What do you still wish you knew more about?

In this class, I have learned many new concepts and ideas about African American culture. The most important concept I have learned is the harsh process that African Americans went through in the early times. I did not know about the Atlantic Slave Trade before this class and I have learned a lot about it now. I learned how they were all piled onto ships and carried over for months on a ship to the Americas to be worked hard as slaves. They were treated horribly on the ships and many did not even survive. I learned that these African Americans formed bonds on these ships as well and that is how they formed their really big families because they were all so close to each other. I found all of the information in this class very interesting and beneficial and I got a lot out of it. Thank you!!

Final Post

What is the most important concept you have learned in this class? What do you still wish you knew more about?

The most important concept that I learned is that no matter what your major is you can not know enough about African American culture. I was wondering if this course would teach me anything new about African American culture seeing as though this is the last course I need to graduate with my African American Studies BA degree. Finding out about the aesthics of hip hop and blues was something I knew nothing about. Most of my courses seem to steer away from hip hop because of the negative stereotypes that students associate with hip hop. To know that there are terms to label various entites in the hip hop culture was interesting and to learn about the break down of blues and what makes it important to African American culture. I wish that we would have learned more about African Americans who are continuing to have a positive impact on African American culture today. I think that more of the course was focused on historical information (which I know is important)without giving a large amount of African Americans who are maintaining and influencing culture today.

Final Blog question

What is the most important concept you have learned in this class? What do you still wish you knew more about?

I think the most important concept I learned this semester was the complexity of the subject.  I didn't realize how sheltered I was until I took this course.  African-American culture is a distinct concept that's, in part, a subdivision of American culture.  It was interesting to study how it developed through various historical events and figures over the years.  And there's no definite line as to what's acceptable in media when it comes to African-American culture in the media (like with Chris Rock, or the Sarah Silverman example discussed in class).  I felt this was important to discuss in class but was frustrated that I don't have enough background to develop a strongly thought out opinion of my own.

Weekly Blog

The character that I think best fits the multifarious Blackness is Phil of The Fresh Prince of Bell Air. He is a prominent lawyer that is trying to keep his family together. They are very wealthy and well known in the area and he struggled to get were he was. I think this is an acurate description from the readings from the first week.

I would have to choose Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show best represents the multifarious blackness described by the academic literature we read earlier in the semester. She is a lawyer, a working women, a wife, and a mother of five. She represents many different facets of black womanhood. She is outspoken and very bright. Clair knows she is a role model to her children and she is moral and upstanding. She is kind, and sometimes silly with her husband, and an outstanding mother. She also manages to be very beautiful while not wearing clothing that is too revealing. She provides, I think, a sharp contrast to many portrayals of black women in popular culture, which are seen as sex objects. I wish there were more characters like her in film and television. It is really disturbing to me the way black womanhood is displayed in most popular culture, such as music videos, and "Flavor of Love". I think T.V. needs representations of what black womanhood really is, strenghth, intelligence, women who overcome a lot to get where they are, and place high value on their families.

TV Character for First Week's Readings

I think that the character that best represent's the readings from the fist week would be Bill Cosby. I believe that he was the best example for this assignment because he could have been viewed in various forms. He was a father, a successful doctor, a husband who at times made mistakes and also a great friend to his family and friends. Cosby was not only a serious father but he had times where he would be silly and helpful to help his family and friends overcome hardships. The notion that Cosby was a successful doctor was a bonus to his character because it took away from the stereotype of a lazy black man. He was a strong man providing for his family. He did not show traits of being over sexual, his character was not shown cheating on his wife or leaving his family. Throughout all the problems they had on the show Cosby found a way to work it out showing is diversity as a character and black male.

The multifarious character that comes to my mind is Raven Symone in "That's So Raven" she has this gift to see into the future but not on her call and her best friends always have her back when they get into trouble and with her visions they are bound to get into trouble. She is not the most popular but her character is very bubbly, considerate and just fun to be around. She designs her own clothing so she can definitely be considered a trend setter. Her parents teach her the values of life when she's in the wrong. She is always fully clothed, carries herself in the most respectful manner and can be looked up to by all girls of various races and ethnic groups.