Most Black memorabilia and collectibles depict distorted, stereotyped images of Blacks, reflecting a past in which racism was directly pervasive, and insidious. Internalization of these symbols and images has made the concept of Black inferiority an inherent and persistent part of American culture, on both conscious and unconscious levels.…

Discusses Alain Locke and his allies' views regarding the advancement of the black race during the early years of the Harlem Renaissance. The author examines the ideological feud between black academic Abram Harris, Jr. and white magazine editor V. F. Calverton that illustrates the problem of white interference in the efforts of black scholars…

In his 1928 play, the Harlem Renaissance writer Leslie Pickney Hill portrays Toussaint L'Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian slave rebellion, with historical accuracy. Hill's presentation was aimed at rehabilitating black pride, "A worthy literature reared upon authentic records of achievement is the present spiritual need of the race."…

The history of Black people's struggle for education is reviewed. It is argued that American education has helped to maintain the disadvantaged status of Blacks rather than acting as an aid to equality. (MC)

Sets forth three calls to education: (1) "Education begins when people are seeking to be whole"; (2) "Education must use memory and her/history as crucial sites of resistance"; (3) "Education must serve to name and to voice." Various strategies for educational change and social empowerment are given. (BF)

The rationale for supporting Black Studies in higher education rests on the program's ability to guide students into human experience as it has affected the lives of Blacks and to examine the variety of ways in which Blacks have responded. The author's personal reflections on White academics' misconceptions are recounted. (Author/JMF)

Alice Childress, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ntozake Shange have in their plays created images of blacks that dispel the myths of "the contented slave,""the exotic primitive," and "the spiritual singing, toe-tapping, faithful servant." (BJV)

Religious feeling is always interdependent with racial feeling in the poetry of Langston Hughes. He views religion in the larger context of black culture, presenting it variously as a source of strength for the oppressed, an opiate of the people, the religion of slavery, and an obstacle to emancipation. (BJV)

Presents a message to young people from Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa. Calls for a bridge between the youth of Africa and the United States. Asserts that racial divisions in the United States are major social issues that must be solved. (CFR)

Earlier African novels, addressed to a Western audience, defend the traditional culture of the authors and attack the hypocrisy of the West. Later novels, written after 1960, are addressed to an African audience, and present balanced appraisals of Western culture and religion. Discusses rhetorical devices and other aspects of African novels. (BJV)

Addresses the basic conflict between the Enlightenment's humanitarian credo and slavery, the opposing beliefs of the pro-slavery movement and the abolitionists, and the resulting changes in the perceptions of blacks brought about by the emancipation literature of the French philosophers and writers of the eighteenth century. (BJV)

Expatriate characters in six post-independence African novels are disillusioned by the nasty weather, negative racial attitudes, declining morality, and rigid social structure they find in the Western world. Their loneliness in the West ironically becomes a source of African nationalism. (BJV)

Examines American public discourse about civil rights in national magazines from 1939-1959, indicating three stages in the controversy: (1) a positive recharacterization of blacks, (2) an inclusion of blacks under the nation's ideographs, and (3) a final contest between segregationist and integrationist rhetorics. Discusses the potential for…

Analyzes "The Great Auction Sale of Slaves, at Savannah, Georgia" (1859), a popular work by Mortimer Neal Thompson, an American humorist better known by his pseudonym, Q.K. Philander Doesticks, P.B. The book is one of the most readable, credibly authentic accounts of the abuses of slavery. (BJV)