The following are documents which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These documents are a starting point for additional research and discussions that help further our understanding of the history of people of African ancestry in the United States.
In a July 1918 editorial in The Crisis, W.E.B. DuBois urged African Americans to set aside their differences with their countrymen over the nation’s treatment of its black citizens and “close ranks” in the war against Imperial Germany and its Allies. Ten months later, after … Read More(1919) W.E.B. DuBois, “Returning Soldiers,” Editorial from The Crisis
“If We Must Die,” written in 1919 by Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay, became for many African Americans an anthem for resistance against the anti-black violence then sweeping the nation. His words appear below. If we must die—let it not be like hogs Hunted and … Read More(1919) “If We Must Die”
In July 1918, W.E.B. Du Bois, editor of The Crisis, the official publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wrote the editorial below titled “Close Ranks” in which he urged African Americans to forget “our special grievances” and support the World … Read More(1918) W.E.B. Du Bois, “Close Ranks,” Editorial from The Crisis
Bill Whitfield of the Kansas City Black Panther Party Serving Free Breakfast, April 16, 1969 Image Ownership: Public domain In the editorial below that first appeared in the Black Panther Party newspaper in April 1969, the leaders of the Party make the case for the … Read More(1969) The Black Panther Party: To Feed Our Children
The Black Panther Party Ten-Point Program Written October 15, 1966 1. We Want Freedom. We Want Power to Determine the Destiny of Our Black Community. We believe that Black people will not be free until we are able to determine our destiny. 2. We Want … Read More(1966) The Black Panther Party Ten-Point Program
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Most scholars of today imagine Booker T. Washington as the major accommodationist and black political conservative of the era. There were others including Professor William Hooper Councill, the founder and first President of the Huntsville Normal School which today is Alabama … Read More(1901) William Hooper Councill’s Letter to the White People of Alabama
In the speech below conservative critic Anne Wortham challenges the central theme of universal brotherhood as promoted in Dr. Martin Luther King’s often quoted “I Have A Dream Speech.” She argues that King failed to recognize individual success and failure as the causes of racial … Read More(1998) Anne Wortham, “Martin Luther King’s Flawed Dream”
“Image Ownership: Pubilc Domain” Nineteenth Century black conservative William Hannibal Thomas was a Civil War veteran, Reconstruction era South Carolina politician, and U.S. counsel to Portuguese Southwest Africa (Angola). He is most famous however as the author of the 1901 book, The American Negro: What … Read More(1901) William Hannibal Thomas on the American Negro
Image Ownership: Public Domain Negro art “made in America” is as non-existent as the widely advertised profundity of Cal Coolidge, the “seven years of progress” of Mayor Hylan, or the reported sophistication of New Yorkers. Negro art there has been, is, and will be … Read More(1926) George S. Schuyler, “The Negro-Art Hokum”
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” August 11, 1955 Editor: I promised God and some other responsible characters, including a bench of bishops, that I was not going to part my lips concerning the U.S. Supreme Court decision on ending segregation in the public schools of … Read More(1955) Zora Neale Hurston’s Letter to the Orlando Sentinel