Monday, September 28, 2015

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.   

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

Declaration of Independence and the Conditions Associated with Commodified Bodies

from http://www.founding.com/the_declaration_of_i/
The Declaration of Independence "drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. 

In this document Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. 

What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country."


How does your rereading or greater understanding of The Declaration of Independence (inclusive of the draft form) affirm, change or challenge your understanding of American culture, African American culture and/or the institution of chattel slavery/commodified bodies in the Americas?

Also consider and incorporate any information from your reading of Chapters 3 and 4 of The African American Odyssey.



Friday, September 18, 2015

Class Assignment (virtual discussion for 9/22): Critical Analysis of Unit 1



Consider what we have studied in class. We have covered Africans in Americas Part 1,  Africans in Americas Part 2, assigned readings from our text The African American Odyssey and supplemental lectures (on video and in lecture).

Review the African American philosophies that we learned on the second day of class.  Use one African American philosophy as a lens for interpreting and understanding the class content.  Choose only one specific topic or lecture to interpret. Then post in the comments box how you view the African American philosophy and class content to be conversation with one another. 

Essentially, I am asking you to solve a problem. If it were written out, it might look like this:
African American philosophy + class content = brilliant insight and comment from student that provides evidence for her/his point.

Example:  "The African American philosophy rememory is evident in Sonia Sanchez’s performance of Middle Passage. In that poem, she uses the repetition of words and inflections of sounds to articulate the mental anguish associated with the middle passage."  

Post your comments early; each term can only be used twice.  Every member from the class is required to post.



Tuesday, September 15, 2015

UK Constitution Day 2015: 'Learning, Leadership, and Civic Engagement

UK Constitution Day 2015:
 'Learning, Leadership, and Civic Engagement'


from http://studentsforliberty.org/blog/2014/08/22/are-you-ready-for-constitution-day/

September 17, 2015 is Constitution Day.  Our class will be celebrating with the rest of the UK Constitution Day 2015 community. Please attend one of the following events.  

1.  Interactive Issues Graffiti Wall for Constitution Day: "What Civic Issues are Most Important to You?"
An electronic graffiti wall will be set up near the mid-day festivities for the university community to write/draw in answers to the question posed in the title of this event. Individuals can add their responses from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sept. 17, near the Main Building north lawn. The resulting images will be projected on the UGE Constitution Day website and during the town hall meeting beginning 7 p.m. that day, in the Young Library UK Athletics Auditorium. The graffiti wall is sponsored by the student association for the Certified Nonprofit Professional Program, Transformative Learning.

2.  Voter Registration and Information on Student Civic Engagement
UK Student Government Association's Constitution Day session, which will include a voter registration station and information about UK's latest civic engagement efforts, will celebrate civic processes while reflecting on the freedom that comes with being an American. The session will run from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. near Main Building north lawn. The event is organized by SGA Civic Engagement Coordinator and Gaines Fellow Trevor McNary and SGA Director of Government Relations and Gaines Fellow Boone Proffitt.

3.  "The Gender and Citizenship Challenge"
This session will be led by Chellgren Professor Kathi Kern and fellow historians, Assistant Professor Anastasia Curwood, Assistant Professor Melanie Goan, Associate Professor Kathy Newfont and Associate Professor Amy Taylor. Students will compete in teams to build a timeline of pivotal moments in the history of the United States where citizenship expanded or contracted. Topics will include: voting rights, property rights, racial and gender equality, desegregation and Title Nine. Students are encourage to come test their knowledge, learn about a "usable past," and compete for prizes from 12:30-1:45 p.m. in Room 122 White Hall Classroom Building. Food and drinks provided courtesy of the Office of the President and UGE. The event is co-sponsored by the Department of History and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT).

In addition to festivities on Constitution Day, a Constitution Day Essay Contest is being held. The contest for UK undergraduates awards cash prizes for first, second and third place winners. Deadline for submission is 11:59 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. The contest is sponsored by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, the Office of the President and the UK Division of Undergraduate Education.

For more information about the US Constitution and African Americans see http://ukcorejazz.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-us-constitution-13th-14th-and-15th.html


For more information about UK Constitution Day 2015, visit the UK Undergraduate Education website at www.uky.edu/UGE/constitution-day

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/

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. 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 war?

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? 

Thursday, September 10, 2015

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?


Here are some additional resources that will help us answer such questions. Use them in addition to the book to answer the questions below. 

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

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 exploring some African American philosophies, using them as critical lenses for interpreting information.  

We are also exploring 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.

What do you understand  about 2 or more of the topics listed below?

Berbers
Ancient Ghana
Mali
Sanghai
Arts and Culture in Africa
Griots

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.

Some additional readings:



You may also post additional questions.

Dr. Hill