Medical Racism in African American Studies

Greetings, Class Community.

Medical racism in an understated discussion in African American Studies.  We explored this topic briefly in class. Please consider answering one or all of the following questions:

How does any of the information our class community discussed affirm, change or complicate your understanding of African Americans, African American Studies, or American Culture?    

How does any of the information our class community discussed affirm, change or complicate your understanding of medical history, birth control campaigns, and medical advancements in the US?

How does any of the information our class community discussed affirm, change or complicate your understanding of the history of the feminist movement?

Please don't hesitate to review your notes or research any additional information before commenting. 

AAS 200: Notable Kentucky African Americans Webpage Assignment

from http://www.kopana.net/tag/reinette-jones/

Greetings, Class Community.

One aspect of our learning asks students to create a webpage that makes a significant statement about a notable African American from Kentucky or the surrounding region. We will visit Librarian Rienette Jones and the King Library's Special Collections on October 29, 2015.

A successful project will express considerable information about a notable African American from Kentucky or a theme.  This project will research this person or theme in context with a national/historical figure that has made similar contributions in African American life and culture. 

Convey your ideas using journalistic language or language similar to the language and vocabulary used in newspaper articles and credible blogs.

Dr. Hill

from https://www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/kaae/

Some examples of previous projects: 

http://bighousegaines.weebly.com

http://eyeswideshut20.blogspot.com

http://albertaojones.weebly.com

http://traviskeel44.wix.com/allensworth

http://nikkyfinney.weebly.com

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

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?