african american studies

African American Studies

interdisciplinary field studying the history culture and experiences of people of African descent across the African diaspora

African Diaspora

movement and dispersal of African peoples and their descendants across the world through forced and voluntary migration

Migration & Diaspora

AP theme focused on movement of African-descended peoples

Intersections of Identity

theme examining how race class gender religion nationality and other identities overlap

Creativity Expression and the Arts

theme emphasizing Black artistic and cultural production

Resistance and Resilience

theme focused on Black resistance to oppression and community-building

Sahel

semiarid transition zone south of the Sahara that became a major center of trade and settlement

Savanna

grassland region supporting agriculture and trade networks across Africa

Bantu Expansion

migration of Bantu-speaking peoples spreading languages agriculture and ironworking across Africa from 1500 BCE–500 CE

Bantu Languages

large language family spread throughout West Central and Southern Africa

Swahili

Bantu-based lingua franca of the East African coast influenced by trade

Swahili Coast

East African coastal trading region linking Africa to Arab Persian Indian and Chinese merchants

Aksumite Empire

East African empire connected to Red Sea trade that developed currency and the Ge’ez script

King Ezana

Aksumite ruler who adopted Christianity making Aksum one of the first Christian African kingdoms

Ge’ez

writing system and liturgical language associated with Aksum and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Nok Society

early West African ironworking civilization known for terracotta sculptures

Nubia/Kush

Nile River civilization south of Egypt known for gold trade and the Black Pharaohs

Black Pharaohs

Nubian rulers who conquered and ruled Egypt during the 25th Dynasty

Ghana Empire

early West African empire enriched through control of gold-salt trade routes

Mali Empire

powerful West African empire famous for wealth trade and Islamic scholarship

Songhai Empire

largest Sudanic empire that declined after Atlantic trade routes expanded

Sudanic/Sahelian Empires

Ghana Mali and Songhai empires that flourished through trans-Saharan trade

Mansa Musa

wealthy ruler of Mali known for his 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca and support of education and trade

Timbuktu

major center of Islamic scholarship trade and learning in Mali

Trans-Saharan Trade

trade network connecting West Africa with North Africa and the Mediterranean

Catalan Atlas

1375 map depicting Mansa Musa and Mali’s wealth from a European perspective

Hajj

Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that increased Mali’s global fame during Mansa Musa’s journey

Griot

oral historian storyteller and musician preserving African history and traditions

Epic of Sundiata

oral tradition recounting the founding of Mali and the life of Sundiata Keita

Religious Syncretism

blending of African spiritual practices with Christianity or Islam

Oshe Shango

Yoruba ceremonial wand honoring Shango deity of thunder and lightning

Orisha

Yoruba deity or spiritual force

Vodun/Voodoo

African diasporic spiritual traditions with roots in West African religions

Candomblé

Afro-Brazilian syncretic religion blending African spirituality and Catholicism

Great Zimbabwe

Southern African trading kingdom famous for massive stone architecture

Shona People

ethnic group associated with Great Zimbabwe

Indian Ocean Trade

maritime trade system connecting East Africa to Asia and the Middle East

Kingdom of Kongo

Central African kingdom that converted to Christianity and traded with Portugal

Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I)

Kongo ruler who converted to Christianity and criticized the slave trade

Queen Njinga

Ndongo-Matamba ruler who resisted Portuguese colonization and slave trading

Queen Idia

Benin queen mother remembered through the famous ivory pendant mask

Transatlantic Slave Trade

forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas

Middle Passage

deadly Atlantic voyage endured by enslaved Africans

Juan Garrido

first documented African explorer in the Americas with the Spanish

Olaudah Equiano

formerly enslaved writer whose autobiography exposed the horrors of slavery

Phillis Wheatley

first published Black poet in America

Race as a Social Construct

idea that racial categories were created socially and legally rather than biologically

Virginia Act XII (1662)

law establishing that enslaved status followed the mother

Code Noir

French colonial slave code governing enslaved people in Louisiana

Three-Fifths Compromise

constitutional agreement counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Supreme Court ruling declaring Black people were not U.S. citizens

Domestic Slave Trade

expansion of internal slave trading after the 1808 ban on international imports

Stono Rebellion (1739)

major South Carolina slave uprising aimed at reaching freedom in Florida

Fort Mose

first free Black settlement in North America founded in Spanish Florida

Gabriel Prosser

planned a large Virginia slave rebellion in 1800

Denmark Vesey

organized planned 1822 slave revolt in Charleston

Nat Turner

led the deadliest slave rebellion in U.S. history in 1831

Haitian Revolution

successful slave revolution creating Haiti as an independent Black republic

Toussaint L’Ouverture

leader of the Haitian Revolution

David Walker’s Appeal

radical abolitionist pamphlet calling for resistance to slavery

Maria Stewart

first American woman to give public political speeches

Henry Highland Garnet

Black abolitionist advocating armed resistance to slavery

Harriet Tubman

Underground Railroad conductor who helped enslaved people escape

Maroon Communities

settlements established by escaped enslaved people

Black Seminoles

communities formed through alliances between escaped enslaved Africans and Seminole peoples

Harriet Jacobs

author describing the gendered experience of slavery

Mary Prince

formerly enslaved woman whose narrative exposed slavery’s brutality

Amistad Revolt

shipboard rebellion led by Cinqué resulting in freedom for the captives

13th Amendment

amendment abolishing slavery except as punishment for crime

14th Amendment

amendment granting citizenship and equal protection under the law

15th Amendment

amendment protecting voting rights for Black men

Freedmen’s Bureau

federal agency assisting formerly enslaved people after the Civil War

Black Codes

restrictive laws limiting Black freedom after the Civil War

Sharecropping

agricultural labor system trapping Black farmers in debt

Convict Leasing

system exploiting incarcerated people for labor after slavery

Jim Crow Laws

segregation laws enforcing racial separation

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case establishing “separate but equal”

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

journalist and anti-lynching activist

Red Summer (1919)

nationwide racial violence against Black communities

Tulsa Massacre (1921)

destruction of the prosperous Black Wall Street district

W.E.B. Du Bois

scholar advocating higher education and civil rights who developed double consciousness

Double Consciousness

Du Bois’s idea of seeing oneself through both Black and white American perspectives

Booker T. Washington

leader promoting vocational education and accommodation

Atlanta Compromise

Washington speech advocating gradual economic advancement over immediate equality

Talented Tenth

Du Bois’s idea that educated Black leaders would advance the race

Anna Julia Cooper

intellectual emphasizing Black women’s education and empowerment

Great Migration

movement of millions of African Americans from the South to northern and western cities

Harlem Renaissance

cultural movement celebrating Black creativity and identity during the 1920s

New Negro Movement

cultural and political movement promoting Black pride and self-determination

Alain Locke

philosopher and editor of The New Negro

Langston Hughes

Harlem Renaissance poet advocating artistic freedom

Zora Neale Hurston

writer and anthropologist celebrating Black southern folklore

Claude McKay

poet known for resistance-themed works like “If We Must Die”

Countee Cullen

poet exploring African heritage and identity

James Van Der Zee

photographer documenting Harlem life

Duke Ellington

influential jazz composer and bandleader

Marcus Garvey

Black nationalist and founder of the UNIA promoting Pan-Africanism

UNIA

organization promoting Black pride and global unity

Pan-Africanism

movement advocating solidarity among people of African descent worldwide

Carter G. Woodson

historian who founded Negro History Week