Introduction to Black Studies (Karenga, 4th Ed)Chapter 1

discipline

A specialized branch of study and knowledge

Black Studies

the critical and systematic study of the thought and practice of African people in their current and historical unfolding

Diaspora

The dispersion or scattering of people with a common origin

Pan-African

Including all Africans - thrust to include all Africans as subjects of of study

Initiative

Thinking and acting according to one's own will and interests

Agency

The capacity and will to act - extended to mean capacity and will to make history, create culture and address critical human concerns in a meaningful and successful manner

Experience

That which was undergone or lived through

Segregation

The legal separation and unequal treatment of racial groups

Maat

Truth, justice and rightness

Oùlkó

Sage and teacher in Orunmila and Yorubaland that taught that people should speak the truth, do justice, be kind to each other, and struggle for good in the world. Key instrument in creating the good world is effective knowledge

Ire

Good

4 basic thrusts of the student movement in the 60's

* Civil Rights Movement

* Free Speech Movement

* Anti-Vietnam War Movement

* Black Power Movement

Civil Rights Movement

Sought to:

1. Break down barriers of legal segregation in public accommodations

2. Achieve equality and justice for Blacks

3. Organize Blacks into a self-conscious social force capable of defining, defending and advancing their interests

Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Emerged as vanguard group in Civil Rights struggle/Student Movement. Role was to mobilize, organize and politicize thousands of Black students as well as White students and leaders through recruiting and training them and bringing them to the South to work on the struggle

Free Speech Movement

* started at UC Berkeley in 1964

* White students protested rigid, restrictive and unresponsive nature of university

* demand for civil rights on campus

* leadership in movement served as volunteers with SNCC

* "another phase of the same struggle" as Civil Rights Movement

Anti-War Movement

* Began in 1965

* General student protest against the Vietnam War and university cooperation with government in recruitment and research and development programs

* launched by Leftists including Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

* Although not completely unified, SNCC and SDS participated

Third World

People of color

CORE

Congress of Racial Equality

African American opposition to Vietnam War:

1. Threat draft posed to Blacks and other males of color not covered by student deferment

2. Government's war against Third World liberation movements

3. Fighting an unjust war for a nation depriving Blacks of basic civil and human rights

Black Power Movement

* Led directly to establishment of Black Studies

* Began in 1965

* "Black Power" phrase evolved in 1966 as battle cry for SNCC

* Watts Revolt marked beginning of series of revolts across country

* Ushered in new dialogue about relations of power in society and university, pervasive character of racism, and need for struggle to overturn established order and create a more just society

* advocates stressed importance of self-determination, argued for relevant education and called for focus on cultural grounding

Cultural Pluralism

Mutual respect for all peoples and due recognition of their contribution to U.S. and world history

Emergence of Black Studies as movement ans discipline

* began with struggle at San Francisco State University in 1966

* came during rising tide of Black Power Movement

* Negro Student Association changed name to Black Student Union (BAS)

* BSU was led by James Garrett - demanded Department of Black Studies

* Black arts and culture series was established by students in an Experimental College in 1966

* special admissions demanded to waive entrance requirements for given number of Black students

* Nathan Hare appointed coordinator of Black Studies

Dr. Nathan Hare

* 1968 appointed coordinator of Black Studies

* author of "The Black Anglo-Saxons"

* Former professor of sociology at Howard University, fired for activism and support of students and the struggle for a "relevant education" at Howard

* wrote with students and on their behalf "The Black University Maifesto"

* Founding publisher of Black Scholar, a central journal in Black intellectual history and struggle

* completed proposal, "Conceptual Proposal for Department of Black Studies" which included structure of department and program of special admissions and B.A degree in Black Studies - due to trustees delaying implementation, students arranged strike

* 1968 - BSU launched a strike demanding Black Studies Department, special admissions, financial aid, and decisions on personnel. Students won and strike ended in 1969

Relevant Education

Education which is meaningful, useful and reflective of the realities of society and the world

Central realities for Black Studies and Black Power advocates:

1. Need to solve pressing problems of Black community, society, and the world

2. Revolutionary struggle being waged to end racist oppression and change society and the world

Afrocentric Perspective

A view centered within the culture and in which Africans are the subjects and agents of their own history

Eurocentric

Centered on and privileging European people and culture at the expense of the culture and lives of the people of color

Paradigm

Exemplary model

Sesh

Ancient Egyptian model of the socially conscious and activist intellectual who understood themselves in both moral and social terms and constantly expressed a commitment to using their knowledge and skills in the service of the people

Academic concerns for advocates of Black Studies

1. Intellectual inadequacy and injurious nature of traditional White studies due to omission/distortion of the lives of African people

2. Perception of White studies using Whites as the paradigm (Eurocentric)

3. White studies resistant to education for social change which is central to relevant education

4. Need for Afrocentric perspective

Social concerns for advocates of Black Studies:

1. Low number of Blacks on campus

2. Treatment of Black students on campus

3. University's transformation of Black students into vulgar careerists with no sense of social commitment ("obscene caricatures")

4. How Black students and Black Studies could solve the social problems of the Black community

5 Objectives of Black Studies

1. To teach the Black experience in all it's variedness with special attention to history

2. Assemble and create a body of knowledge which contributed to intellectual and political emancipation

3. Creating intellectuals who were dedicated to community service and development rather than vulgar careerism

4. Cultivation, maintenance and continuous expansion of a mutually beneficial relationship between the campus and community

5. Establish and reaffirm its position into the academy as a discipline essential to the educational project and to any real conception of a quality education

2 Arguments put forth against Black Studies

1. Black Studies is not a serious discipline

2. Concerned with the social with expense to the academic

7 Grounds for Relevance of Black Studies

1. It is a definitive contribution to humanity's understanding of itself

2. Found in it's contribution to U.S. society's understanding of itself

3. Established its relevance as a contribution to the university's realization of it's claim and challenge to teach the whole truth, or something as close to it as humanly possible.

4. Contribution to the rescue and reconstruction of Black history and humanity

5. Contribution to a new social change which will not only benefit Blacks, but also the U.S

6. Contribution to the development of a socially conscious Black intelligentsia and professional stratum

7. Vital contribution to the critique, resistance and reversal of the progressive Europeanization of human consciousness and culture which is one of the major problems of our times.

3 Basic Results of Europeanization on People of Color:

1. Progressive loss and replacement of historical memories

2. Progressive disappreciation of themselves

3. Progressive adoption of a Eurocentric view for themselves, each other, and the world

Weasternization

Cultural category that camouflages the fundamental racial reality of European dominance

7 Fields of Black Studies:

1. Black History

2. Black Religion

3. Black Social Organizations

4. Black Politics

5. Black Economics

6. Black Creative Production (Black art, literature, music, dance, and other performing arts)

7. Black Psychology

Kawaida Philosophy

a philosophy of cultural and social change developed by Maulana Karenga. "Defines culture in the broadest sense to equate it with all the thought and activity of a given people or society."

Mission and Goals of Discipline

1. Cultural Grounding

2. Academic Excellence

3. Social Responsibility

African Worldview

a frame of reference and conception of the world rooted in African culture

5 Overarching Goals of Black Studies

1. Critical and persistent search for truth and meaning in human history and social reality from African vantage point

2. Depthful intellectual grasp and appreciation of the ancient, rich, varied, and instructive character of the African initiative

3. Rigorous intellectual challenge and alternative to established-order ways of viewing social and human reality

4. Moral critique and social policy correctives for social constraints on human freedom and development

5. Cultivation of commitment and contribution to the historical project of creating the truly multicultural, democratic and just society