Exhaustive Study Guide on African American History and the Civil Rights Movement

World War II Veterans and Post-War Resistance

• Experience and Expectations of Veterans: Black veterans returning from World War II to northern cities in search of jobs expected a level of respect due to their military service.     * These veterans were armed, experienced militarily, and had suffered during the war.     * When they were not treated with respect, their military background made them more inclined to resist mistreatment.
• The GI Bill: The GI Bill was written in $1944$ and applied in $1945$.     * Approximately $1200000$ Black veterans came out of World War II.     * Almost immediately, the bill's benefits were not applied evenly across all races, creating significant disparities in housing and education for Black veterans.
• The Double V Campaign: This phrase was coined in $1942$ during World War II.     * It represented two victories: victory against fascism in Europe and victory against racism in the United States.

The Great Migration and Afro-Caribbean Migration

• The Great Migration: This movement spanned from approximately $1910$ to $1970$.
• Afro-Caribbean Migration: This occurred during a similar window, starting around $1910$ and largely concluding around $1940$ with the onset of World War II. It involved migrants from countries such as Haiti.

The Racial Uplift Movement

• Origins and Timeline: The Racial Uplift Movement began around the time of the formation of the NAACP in $1909$ and was catalyzed by the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson in $1896$.     * As the U.S. government turned its back on Black citizens, the community turned toward self-help and the creation of their own organizations and institutions.     * The movement lasted through the $1930s$, paralleling the Harlem Renaissance.
• Racial Uplift as an Umbrella Term: Racial Uplift encompasses various movements and institutions, including:     * The New Negro Movement: Focused on promoting Black pride, authenticity, self-uplift, and self-expression.     * Black-Owned Businesses: Examples include Madam C.J. Walker's hair care business (started in $1905$) and the Safe Bus Company.     * Churches: The AME Church (African Methodist Episcopal Church), founded in $1816$, had a history of protest, served as locations for the Underground Railroad, and helped families find each other. Preachers like Nat Turner rallied for slave rebellions.     * Women’s Club Movement: Involved leaders trying to force Black men to invest in women's suffrage and white women to care about racial issues (intersectionality).     * HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities): Included industrial education (Tuskegee) and liberal arts. The first two HBCUs, Wilberforce University and Chaney University (both in Ohio), were established during the era of slavery.     * Black Banking: The Citizens Bank and Trust was the first Black bank. It provided a trusted place for Black people to invest money away from white institutions.

Important Historical Figures and Intellectuals

• W.E.B. Du Bois: Wrote The Souls of Black Folk in $1903$, which famously discussed the concept of "double consciousness." He is linked to the Niagara Movement ($1905$) and the NAACP ($1909$). He later moved to Ghana in $1963$.
• Booker T. Washington: Founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in $1881$. He gave a famous speech in $1895$ (the Atlanta Compromise).
• Madam C.J. Walker: Started her business in $1905$ and became the first Black self-made female millionaire.
• Carter G. Woodson: Established "Negro History Week" in $1926$, which later evolved into Black History Month.
• Madam CJ Walker: The first Black female millionaire.
• Thurgood Marshall: The lawyer who argued the Brown v. Board of Education case; later became the first Black Supreme Court Justice.
• Fannie Lou Hamer: A key figure in the $1964$ Freedom Summer, focusing on voter registration.
• Ella Baker: A master coordinator who worked with the NAACP, then moved to the SCLC ($1957$) to help Martin Luther King Jr., and finally shifted to SNCC in $1860$ to help students organize.
• Stokely Carmichael: Coined the phrase "Black Power" in $1963$.

Arts, Literature, and Media

• Claude McKay: Wrote the poem "If We Must Die" in $1919$.     * Historical Context: The poem was a response to the Red Summer of $1919$, an escalation of anti-Black violence and race riots across the country.
• Billie Holiday: Recorded the song "Strange Fruit" in $1939$. She was born on $04/07/1915$ and was only four years old during the Red Summer.
• Jacob Lawrence: An artist known for works exposing the Jim Crow era, such as Dixie Cafe and Bar and Grill, which depicted segregation in daily life.
• Black Arts and Black is Beautiful Movements: Cultural movements from approximately $1968$ to $1975$ that emphasized Black pride and identity.

International Anti-Colonialism and the Diaspora

• Anti-Colonial Movement ($1940-1970$): Post-WWII era where nations across the diaspora pushed back against European control.     * In $1957$, Ghana gained independence from European control.     * The Year of Africa ($1960$): $17$ African nations gained their independence in a single year.
• Connection to U.S. Civil Rights: Leaders like Maya Angelou, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. visited Africa (specifically Ghana) to study how African nations gained independence. They intended to apply these anti-colonial strategies to the struggle for civil rights in the United States.     * Malcolm X and Maya Angelou were in Ghana in $1964$.     * W.E.B. Du Bois received an honorary degree from the University of Ghana in $1963$.

Key Events of the Civil Rights Movement

• Brown v. Board of Education ($1954$): Struck down school segregation as unconstitutional based on the $14th$ amendment; cited the "doll study."
• Murder of Emmett Till ($1955$): A catalyst for the movement that occurred shortly after the Brown v. Board decision.
• Montgomery Bus Boycott ($1955-1956$): Lasted over a year ($12/05/1955$ to $12/20/1956$). Triggered by Rosa Parks, it brought Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence.
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC): Founded around $1956-1957$ by MLK following the boycott.
• Little Rock Nine ($1957$): Integration of Little Rock Central High School.
• Greensboro Sit-ins ($1960$): Four students sat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter, a spontaneous grassroots action that inspired the formation of SNCC.
• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC): Formed in $1960$ to coordinate campus sit-ins.
• Freedom Rides ($1961$): Organized by CORE, then taken over by SNCC when the violence escalated.
• Freedom Summer ($1964$): A massive effort to register Black voters in the South.
• Civil Rights Act of $1964$: Ended Jim Crow laws, providing legal access to schools, pools, and public facilities. It was signed roughly $100$ years after the Civil War.
• Voting Rights Act of $1965$: Passed after the Selma to Montgomery march to ensure Black citizens could exercise their right to vote.
• Selma Bridge / Five-Mile March ($1965$): Known as the fifty-mile march from Selma, where John Lewis and others were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Political Movements and Organizations

• Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA): Founded by Marcus Garvey in $1914$.
• Nation of Islam: Founded in $1930$ by Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X broke away from the group in $1963$.
• Black Panther Party: An organization that emerged in the late $1960s$ ($1966$) as part of the Black Power movement; began to fade by the late $1970s$.
• Black Feminist Movement: Gained traction in the $1970s$ and $1980s$.
• Redlining: A practice involving the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) manual in $1938$, which suggested neighborhoods stay racially stable/segregated to retain value.

Assassinations and Transitions

• John F. Kennedy (JFK): Assassinated in $1961$ (Note: Transcript date). His vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, took over and passed major civil rights legislation.
• Malcolm X: Assassinated in $1964$ (Note: Transcript date).
• Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK): Assassinated on $04/04/1968$.
• Robert F. Kennedy (RFK): Assassinated in $1968$.

Questions & Discussion

• Question: Are HBCUs only Black?
• Response: No, but they are predominantly Black (often $80-90\%$). White students do apply and attend, which can be a humbling and valuable experience to be a racial minority in a room.
• Question: What is the historical context of the SCLC?
• Response: The formation was driven by the national recognition MLK received following the Emmett Till murder and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• Question: What is a race riot?
• Response: It involves large groups or mobs where the conflict is split along racial lines (e.g., white vs. Black).
• Question: Why don't they allow flash photography with Emmett Till's casket?
• Response: Because it is in a museum, and museums generally forbid flash photography to preserve items.