Description
Book SynopsisCompelling and enlightening, this collection of primary source documents allows twenty-first century students to direct dial key figures in African-American history. It includes concise and perceptive commentary along with engaging suggestions for discussion and project work.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix
Series Editors' Preface x
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Freedom, 1865–1881 8
1 Black Ministers Meet with Representatives of the Federal Government, January 1865 9
2 Frederick Douglass Argues for Black Suffrage, April 1865 12
3 Jourdon Anderson Writes to His Old Master, 1865 15
4 Harriet Simril Testifies Before a Congressional Committee, South Carolina, 1871 18
5 Resolutions of the National Civil Rights Convention, 1873 21
6 The Exodusters, 1878 22
7 Black Washerwomen Demand a Living Wage, 1866 and 1881 24
Chapter 2 Upbuilding, 1893–1910 28
1 Ida B. Wells Speaks Out Against Lynching in the South, 1893 30
2 Booker T. Washington Speaks on Race at Atlanta, 1895 34
3 The National Association of Colored Women, 1897 and 1898 38
4 The Negro National Anthem, 1900 and 1905 44
5 Photographs from the Paris Exposition, 1900 46
6 From W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, 1903 47
7 Black Leaders Disagree with Booker T. Washington: The Niagara Movement, 1905 52
8 Jack Johnson, 1910 56
Chapter 3 Migration, 1904–1919 59
1 Voices from The Independent, 1904 and 1912 60
2 Letters of Negro Migrants, 1916–1917 68
3 The East St. Louis Riot, 1917 72
4 Why African Americans Left the South, 1919 77
Chapter 4 Determination, 1917–1925 85
1 W. E. B. Du Bois on African Americans and World War I, 1918 and 1919 87
2 Poet Claude McKay Sets a New Tone, 1919 90
3 Emmett J. Scott Reflects on “What the Negro Got Out of the War,” 1919 90
4 Program of the NAACP, 1919 94
5 Marcus Garvey Outlines the Rights of Black Peoples, 1920 99
6 Cyril V. Briggs Merges Race Consciousness with Class Consciousness, 1922 106
7 Langston Hughes on Being Black in America, 1925 109
8 Amy Jacques Garvey Calls on Women to Lead, 1925 110
Chapter 5 Resistance, 1927–1939 114
1 The Scottsboro Boys Write to the Workers of the World, 1932 115
2 Angelo Herndon Joins the Communist Party, 1934 117
3 Ella Baker and Marvel Cooke Report on “The Bronx Slave Market,” 1935 124
4 Richard Wright Observes a Black Response to Joe Louis’ Victory, 1935 126
5 The Southern Negro Youth Congress on Freedom, Equality, and Opportunity, 1937 129
6 The Coordinating Committee for Employment, New York, 1938 131
7 Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial, 1939 133
Chapter 6 Resolve, 1941–1952 136
1 The March on Washington Movement, 1941 138
2 The “Double V” Campaign, 1942 142
3 A Black Army Chaplain Protests the Treatment of Black Soldiers, 1944 142
4 Pauli Murray on Student Protests in Washington, DC, 1944 147
5 The Civil Rights Congress Charges the US with Genocide, 1951 151
6 African Americans Petition the President and the American Delegation to the United Nations, 1952 158
Chapter 7 Discontent, 1953–1959 165
1 Thurgood Marshall Reargues Brown v. Board of Education, 1953 167
2 The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955 171
3 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Writes on Non-Violence, 1957 174
4 Robert F. Williams Advocates Armed Self-Defense, 1959 177
Chapter 8 Revolt, 1960–1963 184
1 Young Activists Form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), 1960 186
2 Ella Baker Reports on the Founding of SNCC, 1960 187
3 Robert Moses Writes from Jail in Magnolia, Mississippi, 1961 188
4 The Freedom Rides, 1961 189
5 Diane Nash Recalls the Early Student Movement, 1960–1961 191
6 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Writes a Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963 197
7 The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963 206
Chapter 9 Power, 1964–1966 210
1 Malcolm X Reflects on the Approaches African Americans Must Use, 1964 211
2 Fannie Lou Hamer Testifies on Behalf of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1964 218
3 Bayard Rustin Considers the Future of the Movement, 1965 221
4 Stokely Carmichael Explains Black Power, 1966 227
Chapter 10 Revolution, 1966–1977 234
1 The Black Panther Party Articulates a Platform, 1966 235
2 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Opposes the War in Vietnam, 1967 238
3 The Poor People’s Campaign, 1968 243
4 The Black Panther Party Convenes a Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention, 1970 245
5 Gil Scott-Heron Warns: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” 1971 250
6 The Combahee River Collective Statement Explains Black Feminism, 1977 252
Chapter 11 Crosscurrents, 1982–2001 261
1 Activists Call for Americans to Break Ties with South Africa, 1980 262
2 Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States, 1987 266
3 Jesse Jackson Rouses the Democratic National Convention, Atlanta, GA, July 19, 1988 271
4 African American Women in Defense of Ourselves, 1991 278
5 Maxine Waters Explains the Causes of Urban Crises to Congress, 1992 280
6 The Million Man March, 1995 282
7 Angela Davis Describes the Prison Industrial Complex, 1995 284
8 The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, 2001 289
Chapter 12 Paradox, 2005–Present 293
1 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Addresses His City on Martin Luther King Day, 2006 295
2 Barack Obama Believes in “A More Perfect Union,” 2008 297
3 Julian Bond Reflects on Race and History in America, 2011 307
Index 316
