Négritude & Negrismo Movements

Things to Remember

• Négritude was an intellectual and cultural movement in the 1930s
• It was created by Black Francophone writers, poets, and thinkers
• They were mainly from Africa and the Caribbean
• Negrismo was a literary and artistic movement in the early 20th-century
• It occurred in Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations like Cuba and Puerto Rico
• Negrismo emphasized African heritage and Black identity
• Both movements were influenced by the Harlem Renaissance, the New Negro Movement, and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

Today's Background

• Anti-colonial movements in the 1900s are explored
• Many countries gained independence from European powers in the 1950s and 1960s
• 17 African countries gained independence in 1960
• Solidarity among people of African descent was present

Key Points

• The Armed Forces remained segregated at the start of World War II
• Over two million African Americans registered for the draft or volunteered
• The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American pilots
• African Americans challenged unequal treatment as US citizens during the fight against fascism in Europe
• In 1942, James G. Thompson inspired the "Double Victory" Campaign with a letter to the Pittsburgh Courier
• The "Double Victory" meant fighting fascism abroad and Jim Crow segregation at home

G.I. Bill of 1944

• The Bill provided assistance to veterans
• It included funds for education, graduate school, and training programs
• It had unemployment insurance and allowances
• It helped with housing and business purchases
• It assisted with job-finding and offered hospitalization cost assistance
• Counseling services were provided
• It was designed as a race-neutral gesture of gratitude toward American veterans
• However, as a federal program administered locally, it was subject to Jim Crow practices
• As a result, disproportionate distribution to white veterans occurred

Civil Rights Organizations

• Civil Rights Organizations lecture
• The Big Four: NAACP, SCLC, CORE, SNCC

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• Founded in 1909, it is the oldest civil rights organization in the U.S.
• It focused on legal strategies to fight racial discrimination
• It played a role in landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which ruled school segregation unconstitutional
• Litigation, lobbying, and public education were used instead of direct protest
• Key figures include W.E.B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, and Walter White

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• Founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr. and other Black ministers
• Purpose was to coordinate nonviolent protests
• It played a central role in major civil rights campaigns
• These included the Birmingham Campaign (1963) and the Selma Voting Rights March (1965)
• Church networks and moral persuasion were used to push for civil rights legislation
• Emphasized nonviolent direct action was inspired by Christian teachings and Gandhian principles

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

• Founded in 1942 by James Farmer and other activists
• Focused initially on nonviolent resistance inspired by Mahatma Gandhi
• Organized the Freedom Rides (1961), which challenged segregation in interstate bus travel
• Played a key role in voter registration drives, specifically in the Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964)
• Shifted towards Black Power activism in the late 1960s

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

• Founded in 1960
• SNCC emerged from the sit-in movement
• It was led by young activists like John Lewis, Diane Nash, and Stokely Carmichael
• It organized direct action protests, including sit-ins, freedom rides, and voter registration drives in the Deep South
• It played a role in events like the March on Washington (1963) and the Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964)
• Later embraced Black Power under Stokely Carmichael’s leadership
• All of the actions were non-violent: marches, sit-ins, litigation, economic boycotts, and the use of mass media, often met with violence

Martin Luther King Jr.

• Born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia
• Earned a doctorate in theology from Boston University in 1955
• Led the Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks' arrest in 1955
• Co-founded the SCLC in 1957
• Delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963, at the March on Washington
• Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his leadership in the civil rights movement
• Played a key role in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Marches
• Criticized U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, linking it to poverty and injustice
• Assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee

The Arts

• Black artists used various forms of expression to fight racial inequality and amplify African American resistance globally.
• Poets like Nicolás Guillén connected anti-Black racism in the U.S. and Latin America, condemning segregation and racial violence.
• Musicians like Charles Mingus used African American musical traditions to create protest songs
• They drew global attention to white supremacist responses like the Little Rock Crisis (1957)
• Faith and music were central to the Civil Rights movement, with Black churches fostering freedom songs adapted from hymns, gospel, and labor union songs
• Freedom songs united and motivated activists, reinforcing their commitment to equality and expressing their vision for justice
• "We Shall Overcome" became the Civil Rights anthem and inspired Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1966 speech

Black Power Origins

• During the mid-1960s, some African Americans thought racial integration, equal rights, and nonviolent strategies did not sufficiently address disempowerment and safety
• Black Power promoted self-determination, defended violence as a strategy, and transformed Black consciousness by emphasizing cultural pride

Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam

• The Nation of Islam (NOI) was founded in Detroit in 1930
• It blended basic Islamic beliefs and practices with mythology and Black Nationalist ideology
• Elijah Muhammad led the NOI from Chicago starting in 1934
• He encouraged followers to forgo their surnames for Muslim ones
• Many members adopted the letter “X” to abandon the names of their enslavers

Malcolm X's Departure

• Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam while in prison and became a national leader after his release
• He grew skeptical and angry with the NOI
• Elijah Muhammad was accused of sexual crimes
• Malcolm X had a growing influence and became the public face of the Nation of Islam, creating jealousy
• Malcolm X commented on the JFK assassination, saying it was a case of "chickens coming home to roost"
• He implied that America’s history of violence had come back to haunt it
• The NOI leadership disapproved and suspended him from speaking publicly for 90 days
• Malcolm X left the NOI and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca
• He changed his worldview and determined that white people were not the enemy
• He began to think that differences in religion were a dividing factor
• He formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity
• Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb 21, 1965, by members of the Nation of Islam

Black Panther Party

• Malcolm X's legacy influenced the creation of the Black Panther Party in October 1966
• Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton were founders
• Ideology: Black nationalism, Black Power, armed self-defense, Socialism, and Marxism

Black Power vs. Black Nationalism

• Black Power focuses on Black pride, self-determination, and taking control of Black communities
• It fights for equality, independence, and better conditions through direct action
• Black Nationalism focuses on creating separate institutions or a separate nation
• It emphasizes Black unity and building independent systems away from white-dominated society
• Black Power empowers Black people within existing systems, while Black Nationalism creates separate systems or a new nation

Hair and History

• Hair is a key part of identity
• Regulations and elimination of non-white hair has been used to control or shame Black people, specifically women
• All forms of discrimination have been challenged throughout history

Recap

• Discrimination based on hair is a very real and has a long history used against Black people
• Many different Black-Lead movements fought against this
• The Black Power Movement and Black Panther Party

Black Arts Movement

• Emerged as a response to the Black Power movement in the 1960s and 70s
• It aimed to promote Black self-determination and cultural pride through art, literature, and theater
• It focused on Black history and identity

Feminism

• Feminism advocates for gender equality and the rights of women
• Black feminism focuses on women-related issues but not exclusively related to Black women

Waves of Feminism

• First Wave (late 18th – early 20th century): Focused on legal rights, particularly suffrage and influenced by Enlightenment thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft
• Second Wave (1940s–1980s): Expanded beyond legal rights to workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, and societal gender roles and Betty Friedan was central
• Third Wave (1990s–2000s): Reacted against the limitations of second-wave feminism and incorporating intersectionality and diverse voices
• Fourth Wave (2010s–present): Fueled by digital activism and focused on issues like #MeToo, online harassment, and intersectionality

Black Feminism

• Black Feminists challenged the mainstream feminist movement to be more intersectional
• 19th Century Activism: Sojourner Truth and Maria W. Stewart spoke out about racial and gender oppression
• Club Movement (late 1800s–early 1900s): NACW founded by Mary Church Terrell in 1896 combined racial uplift and women’s rights
• Mid-20th Century: Pauli Murray and Frances Beal highlighted how race and gender oppression intersected
• Combahee River Collective (1977): Landmark statement defining Black feminism

Black Feminism Post CRC

• Alice Walker coined the term "womanist” in the 1980s
• It builds upon earlier forms of Black women's activism

Intersectionality

• Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in the 1990s
• It is a framework for understanding the experiences of Black women
• It involves examining their social, economic, and political identities with systems of inequality and privilege
• "Intersectionality" connected Black feminist scholarship with earlier Black women's activism

Interlocking Systems of Oppression

• Describes how social categories (e.g., race, gender, class, sexuality, ability) are interconnected
• It explains how their interaction with social systems creates unequal outcomes for individuals
• Patricia Hill Collins articulated “interlocking systems of oppression”
• It critiques the tendency to treat race, gender, class, and sexuality as mutually exclusive categories

African Roots in Music

• African Americans have historically incorporated African-based musical elements
• These include improvisation, call and response, syncopation, storytelling, and dance fusion

Evolution of African American Music

• African American traditions—spirituals, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, and hip-hop—have shaped and revolutionized American and global music genres
• Rock and Latin jazz are included

Foundation of Rock and Roll

• Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard helped pioneer rock and roll
• They did so by blending gospel and blues with new rhythms and electric instrumentation

Music as Reflection

• African American music expresses joy, hope, creativity, and social critique while addressing racism and oppression

Origins of Hip-Hop

• Hip-hop was born from collaboration and artistic creativity among Black and Latino youth in the Bronx in the 1970s
• It has since become a global movement

Hip-Hop's Core

• Influenced by artists like James Brown
• DJs like Grandmaster Flash developed turntable techniques, mixing, and improvisational rhyming

Breakdancing and DJ Innovation

• DJs extended “the break” in songs, allowing dancers to showcase new moves, leading to the rise of breakdancing

Graffiti

• Predating hip-hop music and dance, graffiti became a form of artistic expression
• Jean-Michel Basquiat gained recognition

Background of Athletes

• Beginning in Reconstruction, African American athletes demonstrated their abilities
• They broke barriers in racially segregated sports and formed their own leagues
• Oliver Lewis won the inaugural Kentucky Derby in 1875
• In 1895, Black athletes in Halifax founded the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes
• The Baseball “Negro League” was popular until the 1960s when Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in Major League Baseball

Afrofuturism

• Afrofuturism reimagines Black pasts without oppression and envisions Afrocentric futures using technology and science
• Early examples include Phillis Wheatley’s visions and Benjamin Banneker’s study of the stars
• Afrofuturism's characteristic works emerged from the 1970s onward
• Sun-Ra's music and films like Black Panther are included

Black Involvement in WWII

• Armed forces remained segregated in WWII; desegregation occurred in 50s
• Tuskegee airmen were the first African American pilots
• Two million African Americans registered/drafted
• African Americans advocated for equal treatment, even while the US fought fascism
• James G Thompson inspired the Double Victory Campaign, urging leaders to fight for victory against America's human rights infringements as well as nazi's beliefs
• The GI Bill provided assistance to veterans regardless of race, including federal assistance in areas of life, education, unemployment, housing, job-finding, hospitalization, and counseling
• Designed to be raceneutral, was pushed down to states, which still did not give to black veterans - states was known for Jim Crow
• Administration and housing are some of the many sectors that were racist

Non-Violent Civil Rights Organizations - "The Big Four"

• Used passivism to control stereotypes, and didn't defend themselves against attacks
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
  • Formed by WEB Du Bois and others such as Thurgood Marshall and Walter White
  • Focused on legal matters, opposing racist laws in court, like the Brown V Board of Ed
  • Oldest and well known nonprofit
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
  • Formed by Martin Luther King Jr in 1947
  • Used no violence, and only civil disobedience (disobeying racist laws)
    • Peaceful ways using the Birmingham Campaign and Selma Voting Rights March
  • Advocated for nonviolent direct action (christian teachings and Gandhian principles)
• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
  • Nonviolent resistance after being inspired by Gandhi, Similar to SCLC

Other Organizations

• Shifted towards Black Power activism in the 1960s after the assassination of leaders, moving them away from nonviolence
• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
  • Known leader John Lewis
  • Used sit ins, freedom rides, and voter registration drives in Deep south
  • Used dMarch on Washington and Mississippi freedom summer

Black Power Movement

• Mid-1960s, African Americans believed the Civil Rights movement did NOT address widespread disempowerment, lack of safety in DAILY LIFE
• Embraced black power which promoted self-determination, defended violence, and emphasized cultural pride.
• Related but different:
  • Black Nationalism: political ideologies, seperating from whites and creating another identity
  • Black Power movement - black empowerment, rejecting white supremacy and nonviolent protests -Harlem renaissance: musical and other similar cultural movements
• Nation of Islam (NOI)
  • Black organizations, black nationalists, born into Islam or forced out of it, mixed mythology of black nationalism - black people descend from mythology ancestors and missed -Elijah Muhammad, led NOI from Chicago headquarters, encouraged followers to change to muslim surnames -Many would formally change their last name to “X”, a symbolic gesture abandoning the names of their enslavers

Nation of Islam

• Nation of Islam was formed in 1930 and Elijah Muhammad became head of organization
• It blends black nationalism with islamic traditions,
• it has aspects of spirituality that annoys muslim people, mythologizing
• Malcom X joins in prison and becomes a national leader, becoming very charismatic, becoming really influential and expanded NOI
• Malcom X grows sceptical and angry with NOI -sexual crimes - Elijah Muhammad raped a number of young girls -Malcolm X's growing influence became the public face of NOI, creating jealousy

JFK and Malcolm X

• Malcolm X comments on JFK assassination comment “Chicken coming home to roost” implying that America's history and JFK made bad decisions
• This caused NOI gets angry and revoked Malcolm X's power
• Malcolm X - did not want to focus on spirituality and religion rather direct political action rather than partial
• This caused him to leave NOI

Malcolm X's Travels

• Malcolm X goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca
  • Change in world view -White people are not the inherent enemy, -and differences in religion are getting in the way of unity
• creates community Organization of Afro-American Unity,
  • Civil rights organizations united christian and muslim half Malxolm X was then Assassinated After creation on Feb 21, 1965

Black Panther Party

• Formed in October 1966
• Influenced by Black nationalism and black power, and Armed self-defense

Black Power

• There was a point when Ronald Reagon changes opinions on gun control (pro gun control) after black panther party open carry
• Secular: no establishment of religion
• View capitalism as the oppressors - the AA should overthrow the economic system that entrenches them into poverty
• Focused on black pride, and empowering black people within existing communities

Hair

• Regulations of non-white hair has been used to control or shame black people for a long period of time, and different black-lead movement fought against discrimination based on hair
• Black is a unifying term included immigrants, includes shared african heritage and experiences Most african americans are still protestants
• Churches have always been at the forefront of the fight for racial equality
• Double of black immigrants due to the rise in black caribbean immigrants

Sports

• During this time black folk were not invited to sport so created their own sector in which they thrive

Movie industry

• Oscar Micheaux an African American filmmaker with many roles produced 50 films
• Showed Soul Train
  • Creativity music and art reflected black arts movement, influenced by civil rights movement
• Harlem had its own theater and black television was born in the movie industry