African American Journey Research Paper

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “African American,” as an American who has African and especially black African ancestry. Being born in the United States and being American I have always been classified as African American, because my skin was dark, my hair was tightly coiled and because my parents were black. As a black child growing up here believed I was African American because my parent were African. I knew Africa from the Lion King and National Geography. I knew of the music because it played on a loop in our Georgia home, when I was trying to watch Disney or Nickelodeon. I knew of the food, because I was made to eat it instead of McDonalds. So to me, Africa and Africans where distant, it belonged in the world of fairytales.

The time has come again to celebrate the achievements of all black men and women who have chipped in to form the Black society. There are television programs about the African Queens and Kings who never set sail for America, but are acknowledged as the pillars of our identity. In addition, our black school children finally get to hear about the history of their ancestors instead of hearing about Columbus and the founding of America. The great founding of America briefly includes the slavery period and the Antebellum south, but readily excludes both black men and women, such as George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, and Mary Bethune. These men and women have contributed greatly to American society.

The texts taken together describe the development of African Americans from the 16th century to the 19th century. They reveal how their status changed to one of complete submission and their lower position codified within the law. However they also reveal how they were able to make a difference and help secure their own freedom. Common themes present in the texts are resistance and creolization.

African Americans have come a very long way from 1865; they have fought many battles to earn their place in America’s Society. From the ending of slavery African Americans have had various achievements from their suffering. Some fought, some spoke, some marched, some sat, some cried, some died, some even dreamed, but all of these things left a footprint in history. In this paper I will discuss some very important events in African American history beginning with the ending of slavery which has brought us to the America we all enjoy today.

The documentary, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, allows one to experience African American history through key historical sites, and interviews with living eyewitnesses such as those who fought during the well-known civil-rights movement. The documentary sheds light on the experience of African Americans, both in the past and today. The information presented in class further aids in detailing how African American history shaped the African American community in regards to support systems, crises, but most importantly, how these individuals used resiliency to overcome their trials and tribulations towards a fights for rights, freedom, and respect. During the six episodes, one will see that the road and battle to freedom for blacks in America was not linear, but rather complex and difficult- it was much like the course of a river, full of loops and turns, sometimes slow, and sometimes reversing the current of advancement. Although enslavement led to the creation of the African American people, it manifested into the multiplicity of cultural institution, beliefs, and religion and social institutions that the African American people have established- along with their strength and resiliency. From slavery, lynching’s, and the many marches and protests led by phenomenal black leaders, to the gained freedoms and the first black president in the White House, the documentary, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, details an engaging journey through African-American history from a perspective that thoroughly reflects the lives of African-Americans and the community in its

I do agree that hispanics and African American struggles are sort of similar. Some hispanics had to sneak across the border to get in our country for freedom. African Americans had to escape from the south to the north to get freedom in slavery days. Still today the police target blacks and Hispanics, so they put them in the same boat. They talk about the poverty of Blacks and Hispanics, and crime are in both neighborhoods. African Americans and Hispanic somehow find himself in some kind of rivalry. I do not know if this is because they both are struggling, and do not want to see one do better than the other one. I believe Hispanics and blacks need to get together , and stand against the stereotyping of their neighborhoods. They need to let

Throughout the complex history of the United States of America there have been a multitude of movements that have molded how we live in today’s current society. Rights that we as Americans have were not always available to every American in our history. A movement that changed the way Africans were integrated into America was the abolitionist movement. The Abolitionist movement was a movement to end slavery in anyway being formal or informal. Western Europe and in North America, the abolitionist movement was a historical and monumental movement that hoped to end not only African but also Indian slave trade, which also moved to set all slaves free. In this essay I am going to engage in the North American abolitionist movement, by presenting

When someone says “music”, one might think of a favorite song or band; not necessarily what kind of impact music truly has. When someone says “segregation”, the mind thinks of multiple things not being able to be together. But people not being able to be together are not always a common one. The merging of these two things starting a revolution that lasted decades. With the power of music and famous people, integration was procured between the white and African American cultures.

In today's society it is hard to believe that once a person was denied freedom because of the color of their skin. In the 1800 African Americans were treated poorly and were denied their freedom. The freedoms African Americans were denied was their social freedom which is the freedom to socialize with who ever you want and to marry who you want, Political freedom which is to vote and to be able to run for political jobs and economic freedom is to able to spend money and make money and able to get a job , pay taxes and to own land. A lot of people of think that in the north African Americans were free but in my opinion they were not. In this essay we will be talking about how African Americans were not free in the north.

African Americans had to fight segregation, discriminatory violence, and voting restrictions (Washington). It is difficult for African Americans to feel empowered when odds seem to be working against them (Henry). Since they were not given a chance of succeeding in lower level education, they don’t have the funds to reach the level they aspired to reach (Washington). Through the discrimination that has persisted in the past equality is needed for African Americans to finally feel as they have a purpose in America.

I decided to do my paper on one of my cultures that I celebrate which Is Juneteenth and also I wanted to write about is the Japanese culture. I just wanted to share with you how my family celebrate this culture and enjoy it at the same time and also explain the meaning to you. I also would like to talk about the Japanese culture and some of the unique ways they celebrate things in their culture also. Hope you enjoy.

The troubles for African Americans traces back to a period where nothing was a privilege nor was granted. Throughout my readings it is difficult to justify the accurate meanings of how the individuals in each reading felt. As I kept to my readings I discovered what African Americans’ spirit, money, education, and liberty meant to them. At time’s their spirits would rise in optimism to a grand life for them and their loved one’s, but it being problematic with the prejudice whites who kept knocking them down. Their financials were no better as to being paid little or slim to none. If fortunate enough to make a couple of cents for the hours of hard labored days that passed for the African American’s. Education was foreign to blacks as the whites

I wrote this piece to show how I interpreted the journey of African Americans. I wrote this because I’ve never heard a composition of music that was meant to explain our journey throughout the centuries. This was meant to show us when we were royalty, when we were taken from our home, when we became someone’s property, when we faced discrimination and segregation, and when we made a difference and created a great future for others.

The shape of the United States now, wouldn’t have been possible without the blood, sweat and tears of many of its people in the early years of the United States. In this essay, it will be discussed how African slaves were turned into commodities after the American Revolution and around the time of the Civil War. The essay will also cover what the daily life was like for an African slave and what their tasks were from day to day. Lastly the essay will cover how slavery was a deciding role in the early development of the American economic system and what factors contributed to it.

Although the road to discrimination is still a work in progress, we as African American are making great strides. There have been numerous acts, bill and movements over the years that have said or promised change only to be altered. They were meant to improve the lives of everyone, but was the better life meant for African American in the 1800’s up until now. The events and developments in this assignment will depict why there has to be continues effects to improve our way of life. It was the leaders that were not afraid brave and fearless motivators that continue to shape the racial bias, making for a brighter future for black.