Black Studies

African American folklore dates back 240 years and has had a significant impact on American culture from the slavery period to the modern day. This encyclopedia provides accessible entries on key elements of this long history, including folklore originally derived from African cultures that have survived here and those that originated in the United States. Inspired by the author's passion for African American culture and vernacular traditions, African American Folklore: An Encyclopedia for Students thoroughly addresses key elements and motifs in black American folklore--especially those that have influenced American culture. With its alphabetically organized entries that cover a wide range of subjects from the word "conjure" to the dance style of "twerking," this book provides readers with a deeper comprehension of American culture through a greater understanding of the contributions of African American culture and black folk traditions. This book will be useful to general readers as well as students or researchers whose interests include African American culture and folklore or American culture. It offers insight into the histories of African American folklore motifs, their importance within African American groups, and their relevance to the evolution of American culture. The work also provides original materials, such as excepts from folktales and folksongs, and a comprehensive compilation of sources for further research that includes bibliographical citations as well as lists of websites and cultural centers.

With all of the progress African Americans have made, they still face many risks that threaten the entire race or place segments in jeopardy of survival. This work examines the widespread problem and suggests solutions. This two-volume set examines the issues and policies that put African Americans at risk in our culture today, utilizing the most recent research from scholars in the field to provide not only objective, encyclopedic information, but also varying viewpoints to encourage critical thinking. The entries comprehensively document how African Americans are treated differently, have more negative outcomes in the same situations than other races, and face risks due to issues inherent in their past or current social and economic conditions. Care is taken to note distinctions between subgroups and not further a "blanket approach" to the diverse members of this minority population. Intended for members of the African American community; societal scholars; students in the fields of health, social studies, and public policy; as well as general readers, this work will provide readers with a deeper understanding of key components affecting the lives of African Americans today.

An invaluable resource that documents the Black Power Movement by its cultural representation and promotion of self-determination and self-defense, and showcases the movement's influence on Black communities in America from 1965 to the mid-1970s. Unlike the Civil Rights Movement's emphasis on the rhetoric and practice of nonviolence and social and political goal of integration, Black Power was defined by the promotion of Black self-determination, Black consciousness, independent Black politics, and the practice of armed self-defense. Black Power changed communities, curriculums, and culture in the United States and served as an inspiration for social justice internationally. This unique two-volume set provides readers with an understanding of Black Power's important role in the turbulence, social change, and politics of the 1960s and 1970s in America and how the concepts of the movement continue to influence contemporary Black politics, culture, and identity. Cross-disciplinary and broad in its approach, Black Power Encyclopedia: From "Black Is Beautiful" to Urban Uprisings explores the emergence and evolution of the Black Power Movement in the United States some 50 years ago. The entries examine the key players, organizations and institutions, trends, and events of the period, enabling readers to better understand the ways in which African Americans broke through racial barriers, developed a positive identity, and began to feel united through racial pride and the formation of important social change organizations. The encyclopedia also covers the important impact of the more militant segments of the movement, such as Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers.

"From Toussaint LOuverture to Pelé, the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography will provide a comprehensive overview of the lives of Caribbeans and Afro-Latin Americans who are historically significant. The project will be unprecedented in scale, covering the entire Caribbean, and the Afro-descended populations throughout Latin America, including people who spoke and wrote Creole, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. It will also encompass the full scope of history, with entries on figures from the first forced slave migrations in the sixteenth centuries, to entries on living persons such as the Haitian musician and politician Wyclef Jean and the Cuban author and poet Nancy Morejón. Individuals will be drawn from all walks of life including philosophers, politicians, activists, entertainers, scholars, poets, scientists, religious figures, kings, and everyday people whose lives have contributed to the history of the Caribbean and Latin America"--Provided by publisher.

Winner, RUSA 2019 Outstanding References Source Winner and named a Library Journal Best Reference Book of the Year 2018 From D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1915 to the recent Get Out, audiences and critics alike have responded to racism in motion pictures for more than a century. Whether subtle or blatant, racially biased images and narratives erase minorities, perpetuate stereotypes, and keep alive practices of discrimination and marginalization. Even in the 21st century, the American film industry is not "color blind," evidenced by films such as Babel (2006), A Better Life (2011), and 12 Years a Slave (2013). The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Film documents one facet of racism in the film industry, wherein historically underrepresented peoples are misrepresented--through a lack of roles for actors of color, stereotyping, negative associations, and an absence of rich, nuanced characters. Offering insights and analysis from over seventy scholars, critics, and activists, the volume highlights issues such as: Hollywood's diversity crisis White Savior films Magic Negro tropes The disconnect between screen images and lived realities of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians A companion to the ever-growing field of race studies, this volume opens up a critical dialogue on an always timely issue. The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Film will appeal to scholars of cinema, race and ethnicity studies, and cultural history.

The Black Arts Movement (BAM) encompassed a group of artists, musicians, novelists, and playwrights whose work combined innovative approaches to literature, film, music, visual arts, and theatre. With a heightened consciousness of black agency and autonomy--along with the radical politics of the civil rights movement, the Black Muslims, and the Black Panthers--these figures represented a collective effort to defy the status quo of American life and culture. Between the late 1950s and the end of the 1970s, the movement produced some of America's most original and controversial artists and intellectuals. In Encyclopedia of the Blacks Arts Movement, Verner D. Mitchell and Cynthia Davis have collected essays on the key figures of the movement, including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Larry Neal, Sun Ra, Sonia Sanchez, Ntozake Shange, and Archie Shepp. Additional entries focus on Black Theatre magazine, the Negro Ensemble Company, lesser known individuals--including Kathleen Collins, Tom Dent, Bill Gunn, June Jordan, and Barbara Ann Teer--and groups, such as AfriCOBRA and the New York Umbra Poetry Workshop. The Black Arts Movement represented the most prolific expression of African American literature since the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Featuring essays by contemporary scholars and rare photographs of BAM artists, Encyclopedia of the Blacks Arts Movement is an essential reference for students and scholars of twentieth-century American literature and African American cultural studies.

This expansive collection of A-Z entries offers a compelling look into hate groups in America. Focusing on organizations in operation today, this resource book for student and general audiences covers numerous hot-button issues in politics and culture. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists nearly 900 hate groups active in the United States today. Some of these, such as the KKK, have deep roots in American history. Others are newer, formed in response to policies and shifts in our cultural landscape. Often these organizations imply defense of America and political ideals in their names, such as "Council of Conservative Citizens" and "American Family Association." Some, such as "White Aryan Resistance" and "Supreme White Alliance," are more direct in their associations. Nearly all posit an erosion of rights and values; a way of life that is becoming lost to immigrants; a diffusion or integration of population; and government overstep. Many of these groups preach a necessity for violence, through either outright or thinly veiled language. Membership in these organizations poses another topic for investigation, as their ranks are not just anti-government or pro-gun rights types who seek to defend the Constitution. Many are simply citizens who see their ideal for America as under threat by various groups--whether ethnic, racial, or religious. This unique reference will allow readers to explore the underlying issues central to understanding them. How do these hate groups get started, and why do people join?

As early as 1909, African Americans were utilizing the new medium of cinema to catalogue the world around them, using the film camera as a device to capture their lives and their history. The daunting subject of race and ethnicity permeated life in America at the turn of the twentieth century and due to the effect of certain early films, specific television images, and an often-biased news media, it still plagues us today. As new technologies bring the power of the moving image to the masses, African Americans will shoot and edit on laptop computers and share their stories with a global audience via the World Wide Web. These independently produced visions will add to the diverse cache of African American images being displayed on an ever-expanding silver screen. This wide range of stories, topics, views, and genres will finally give the world a glimpse of African American life that has long been ignored and has yet to be seen. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1400 cross-referenced entries on actors, actresses, movies, producers, organizations, awards, and terminology, this book provides a better understanding of the role African Americans played in film history. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about African American cinema.

The fiftieth anniversary of many major milestones in what is commonly called the African-American Civil Rights Movement was celebrated in 2013. Fifty years removed from the Birmingham campaign, the assassination of Medgar Evers, and the March on Washington and it is clear that the sacrifices borne by those generations in that decade were not in vain. Monuments, museums, and exhibitions across the world honor the men and women of the Movement and testify to their immeasurable role in redefining the United States. The second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement is a guide to the history of the African-American struggle for equal rights in the United States. The history of this period is covered in a detailed chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, significant legal cases, local struggles, forgotten heroes, and prominent women in the Movement. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Civil Rights Movement.

The Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America provides an accessible ready reference on the retention and continuity of African culture within the United States.Our conceptual framework holds, first, that culture is a form of self-knowledge and knowledge about self in the world as transmitted from one person to another.; Second, that African people continuously create their own cultural history as they move through time and space.  Third, that African-descended people living outside of Africa are also contributors to and participants in the creation of African cultural history. Entries focus on illuminating Africanisms (cultural retentions traceable to an African origin) and cultural continuities (ongoing practices and processes through which African culture continues to be created and formed).Thus, the focus is more culturally specific and less concerned with the broader transatlantic demographic, political and geographic issues that are the focus of similar recent reference works.We also focus less on biographies of individuals and political and economic ties and more on processes and manifestations of African cultural heritage and continuity.

This concise yet comprehensive reference book provides an overview of the Black Lives Matter movement, from its emergence in response to the police-involved deaths of unarmed black people to its development as a force for racial justice in America. This much-needed reference text places the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement within the broader context of the African American struggle for equality in America, from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to the violent protests against white supremacy that took place in Charlottesville in 2017. Specific topics include the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012, which gave rise to the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter; the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, which launched the rise of the movement; and the fatal shootings of police officers in Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2016, which sparked bitter backlash. It also covers the virulent alt-right backlash against BLM and the ways in which BLM leaders are responding to the challenge. Features of the book include an introduction; seven topical chapters covering the historical background to, origin and growth of, and backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement; and a conclusion. In addition, ten biographical "snapshots" cover key individuals involved with the movement, and eight primary source documents further illuminate issues discussed in the text. Other features include a timeline, an annotated bibliography, and a subject index.