African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #1 Pick one of the following, and write for at least fifteen minutes: 1.Why is it important to have a specific class for the study of African Americans? What other elective courses in social studies would you offer if you got to make decisions about what was taught? 2.What do you expect to learn in African American Studies? How do you expect to be challenged? What do you already know? 3.What is the experience of contemporary African Americans like? Describe some problems which you perceive African Americans to be facing.

African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #2 Pick one of the following, and write for at least fifteen minutes:Pick one of the following, and write for at least fifteen minutes: How does the institution of slavery’s impact stretch into the present day? What surprised you about what you’ve learned so far about the slave trade and/or African civilization before the slave trade?

African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #3 Pick one of the following, and write for at least fifteen minutes:Pick one of the following, and write for at least fifteen minutes: Describe what you saw at the Bunce Island exhibit? Did anything surprise or unsettle you? Did you learn anything new? If not, where did you learn about all of the information? Is racism still a part of the fabric of American culture? Have you experienced it? Describe your experiences and ideas.

Had you heard of Banneker / Wheatley before? Why do you think they are less famous than MLK / Malcolm X / Rosa Parks? -OR- Respond to my comments on your previous journals. African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #4

What, in your estimation, are the big themes which define the course to this point? What are some consistent realities of life for African-Americans to Reconstruction? What things do we seem to keep talking about as driving forces which shaped their experience? African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #5

Write a paragraph each describing the African American experience from the 16 th century through Reconstruction in terms of:  POLITICS  ECONOMICS  SOCIETY Then explain whether you think the measures taken to improve life for African Americans we have studied have been primarily political, economic, or social. Explain some potential problems with solutions coming from that particular type of solution. African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #6

Explain how the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance are related to each other. Then think about how different subgroups within the African American community would feel about these events. Subgroups you might consider could be differentiated by:  REGIONS [Southern, Northern]  LANDSCAPE [urban, rural]  CLASS [rich, poor, middle class]  EDUCATION [intellectuals, vocational training, no formal education] On the whole, in light of the interests of all of these subgroups, were the migration and the renaissance good things? Be thoughtful, and thorough! African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #7

Describe some examples of discrimination against African Americans which you learned about from the 1930s and 40s. Try to explain why those types of discrimination were allowed to exist. Also, compare them with the types of discrimination faced by African Americans during and immediately after Reconstruction (in the 1860s and 70s). Did things improve between the 1860s and the 1940s? If so, how? If not, why not? African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #8

Describe the civil rights movement through 1965: What were its origins? How was it conducted? Who was involved? What challenges faced it? How successful was it? What might have been done to make it more successful? Which leader and/or group you have studied would have been most likely to advocate the kinds of ideas and actions which would have made it more successful? African American Studies – JOURNAL TOPIC #9