Fall 2018

Introduction to the Black Freedom Struggle

Listed in: Black Studies, as BLST-131  |  History, as HIST-131

Faculty

Alec F. Hickmott (Section 01)

Description

(Offered as BLST 131 [US] and HIST 131 [US/TS]) This course will explore the rise and fall of African American social movements over the course of the twentieth century.  It will survey the critical organizations, institutions, and figures of the black freedom struggle and will examine the ideological diversity of a movement that encompassed ever-shifting combinations of uplift politics, black nationalism, liberalism, and leftism. We will explore a number of critical black lives over the course of the semester, including Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Pauli Murray, Ralph Bunche, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Angela Davis. The course will also introduce students to foundational debates and issues in the field of African American history, and push students to ponder how the political, socioeconomic, and cultural endeavors of African Americans have and continue to alter conventional understandings of "freedom," "justice," "democracy," and "equality" within and beyond the United States.

Limited to 25 students. Fall semester. Professor Hickmott.

BLST 131 - L/D

Section 01
M 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM CHAP 203
W 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM CHAP 203

ISBN Title Publisher Author(s) Comment Book Store Price
Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices on Resistance, Reform and Renewal: An African American Anthology Rowan & Littlefield, 2009 Manning Marable and Leith Mullings Amherst Books TBD
Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama Basic Books, 2010 Peniel, Joseph Amherst Books TBD
Lift Every Voice and Sing: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement The New Press, 2009 Sullivan, Patricia Amherst Books TBD

These books are available locally at Amherst Books.

Offerings

Other years: Offered in Fall 2018, Fall 2021, Fall 2024