The 10 Most Significant Events in African American History African Americans and indeed America has been shaped by historical events which have defined and altered the character of American society. From the onset, the Union established in 1787, was flawed, incomplete, and imperfect. African Americans and their freedom struggle would play a critical and pivotal role in perfecting the Union. Brought to the United States as slaves, African Americans refused to be defined as slaves and refused to accept their condition. Instead, they struggled to redefine themselves in human terms and in the process they redefined America. Yes We Can: The Election of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United StatesThe election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States is truly a milestone in both African American History and the history of the United States. It, as said elsewhere, “marks a remarkable moment in our country's history--a milestone in America's scarred racial landscape and a victory for the forces of decency, diversity and tolerance.” Obama’s team and campaign respect for decency, dignity, and intelligence of the American people was reflected their organizing strategy and mantra-Respect, Empower, Include.” Engagement of ordinary, everyday American people and the historical possibility of electing the nation’s first African American president drove a record-shattering turnout, especially among African Americans and contributed to Obama’s decisive victory. The election of Barack Obama, to be sure, was a watershed event in America and African American History. The 1954 Brown Decision: Ending Legal SegregationThe Brown v. Board of Education decision had far-reaching implications for African American and American society. The Brown court ruling, the culmination of a brilliant strategy, put together by a team of lawyer which included Charles H. Hamilton and Thurgood Marshall, created a nation of equal justice under the law and ushered in a new era of civil rights. The Brown decision tore down the legal basis for segregation and is appropriately viewed by many as the most significant case on race in American history. March on Washington: King’s DreamThe March on Washington has become a mythic event and a point of reference for human rights struggle in America. It signaled the coming of age of a multiracial mass movement the likes not seem in America. It served as a platform for Martin Luther King to frame the national agenda with his historic speech, I Have a Dream. With this speech, King elevated the cause of African Americans national conscience, set the moral and progressive agenda for America, and made civil rights a national priority. Marcus Garvey Movement: Up You Mighty RaceThe March on Washington has become a mythic event and a point of reference for human rights struggle in America. It signaled the coming of age of a multiracial mass movement the likes not seem in America. It served as a platform for Martin Luther King to frame the national agenda with his historic speech, I Have a Dream. With this speech, King elevated the cause of African Americans national conscience, set the moral and progressive agenda for America, and made civil rights a national priority. The Souls of Black Folk: On the Meaning of Being Black in AmericaThe Souls of Black Folk was seminal study in black life and culture in the South. It captured as no other work had the “black condition” and projected out of that condition the struggle of a people to maintain and advance its humanity. The Souls of Black folk, in fourteen essays described in intellectual terms the striving of African Americans to become a people out of its own culture. Souls of Black Folk laid the basis of the study and impact of racism in America with its advancement of the “double-consciousness” concept and its prophesy of race as enduring problem of twentieth century. Harlem Renaissance Movement (1920s): A Measure of a People’s GreatnessThose African Americans who were part of the decade of change-roughly between World War I and the Great Depression-saw themselves as principals in the moment of transformation from the old to the new. The Harlem Renaissance produced an outpouring of culture which defined a generation and gave America its classical indigenous music-Jazz and its popular indigenous music the Blues. The art, music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance injected a new vigor into American popular and national culture and elevated African Americans at the forefront of Americans cultural production. Thus the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural revolution in black America symbolized the coming to age of a people- the beginnings of the shaking off of the residue of slavery-in mind, spirit, and character. 1960s Civil Rights Movement: We Shall OvercomeThe civil rights movment change forever the charactera and structure of American soceity. The civil rights that most people take for granted were born out the struggle in the 1960s. The force of this struggle open up American to people of color and women. The 1960s student movement and movments across the world drew inspiration and instruction from this struggle. The civl rights stuggle trasnformed black people into a fighting force and in the process transformed America. Black Electoral Politics: Setting the Moral and Progressive AgendaIn the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, black electoral politics became and extension of the social justice movement embodied in the 1960 freedom movement. Black elected officials established caucuses to advance the interest of blacks and those who were historically “locked out” the political process. They saw themselves as setting the moral and progressive agenda for America. They used the political process as a platform to articulate the grievance of poor and oppressed peoples here in America and abroad. The work of these pioneering elected officials along with the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson laid the foundation for the election of Barack Obama as a United States Senator and as the 44th President. Black Scientist: Grace Under Pressure, Creativity in The Face of Adversity:From the outset, African Americans were at core of America’s scientific and technological revolution. Black scientist and inventors made an indelible mark on American society and the world. The contributions of blacks in science advanced the American Industrial Revolution through their inventions. Their inventions provided the foundation for the flowering of American ingenuity. What is remarkable about the inventions of blacks is condition which they labored. Despite being subjected to and inferior institutions and working conditions, black scientist dared to invent and to create. Their scientific and technological achievements affirm the contribution of African Americans to the scientific revolution in America Motown: The Soundtrack of a GenerationThe sound of Motown is distinct and known throughout the world. The music of Motown inspires artist of every color and combined craftsmanship with originality and accessibility. The success of Motown became synonymous with the success of African Americans. Black took pride in the music which Motown produced and in its black ownership. Motown artistic produced some of the most inspirational love songs ever written. Motown dominated the pop charts. “The sound of Young America”- the Motown Sound became for many the sound of a generation.
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