African American Teachers and Confidence

A lot of education professionals believe that African American history is a crucial subject. It allows children to better understand their culture and how society as a whole has changed. Until fairly recently this subject was neglected. That has begun to change thanks to initiatives such as black history month.

In many areas school staffing is a major issue. As a result there are some education establishments that struggle to provide basic curriculums. If this trend continues then African American history is in danger of being sidelined once again. There are also issues related to the psychological wellbeing of teachers which need to be addressed.

Staying Confident

When talking to a class full of children the teacher needs to have a very high level of self confidence. It is vital that they can command the attention of the entire room. Occasionally there will be disruptive pupils to deal with. This can sometimes throw the teach off. Confidence issues tend to be linked to their life outside of work.

For example, the African American history educator might be uncomfortable with their natural body shape. If this affects their school performance then they need to fix the problem. This may involve attaining a teardrop implant from the company Motiva. On the surface augmentation can seem like an extreme response. However, the results speak for themselves. Many women feel renewed after undergoing this type of operation.

Augmentation can allow African American history teachers to stave off their confidence issues. As a result they will instead focus on providing key information to their students. If women are interested in Motiva procedures they can undergo them during the summer break period.

African American History

Choosing Rugs for an African American History Class

Before starting a class on the subject of African American history, it is undoubtedly essential to decorate the interior space in an engaging way. It is common to utilise multi-coloured elements in these environments. This is due to the fact that a lot of famous African American artists use vibrant hues. The goal is to make the room not seem bland.

The floor should not be neglected. A high-quality rug from Trend Carpet can make all the difference. Round shaped ones will be particularly appealing for classrooms.

Rugs in Bright Colours

When deciding on a design scheme for these kinds of classrooms, there is no such thing as being too colourful. This is especially true if very young children are going to be educated within it. Filling the space with plenty of colours will help to engage the minds of children. Therefore the teacher should pick vibrant round rugs from the Trend Carpet website.

Rugs That Have a Historical Connection to African Culture

When possible, the décor should have some kind of connection to the subject being taught. There are many different cultures of Africa, each with a rich history. The teacher could pick a rug that contains patterns inspired by one of these cultures.

Filling Empty Classroom Space

If an educational space feels empty, then it can exude a very dull tone. This will tend to impede the engagement of children. One of the primary skills of an interior designer is filling empty spaces in visually appealing ways. Circular shaped rugs can be perfect for this task. When placed in the centre of the floor, they make the interior feel more cohesive.

Being Aware of Classroom Safety

The teacher must always prioritise the safety of students. Rugs can present a tripping hazard if they are placed in the wrong area. It is vital to bear this in mind when rug shopping.

Storing Your Afro-American History Literature

African Americans have had a long and rich history, which many people would want to associate with or read about. This is known as African American/Afro-American history. The narrative begins during the so-called Atlantic slave trade. Africans were captured as slaves by the Europeans, who transported them to America to work on plantations. Of the 10.7 million slaves taken from Africa, only 450 of them were taken to North America. They would later multiply and grow in number. This group of people, who currently live in the United States, are known as African Americans or Black Americans (although they don’t like being referred to by the latter).

Now, not so many people have written African American history as accurately as it should be. That’s why you will want to jealously guard any authoritative African American history literature you come across. If you happen to lay your hands on such books, including Black Reconstruction in America and The Dead Are Arising, the least you can do is store that literature well, for your own good and that of the coming generations. You must have been to a library, so you know how the books are neatly arranged and kept on shelves. Having a rack like that in your office or home space is not a bad idea at all.

Better still is if you can purchase a bookshelf from a reputable supplier, such as Royal Design, which is known for high-quality and durable shelf storage systems to help you store books and other items, such as pictures, newspapers, and magazines. With Royal Design shelving systems, you will reap the following benefits:

  • The system offers a sense of neatness and organization, keeping your space clutter-free.
  • The shelves also allow you to store other items besides books. These items may include your laptop, pens, and other study materials.
  • Royal Design shelving systems come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Whatever choice you make, you will have well-organized storage that offers easy access to your Afro-American literature.
  • The shelves will add a beautiful feel to your interior design decor. Besides, Royal Design shelves are made from durable materials, and they are easy to assemble. You don’t need an expert or many tools to get the job done.

So, when searching for shelves to store your precious Afro-American history books, you may not want to look further than what Royal Design has in store.

Historical African American Figures

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was a crucial figure in the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement. He helped to organise the Great March on Washington, which advocated for the equality of black Americans. In 1964 the Baptist minister won the Nobel Peace Prize.

King was sadly assassinated in 1968. His death galvanised the country and some claim that it helped to speed up the process of equal rights. Half a century later, US citizens are still enjoying the benefits of King’s sacrifice and work.

Barack Obama

In 2009 Barack Obama became the first ever African American president. His term of office would not end until 2017. He helped to launch a number of liberal policies throughout the country. This included universal health care.

Despite no longer being in office, Obama continues to be a popular figure amongst the public. He is considered one of the greatest presidents of all time. He and his wife Michelle are still active and vocal in the political sphere.

Mohammed Ali

Ali was one of the most successful boxers of the 20th century. He is most famously remembered for the Rumble in the Jungle of 1974. During this fight he competed against George Foreman.

Ali lived to see the internet age. It is astounding to think that a figure so tied to the 1960’s would also survive to see the emergence of online services such as movon.com. The latter is a medical app that provides healthcare online. Ali used modern technology like this for a number of philanthropy endeavours.

Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens made the headlines during the 1936 Olympics. This African American athlete specialised in the long jump and sprinting. In track and field sports he is often cited as the very best.

The 1936 Olympics was attended by the dictator Adolph Hitler. During the games Owens won four gold medals. This helped to dispel the Nazi myth of white genetic supremacy. Today it is seen as a great victory for humanity.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X was active in the Civil Rights Movement at the same time as Martin Luther King. However, X is considered a much more controversial figure. He was an extreme proponent of racism in America and an influential person during this period.

Like Martin Luther King, X was also the victim of an assassination plot. He is remembered for being a proponent of black self defence, self determination and anti-racism. A film was later made about his life directed by Spike Lee.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is considered one of the greatest musicians that ever lived. He had a string of best selling albums during the 1980’s. One of his greatest hits, Thriller was extremely influential to popular culture.

Jackson mixed modern music with urban dance moves. He has been dubbed the King of Pop by his adoring fans. His music continues to be enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.

Black History Month: Its Origins and Humble Beginnings

The origins of Black History Month initially started in Chicago in the midst of summer in 1915. During this time, Carter G. Woodson who was an alumnus of the University of Chicago traveled to the state of Illinois to take part in a nationwide celebration of 50 years of emancipation. A large number of African American people came from different parts of the country to view exhibits that reflected progress that African-Americans have made since slavery was abolished. Even though this celebration was held at the Illinois Coliseum, which was also home to the Republican convention of 1912, an estimated 6,000-12,000 people patiently waited outside to see the exhibition. Being inspired by the celebration, which lasted for three weeks, Woodson made a decision to create an organization geared towards the promotion of the study of the lives of African-Americans, mainly through science. On the day of September 9, Woodson arrived at the YMCA of Wabash, meeting with A.L. Jackson and 3 others. Together, they formed the now historic group, the Association of the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).

Woodson had a strong belief that historic scientific events that were published would change race relations for the better. He believed that this would be achieved by destroying the widespread untruths regarding the achievements of African-Americans and Native Africans. He had hopes that more individuals would promote the findings that his group would publish in The Journal of Negro History, which was made in 1916. Woodson advertised his ideas, heavily persuading black organizations of civic leaders to help promote the achievements that his research team had discovered. He worked with his college fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, to create Negro History and Literature Week or Negro Achievement Week. The results of their efforts were very positive. However, Woodson had bigger ideas that he wanted to achieve.

These efforts were the beginning of the progressive idea of celebrating black history, along with a vision to reflect on the great achievements and historical timeline of the plight of African-Americans. During the 1940s, West Virginia African-Americans started to celebrate February as Negro History Month. In the time of the Black Pride movement of the 1960s, Negro History week would expand to Black History Month. Frederick H. Hammurabi, a cultural activist, began celebrating Negro History Month during the mid-1960s. By the time of the late 1960s, many young Black college students began learning more of their African heritage, thus promoting Black History Month through the community at a speedy pace. The transition to the celebration becoming a month-long event began before the death of Dr. Woodson, which occurred on April 3, 1950.

The historical fight to reflect the achievements of African-Americans were part of an ongoing universal plight for equality. These efforts have since been reflected in many industries, such as healthcare. For example, kry.care is an organization with a global vision of providing health care that is equal, along with accessible, to people of all types. These type of ongoing efforts help continue the universal goal of equal rights for people of all backgrounds.

Slavery Unleashed

Art – A Graphic Reminder of Slavery

In this modern day world, we live in, one does expect to hear or encounter the world slavery let lone experience it; but there are some parts of the world where modern-day slavery still exists. It is estimated that there are about 40 million people in the world that are currently in modern day slavery. Slavery can take many shapes and form including forced marriage, human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage and many others. What is astonishingly atrocious is the people who carry out these crimes. Imagine if the people who commit these terrible crimes against other human beings were to walk a mile in their shoes and experience what these slaves were going through? How would they feel?

The Lynching Memorial

This is what the new memorial at Montgomery, Alabama tries to achieve. The lynching memorial depicts the horrors of slavery and the struggles that slaves had to endure. The memorial honours the lives of more than 4000 black people who were victims of lynching due to the racism of that era in the United States Of America. By showcasing their names and depicting controversial sculptures of slaves near the memorial site, Bryan Stevenson who created the Equal Justice Initiative, responsible for the memorial, believes that the site will encourage more dialogue between different folks in the city. He believes that by talking about slavery people will become more sympathetic to the injustice that befell the African American community of that era and people of all colours can come to terms with their past, make peace with it and eventually remember not to repeat the mistakes ever again. One thing is for sure; talking about slavery is not enough, especially when it comes to modern-day slavery which is a real human rights issue. What will make all the difference, on the other hand, is actually doing something about this problem.

Freedom From The Chains

A New African American Culture

The African migration into the American either by own volition or through slavery has had a profound influence on the American Culture. Anthropologists, as well as cultural analysts, have worked tirelessly to analyse the overall effect of the African-American cultural intermarriage. When Africans were transiting through the Indian and Atlantic Oceans they took with them African customs, traditions, values, and even taboos. Dancing styles, systemized beliefs, and religious practices were also taken to the American land. Owing to a number of factors such as intermarriages between the blacks and White American, a set of new people “Black Americans” emerged. Their cultural orientation is significantly different from the two latter groups. However, this distinct culture bears some resemblance to some original practices of either American or African descent.

The Growth African-American Culture

A lot has been discussed concerning the flourishing of the African-American culture in the post-slavery period. However, it is the period between 1920 and 1930 that witnessed concerted efforts towards embracing this new cultural reality. The Harlem Renaissance, for instance, provided a crucial platform on which African-American music, literature, and art works were espoused. This has hitherto culminated into a number of global platforms through which the art world’s response to the birth of Black Power has been expressed. Such exhibitions are held annually with some catchy titles such as ‘The Soul of a Nation’, which focuses on the lives of black people between 1963 and 1983. The African-American cultural movement that was launched in the early 1960s immensely contributed to the growth of this culture by promoting ethnic cohesion and racial pride. It also buttressed efforts that were geared towards African-American literature and artistic expressions.

A Summary Of African-American Culture

After the migration of African into the new land of American, there was great culture shock between the blacks and American whites. As time went on, the African intermarried, co-worked and lived in the same neighbourhoods with the Americans. This led to the rise of African-American culture that has continued to grow to date.The kind of music and the slang language developed by African-Americans are an indispensable part of American culture today. The Kitenge fashion with its origin in Africa is a major outfit in the American soil. Well-established online sites like the https://www.barnebys.co.uk/ have dedicated entire web pages on some of the cultural outfits that were introduced to the Americans by the migrating Africans. Paintings, as well as other early African paintings are also available. From clothing to ancient weapons all can be accessed at www.Barnebys.co.uk

The creators of Blues music

Around the 19th century the amazing music genre blues was born, some say in the american south. It has a deep and tragic story behind it though. To feel “blue” means that you’re somehow feeling sad and that’s very true. The music genre blues is originated from African musical traditions, African-American work songs, spirituals and folk music.

African-American work songs is a nicer name for slavery work songs. The slavery was very rough, specially in the south of USA.

The music genre blues is something truly amazing though. Some say that the most beautiful and emotionally moving songs are blues.

Mississippi John Hurt was a blues artist who was born in 1893. He was an amazing artist who learned how to play the guitar when he was only 9 years old.  It evolved and he started playing guitar and singing in local pubs and parties and he became a great singer. A little down the road he was signed by a music label, then he got a small career that didn’t last very long. Sadly he returned to his home town of Avalon and started working as a farmer. He only released to songs with the music label, one of them was Louis Collins.  The song is about a mother, Mrs. Collins, who’s sad that her son is leaving to join the army.

To truly experience the real blues music you should go to the american south and walk the same blocks that these old blues legends used to walk and find inspiration in. You can find cheap and nice flights to your favourite blues-town destinations at http://avionero.com/.

Another great blues musician was also born in Mississippi, Nehemiah Curtis James, also known as “Skip James“. Skip James wasn’t born in Avalon as Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James was born in Bentonia.

Skip James was born in 1902 and passed away in 1969. During his musical career he managed to learn how to play the guitar and the piano. He recorded his very first album with the music label Paramount and it was released in 1931. Due to the economic depression at the time it wasn’t very easy to sell alot of records. The music label didn’t like the fact that so few records were sold and Skip James didn’t record anymore music in over 30 years.

But in the year of 1960 he was rediscovered by three other blues musicians. Their discovery lead to that Skip James played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, and he kept on playing at several folk and music festivals until his passing in 1969.

During these years Skip James recorded alot of music and lots of his songs have been interpreted by lots of other musicians.

 

Going Back in Time with Afro-American History

 

Afro American History makes up a very important part of the American heritage and is something that should be studied by everyone. The contributions that the African people have made across the globe should never be forgotten. Neither should the long history of hardships that were faced be downplayed or set aside.

What does looking at Afro American History Mean?

Looking at Afro American history means recognizing how it pertains to the African Americans that played a role in the US that helped to create the foundation for this country and their contributions.

It is of such importance that February has been designated as Black History Month and is celebrated by all walks of life. It means looking at the many years of slavery and the revolts that have been documented throughout history that led to freedom. It includes looking at those figures who were prominent throughout the years with their contributions towards the African American population.

Looking at Slavery

Slavery took its roots in America in Hampton Virginia. It was Massachusetts that was the first region to make slavery legal. Originally slaves were kept in captivity to act as servants but after a period of time they would be released only to be replaced by new slaves. Once this practice became legalized slaves were no longer set free and their children inherited the same slavery conditions as their parents were exposed to.

The Time Line

While there were many slavery revolts of varying degrees that results in additional hardships and bloodshed some of these revolts were more prominent than others. When looking back into black history one has to go all the way back to 1619 when the first African American slaves arrived. It wasn’t until 1808 that the importing of slaves became illegal as a ruling of congress.

While in the years following more steps were being attempted to free slaves and abolish slavery it was still very much in existence. In 1857 it was determined that Congress held no authority when it came to putting bans in place regarding slavery as slaves were not considered to be citizens.

When Abraham Lincoln took office it was a welcoming event for many. The Southern States were not happy about this and especially when in 1863 when Lincoln enacted the Emancipation Proclamation that rebellious territories had to free their slaves and these slaves were never to be held in captivity again.

While it may have been thought that end of hardship and persecution had come to an end after this point that was not the case.

In 1866 The Civil Rights Act is passed and all blacks are considered to have the same equal rights as the whites. However, at the same time the Ku Klux Klan reared its ugly head starting in Tennessee.

Prominent People Involved in African American History

 

It takes people to bring about change and that is exactly what it took to abolish the slavery of the African American people. Throughout the history of the African Americans a long list of prominent people can be named. Both those who played a role in obtaining freedom for slaves and those who after their freedom fought and stood up for their rights will long be remembered.

William Lloyd Garrison

Mr. Garrison was truly a voice for the American slaves and was able to make his stance for them through the newspaper The Liberator which he co-founded with Issac Knapp in 1831. William became active in the anti-slavery movement at the young age of 25.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet being a slave herself managed to escape from this bondage. Instead of going into hiding and keeping a low profile Harriet played a major role in the formation and carrying out of the famous underground railroad. It has been estimated that about 75,000 slaves found their escape from the North as a result of this railroad.

Abraham Lincoln

The voice for freedom of the African Americans. The one man who had the power to set the slaves free in the rebellious states.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Although slavery was abolished and the African Americans were supposed to be considered equal with whites this was certainly not evident or being practiced in many of the individual states. Martin Luther King Jr. became a strong voice for the civil rights movement.

Rosa Parks

Rosa is an example of just how one person speaking out and standing up for their rights can make a difference. Between the 1950’s and the 1960’s racism was faced head on by people like Rosa that made a difference for the future.

Thurgood Marshall

Yet again another voice for the African Americans who used is expertise in the law to gain traction for civil rights. His involvement played an important role in segregation matters especially in segregation in the Schools. While slavery was no longer an issue civil rights were.

This is just a short list of some of the many that hold recognition in the African American black history. There are many more equally as important both black and white in color that can be added to this.