Dr. John Henrik Clarke was an author, historian, educator, poet, civil activist and -autodidact leader. Born John Henry Clark on January 1, 1915, in Unions Springs, Alabama to John Clark, a sharecropper, and Willie Ella Mays Clark, a laundress. Although he was born in Alabama, he grew up in Georgia. “Clarke decided to add an “e” to his family name Clark and changed his middle name to “Henrik” after the Scandinavian rebel playwright Henrik Ibsen” (Markoe, 120). He grew up during an era where Jim Crow was pervasive in which “equal but separate” became the custom and repressive law for African Americans. Clarke was recognized by his teachers as being a smart and creative young African American; however, because of poverty and other circumstances, he did not complete high school discontinuing his education during the eighth grade to find work. In 1933 at the age of 18 Clarke migrated to Harlem, New York with the hope of becoming a writer. …show more content…
This allowed him to build new contacts which assisted him in furthering his education through the exposure of new concepts and books. Clarke always had a fascination with reading. In fact, when he was younger he would forge white people signatures to check out library books since it was illegal for blacks to do so. One reason for his thirst for knowledge may have stemmed from being told that black people had no history. Clarke said “My mind would not accept that. I continued to search”. In his search for the truth, he came across an essay entitled “The Negro Digs up His Past” by Artur Schomburg’s and this confirmed his belief that Africans indeed had a
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.
Black people who have a African-centered consciousness and perspective about our history, have great appreciation for Dr. John Henrik Clarke. Describe the reason why. (Paragraph 4) Rising from a poverty to impressive intellectual achievements, talented writer and speaker, wise words, inspiring statements, and for the bravehearted fight for upliftment of his people. WRITING Some have tried to degrade Dr. John Henrik Clarke’s intellectual status and academic accomplishents because rose to such height without earning a high school dipolma. Not graduating from high school but self-teaching to an exceptional of academic accomplished, is less than formal classroom education?
An uncharacteristic take on rural black politics, Steven Hahn’s A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration transports readers into a world of faith, power, and family across the rural South. Diving into a period that spans nearly one hundred years, Hahn, an author, specialist, and professor, addresses the political culture of newly freed slaves as they maneuvered through challenges of freedom, Jim Crow laws, and religion. Hahn pens, “ [A Nation under Our Feet] is a book about extraordinary people who did extraordinary things under the most difficult…” (1). The author successfully presents such book in this sequential timeline and geographical mapping from Texas to Virginia. Through his synthesis of vast primary literature on slavery, Civil War South, and the Great Migration, Hahn supports his arguments and presents readers with a new look into the past.
The African History evolved throughout the 20th century where an increasing number of white historians working in the field ( Holt & Brown, 2000). However, there were numerous areas in which work needed to be done. Therefore white historians entered the field to share the work. One of them published the first extensive study of slavery.
Later he attended the college of the city of New York at the age of 14. He wrote short fiction novels for magazines to help pay for college. After Graduating in 1897 he went Columbia University to study law. He supported himself while attending this university by writing for adventure-story magazines. He moved to Quebec in 1900 and spent a lot of his life writing.
He produced a vast and valuable body of literature that documented and analyzed the history and achievements of Black people throughout history. He also created a platform for dialogue and debate among scholars and enthusiasts of Black history and
When thinking of the Civil Rights Movement, for many of us, it seems like it was a thousand years ago, but for many, the memory and pain is still fresh, and it seems like yesterday. When thinking of this movement, we often think of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Park, and Malcom X, when there were so many others fighting and key to the movement. Ella Baker had a deep sense of family, which translated into her philosophy. Like most African American citizens of her time, Ella Baker had close relatives that remember the “Slavery Days”, which helped to form Ella and her views.
“She would impart to me gems of Jim Crow wisdom” (Wright 2). In “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow,” Richard Wright, speaks of his own experiences growing up in the half century after slavery ended, and how the Jim Crow laws had an effect on them. Wright’s experiences support the idea that a black person could not live a life relatively free of conflict even if they adhered to the ethics of Jim Crow. The first experience that Wright describes came when he was only a young boy living in Arkansas. He and his friends had been throwing cinder blocks and they found themselves in a ‘war’ against a group of white boys.
Douglass was more educated than any other black man of his time, simply due to the fact that it was illegal for colored men to learn to read. Yet, Douglass’s rise to popularity was unprecedented. He orated on a circuit to small groups of abolitionists, and eventually rose to be an advisor to President Lincoln during the Civil War. All this from a former runaway slave. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, Dr. King Jr. used a page out of Douglass’s book, but this time, he had the previous black protestors to refer to.
11. Richard Wright’s novel Native Son brought him both critical acclaim and commercial success. What factors attributed to this and how did this differ from what other African American writers in previous literary periods experienced? 12. What prestigious award did Margaret Walker receive for her poem For My People?
He also learned from Clarke Homeric Greek and in Latin, Horace and Cicero's De Oficiis. Clarke and Poe remained lifelong friends after Clarke school shut down. After Clarke's school closed, Poe went to a school whose principal was William Burke, who was another Irishman. He was a good student and was never reprimanded in school. Jane Standard, a classmate’s mother, was kind to Poe and showed him some of the strongest affection of his life (Annals).
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, born on September 24, 1825, was a leading African American poet, author, teacher and political activist. Although she was born to “free” parents in Baltimore, Maryland, she still experienced her share of hardships. She lost her mother at the tender age of three, was raised by her aunt and uncle, and fully employed by thirteen. Though all odds seemed against her, she triumphed over her obstacles, publishing her first book of poetry at the of age twenty and her first novel at the age of sixty-seven. Outside of writing books, she was a civil rights leader and a public speaker in the Anti-Slavery Society.
Frederick Douglass’s “What the Black Man Wants” captures the need for change in post Civil War America. The document presses the importance for change, with the mindset of the black man being, ‘if not now then never’. Parallel to this document is the letter of Jourdon Anderson, writing to his old master. Similar to Douglas, Mr. Anderson speaks of the same change and establishes his worth as freed man to his previous slave owner. These writings both teach and remind us about the evils of slavery and the continued need for equality, change, and reform.
Critique of Nonfiction Novel The civil rights movement was a revolutionary chapter in American history. Leading the movement was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy has been etched in history. Troy Jackson explores the roots of King’s legacy in Becoming King: Martin Luther King Jr. and The Making of a National Leader. Jackson analyzes how different influences in Montgomery, Alabama shaped Dr. King into the leader of the civil rights movement.
Wolfe urges African Americans to take a closer look at history to see the