Our story begins in Africa. 

· Always begin study with historical works by scholars of African descent who are committed to the liberation of African people. 

· Then, move to the study of the African Diaspora, paying close attention to the causes of dispersal and the patterns of dispersal - voluntary and involuntary.  

· In studying the African Diaspora, remember that people of African descent were not originally "slaves," but instead were captured, kidnapped and enslaved. We must stop using the slave masters language. 

· Enslavement is merely one chapter in the long history of African people. Never begin a discussion of the history of people of African descent with a discussion of slavery and enslavement.

· Always remember that the majority of people of African descent in the western hemisphere are not immigrants, therefore, the immigrant model of success is not applicable to people of African descent in this hemisphere. 

· Globally, people of African descent are not minorities, as we are not a "minor" people. In the 21st century, people of African descent will be the second largest ethnic group on the planet after the Chinese! Also, people of African descent are currently the second largest ethnic group in the western hemisphere. We must stop using the language of racist imperialist. 

· People of African descent must re-learn how to mentally disconnect from white supremacist environments. In order to do this, we must regularly listen to Black radio and read the Black press. Examples: Radio - "Tom Joyner Morning Show" and "Sunday Journal," with Bill Rousselle (WYLD-FM); Newspapers - LA Weekly, Data News Weekly, New Orleans Tribune.; Magazines - Emerge (our mind), Essence (our soul) and Black Enterprise (our money)  · Speaking of our money, our most important 21st century issue is Reparations for African people - the world owes us! This is especially true of Europe and the United States as these parts of the world financially benefited from the enslavement of African people from 1441 to 1888. A reparations reading list is attached. · Always remember the following African proverb: "Until the lion writes his own story the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."

12/98

African (Black) Studies Reading List

(All titles are available at Community Book Center and the Afro-American Bookstop. Many titles are also in the New Orleans Public Library) History, Anthropology , Philosophy & Politics 

(Read in order listed below, except # 8) 

1) Introduction to Black Studies - Maulana Ron Karenga 

2) African Intellectual Heritage: A Book of Sources - Molefi Asante & Abu Abarry 

3) African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity - Molefi Asante & Kariamu Asante 

4) Introduction to African Civilization - John Jackson 

5) African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality - Cheikh Anta Diop 

6) The Destruction of Black Civilization - Chancellor Williams 

7) Africans and Their History - Joseph Harris  8) Afrocentricity, The Afrocentric Idea, & Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge  Molefi Asante (This trilogy is the key philosophical work on the concept of "Afrocentricity." They must be read together in exact order, as each work builds upon the other. You can skip this trilogy and read as a break between other works listed).  9) Notes for an African World Revolution: Africans at the Crossroads - John Henrik Clarke

10) Blueprint for Black Power: A Moral, Political, and Economic Imperative for the 21st Century - Amos Wilson 

11) Race and Reparations: A Black Perspective on the 21st Century - Clarence Munford 

12) Reading list from New Dimensions in African History - John Henrik Clarke & Ben Jochannan 

Part I - From the Origins of Man to 1600 AD

Part II - From 1600 AD to the Present - focus on Africans in the western hemisphere

 (Depending upon your interest, you can use this reference as a study guide or pick and choose topics).  

Selected Readings on Reparations (Rhonda’s favorites 2/2000) 

1) Reparations Yes! (Available from the local NCOBRA chapter)  

2) The Forty Acres Documents (Available from the local NCOBRA chapter) 

3) Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880 - W. E. B. Du Bois, 1935 

4) The Betrayal of the Negro: from Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson - Rayford Logan, 1954 & 1997 

5) The White Use of Blacks in America - Dan Lacy, 1973 

6) The Case for Black Reparations - Boris Bittker, 1973 

7) The Wealth of Races - Richard America, 1990 

8) Paying the Social Debt - Richard America, 1993 

9) Black Labor/White Wealth - Claud Anderson, 1994 

10) Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality - Melvin Oliver & Thomas Shapiro, 1993 

11) Race and Reparations: A Black Perspective for the 21st Century - Clarence Munford, 1996 

12) The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks - Randall Robinson, 1999 

13) Racist America - Joe R. Feagin, 2000 White Racism - Joe R. Feagin, 200114) Race and Civilization - Clarence J. Munford, 2002

Magazine Articles 

1) Emerge, February 1997, "Righting a Wrong," by Lori Robinson

2) Emerge, September 1997, "A Simple Gesture," by Betsy Peoples

3) Essence, October, 1997, "Essence Dialogue: Do African Americans Deserve Reparations?"

All books are available at the New Orleans Public Library, Tulane University Library (accessible via interlibrary loan) or can be purchased at Community Book Center -217 N. Broad and The Afro American Bookstop at New Orleans Center & 5900 Read Blvd.  

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Literature  

1) The Norton Anthology of African American Literature - general editor, Henry Louis Gates 

2) Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Literature - Terri McMillan, editor 

3) The New Calvalcade: African American Writing from 1760 to the Present (1990) - series 

4) Reading Black, Reading Feminist - Henry Louis Gates, editor 

5) Black Erotica - Williams, Martin & Bell, editors 

6) The New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance - Alain Locke, editor 

7) Voices of the Harlem Renaissance - Nathan Huggins, editor 

8) Black Southern Voices - John O. Killens and Jerry Ward, editors 

9) A Bend in the River - Kalamu ya Salaam, editor 

10) Black Drama Anthology - Woodie King & Ron Milner, editors 

11) Black Poets & Prophets - Woodie King & Earl Anthony, editors 

12) The Black Woman - Toni Cade, editor 

13) Black Voices & New Black Voices (These two anthologies were the unofficial bibles of Black literature in the 1970s’)  

The Affirmative Action Debate, ed. by George Curry Nixon’s Piano: President’s and Racial Politics From Washington to Clinton - Kenneth O’Reilly

LA History & Culture (* in LEH Library)

 1) *Africans in Colonial Louisiana - Gwendolyn Midlo Hall 

2) *Louisiana’s Black Heritage - Ed Haas, et al. 

3) Congo Square in New Orleans - Jerah Johnson 

4) *Black New Orleans -John Blassingame

 5)* Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana - Marcus Christian 

6) *Revolution & Romanticism and the Afro-Negro Protest Tradition in Louisiana 1718-1868 - Caryn Cosse Bell 

7) *Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization - Arnold Hirsch & Joseph Logsdon 

8) The Second Battle of New Orleans - Liva Baker 

9) *Crescent City Schools: Public Education in New Orleans 1841-1991 - Don DeVore & Joseph Logsdon 

10)* Lords of Misrule: Mardi Gras and the Politics of Race in New Orleans - James Gill 

11)  Rising Tide - John Barry  

First reading list (1988-89) 

Articles 

"African American Historians and the Reclaiming of African History,": John Henrik Clarke in African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity by Molefi Asante & Kariamu Asante 

"DNA Researchers Trace All Humans to Single Woman in Ancient Africa," New York Times, 3/30/86 

"Everyone’s Biological Mother: Biologist Speculate that ‘Eve’ Lived in Sub-Saharan Africa," Time,1/26/87

"Mitochondrial DNA & Human Evolution," Rebecca Cann, Nature, January 1987, pp.31-36

"Nubian monarchy called Oldest," Boyce Rensberger, New York Times, 3/1/79

A1 & A16 Editions of Journal of African Civilizations, edited by Ivan Van Sertima: The African Presence in Early America and The African Presence in Early Asia

The African Presence in Early Europe

Blacks in Science: Ancient & Modern

Nile Valley Civilizations

Egypt Revisited

Egypt, Child of Africa

Black Women in Antiquity

Great African Thinkers (Cheikh Anta Diop)

Great Black Leaders Ancient & Modern

African Presence in World Cultures

Golden Age of the Moor Reference UNESCO General History of Africa - The UNESCO International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa Vol. I. - Methodology & African PrehistoryVol. II - Ancient Civilizations of Africa

Vol. III - Africa from the 7th - 11th Century

Vol. IV - Africa from the 12th - 16th Century

Vol. V. - Africa from the 16th - 18th Century

Vol. VI. - The 19th Century until 1880

Vol. VII. - Africa Under Foreign Domination

Vol. VIII - Africa Since 1935

1988-89 list

Origins - Richard Leakey 

Stolen Legacy - George James 

Blacks in Antiquity - Frank Snowden 

Africa as Seen by Classical Writers - William Leo Hansberry 

World’s Great Men of Color, vol. I & II - Joel Chandler Harris 

They Came Before Columbus - Ivan van Sertima 

From Slavery to Freedom - John Hope Franklin 

Before the Mayflower - Lerone Bennett 

Eyes on the Prize - Juan Williams 

The Africans: A Triple Heritage - Ali Mazuri 

Two Nations: Black & White, Separate, Hostile & Unequal - Andrew Hacker 

*   *   *   *   *

update 7 July 2008