#african american studies
Credit:George McCalman
The content we consume and its authenticity are called into question on a daily basis. But just 50 years ago, this was far from a common way to engage with art, culture and literature. That all changed with Barbara Christian.
From a young age, Christian was an avid reader, questioning why there were no African American or Afro Caribbean women included in the books she read. Born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, she dedicated her life to changing ideas about race, gender and class, particularly around the representation of black women in American literature, ultimately asking, “who gets to tell their stories?”
While pursuing a graduate degree in literature at Columbia University, Christian became friends with Langston Hughes and was introduced to the works of many black writers. Her exploration of these writings would be realized later in her career — she was one of the first scholars to bring the works of Toni Morrison and Alice Walker to the attention of academia.
In 1972, two years after graduating from Columbia, Christian became an assistant professor at UC Berkeley. She was pivotal in creating the university’s African American studies department and, in 1978, was the first African American to be granted tenure. “She was a path-breaking scholar,” said Percy Hintzen, chair of the UC Berkeley department of African American studies. "Nobody did more to bring black women writers into academic and popular recognition.”
For so long, the majority of representations of black women in literature were crafted by white writers. Christian wanted to change that. Her theories provided a foundation for black women to assert control over their own image in American literature. Her 1980 study, “Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition,” was the first of its kind to look at black feminist literature from the nineteenth century to contemporary times. In her lifetime, Christian truly pioneered the birth of black women’s literary criticism and theory.
“I can only speak for myself. But when I write and how I write is done in order to save my own life. And I mean that literally,” she noted. “For me literature is a way of knowing that I am not hallucinating, that whatever I feel/know is.”
![Minnie and Marie (18 months)May 1953[Grady Family Album]©WaheedPhotoArchive, 2015](https://64.media.tumblr.com/373bd8a5c6d29fe401c42c8250269a80/tumblr_nk160f6spE1qhljlao1_1280.jpg "Minnie and Marie (18 months)May 1953[Grady Family Album]©WaheedPhotoArchive, 2015")
On This Day in History June 12, 1931: Nurse, adventurer and inspirational speaker Barbara Hillary (June 12, 1931 - November 23, 2019) is born in New York, NY.
Hillary holds the distinction of being the first black woman to reach the North Pole on April 23, 2007 and the South Pole on January 6, 2011. She was 75 when she reached the North Pole and 79 at the South Pole!!!! Amazing!!!
Hillary was also the founder of the Arverne Action Association and the Peninsula Magazine.
Hillary would earn the Woman of Courage Award in 2008 from the National Organization for Women. In 2020, she was posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
#BarbaraHillary #BlackHistory #BlackStudies #BlackHistoryMatters #AfricanAmericanHistory #AfricanAmericanStudies #HERStory #WomensHistory #WomensStudies #PolarExplorationHistory #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #Historia #Histoire #Geschichte #HistorySisco
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On This Day in History June 1, 1937: One of the most respected actors of this era and one of the most distinctive voices Morgan Freeman is born in Memphis, Tennessee.
Freeman is a five time Academy Award nominee and was the 2005 Academy Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role winner for his role as Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupri.
#MorganFreeman #AfricanAmericanHistory #AfricanAmericanStudies #BlackHistory #BlackStudies #MovieHistory #CinematicHistory #HollywoodHistory #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #Historia #Histoire #Geschichte #HistorySisco
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On This Day in History June 15, 1877: Former slave Henry Ossian Flipper (March 21, 1856 - April 26, 1940) becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Flipper graduated 50th out of 76 and earned a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. Flipper also holds the distinction of being the first non-white officer to lead the Buffalo soldiers of the 10th Calvary.
While he served with distinction in a number of the battles against the Native population in the Southwest, he was brought up on charges of embezzlement. He would be court-martialed and dismissed from the United States Army on June 30, 1882.
For years Flipper’s descendants would plead for an investigation to the charges and dismissal of Flipper. While in 1976, an investigation found that the punishment against Flipper was "unduly harsh and unjust" compared to white officers charged with the same crime, Flipper’s status would be changed to an honorable discharge but there was no full pardon by the military.
117-years after his death, Second Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper would be posthumously pardoned by President Bill Clinton on February 19, 1999. In doing so, President Clinton made history in issuing the first posthumous Presidential pardon in the history of the United States.
On a side note, Flipper was also responsible for what is now known as the Flipper Ditch. Flipper was assigned as the engineer at Fort Sill, in what was then referred to as the Indian Territory in what is today’s state of Oklahoma. He was tasked with surveying and supervising the construction of a drainage system to eliminate the stagnant ponds blamed for causing malaria. He was able to successful stem the tide of the stagnant ponds by eliminating them and mosquitos that transmitted malaria.
#HenryOssianFlipper #FirstAfricanAmericanCadettoGraduateFromWestPoint #BlackHistory #BlackStudies #BlackHistoryMatters #AfricanAmericanHistory #AfricanAmericanStudies #MilitaryHistory #UnitedStatesMilitaryAcademy #WestPoint #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #Historia #Histoire #Geschichte #HistorySisco
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Too many Africana women needed for this sort of normalization to take place and root itself in our communities.
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