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Section: Demographics > African-American

A Year in Review: Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone But Not Forgotten Dr. John Ogbu, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a path-breaking scholar in the fields of minority education and identity, died in August. Ogbu is known for his work that attempted to understand how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. His most […]

December 17, 2003

African-American

In Memoriam: Silas Purnell

In MemoriamSilas Purnell (1923-2003)An African proverb says, “I am because we are and because we are, therefore, I am.” Silas Purnell didn’t believe that he was an important person. He believed, like the African proverb, that he was only important because of the work he was doing for his community and the people he loved. […]

December 17, 2003

Faculty & Staff

In Memoriam: Ruth Simms Hamilton

In MemoriamRuth Simms Hamilton (1937-2003)The Michigan State University community, along with others in higher education, mourned the loss of long-time MSU professor of sociology Ruth Simms Hamilton. She was 66 years old.“Dr. Hamilton was a valued member of our community for more than 30 years,” said Dr. Marietta Baba, dean of the MSU College of […]

December 17, 2003

African-American

House Passes Bill to Create Black History, Culture Museum

House Passes Bill to Create Black History, Culture MuseumThe House voted overwhelmingly last month to establish a national museum of Black history and culture, pushing the plan a step closer to reality after 15 years of efforts by veteran civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. Lewis has introduced legislation every year in Congress since […]

December 17, 2003

African-American

School Vouchers: A Wedge Issue for African Americans?

School Vouchers: A Wedge Issue for African Americans?Thanks to President George W. Bush’s early morning arm-twisting and a blatant Republican disregard for Congressional rules (with a 15-minute vote taking more than three hours while Republican leadership pressured dissenting members of Congress to change their vote) we have a new Medicare system that may either cut […]

December 17, 2003

African-American

Counting on Black

Counting on BlackHistorically Black colleges offer symbolic venue for candidates wanting to connect with Black votersBy Ronald RoachThe push for a connection between Black American voters and the campaigns of Democratic Party presidential candidates reached a symbolic high in September when the contenders squared off in a nationally televised debate on the campus of Morgan […]

December 3, 2003

African-American

Afro-Latin Week Celebrates African Heritage of South America

Afro-Latin Week Celebrates African Heritage of South AmericaATLANTAAccording to U.S. Census reports, there are 38.8 million Hispanics now living in the United States as compared to 38.3 million Blacks or African Americans. However, the federal government’s claim that Hispanics have passed Blacks as the largest “minority” ethnic group confuses language and ethnicity. The claim implies […]

November 19, 2003

African-American

Book on British Movement to End Slavery Wins Frederick Douglass Prize

Book on British Movement to End Slavery Wins Frederick Douglass PrizeNEW YORKA major study on the British movement to end slavery is the 2003 first prize winner of the annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize, awarded by Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition. Second prize will go to an […]

November 19, 2003

African-American

Public School Reform Would Close Racial Gap in Education, Authors Say

Public School Reform Would Close Racial Gap in Education, Authors SayWASHINGTONThe racial gap in learning is largely due to culture and can be narrowed by restructuring the educational system so that it rewards the best and most in-demand teachers for working in the inner cities, argue two scholars in a new book.Drs. Stephan and Abigail […]

November 19, 2003

African-American

A Bonanza of Black Journals

A Bonanza of Black JournalsHere is a brief listing of Black journals. Most feature a mixture of literature and political and social commentary — though some, like Transitions, concentrate on essays. If you don’t see an old favorite of yours — like, for example, Mosaic — it may be because the publication is temporarily on […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

Obsidian III: Literature in the African Diaspora

Obsidian III: Literature in the African Diaspora• Affiliated with North Carolina State University• Dr. Joyce Pettis, ed.When Dr. Joyce Pettis took up the reins at Obsidian III in 2002, she was well aware that she was walking along a path trod by literary giants.There was Alvin Aubert, the poet pioneer — one of the first African American […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

WarpLand: A Journal of Black Literature and Ideas

WarpLand: A Journal of Black Literature and Ideas•Published by the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing, Chicago State University• Quraysh Ali Lansana, faculty adviser• Audrey Tolliver, senior editorWhen reached by telephone in his offices at Chicago State University’s Gwendolyn Brooks Center, Quraysh Ali Lansana, the poet and assistant professor of English who directs the […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

Black Renaissance/ Renaissance Noire

Black Renaissance/ Renaissance Noire• Edited and published by the Africana Studies Program and the Institute of African American Studies at New York University• Dr. Manthia Diawara, founder and editor in chief “I’m a child of African independence,” says Dr. Manthia Diawara, the Mali-born filmmaker and critic who’s also a professor of film and Africana studies at New […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters

Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters • Published by the Johns Hopkins University PressDown in College Station, Texas, the Callaloo offices are gearing up for another whirlwind of activity. For an upcoming issue on the arts and history of the Afro-Mestizos of Veracruz, Dr. Charles Rowell has an international launch planned: The […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

Writers’ Retreat

Writers’ RetreatDespite the proliferation of Black authors and titles in today’s marketplace, many look to literary journals to carry on the torch for the written wordBy Kendra HamiltonImagine the African American writer as an endangered species. Impossible, you might say — not with Oprah’s smile selling magazines and books by the millions; not with bookstore […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

Fielding’s Media Psychology Program Welcomes Its First Class

Fielding’s Media Psychology Program Welcomes Its First ClassSANTA BARBARA, Calif.Fielding Graduate Institute welcomed its first class of students this fall in the school’s newly created Ph.D. program in Media Psychology. The students are all mid-career professionals from organizations as different as Disney, Gateway Computers and Stanford Medical Center. They will continue to work in their […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

UCLA Renames Center to Honor Ralph Bunche

UCLA Renames Center to Honor Ralph BuncheLOS ANGELESThe University of California Los Angeles honored one of its most distinguished alumni last month during a ceremony to rename its African American Studies center to the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.“We could think of no more worthy individual after whom to name the center,” […]

November 5, 2003

African-American

Missing a Chapter

Missing a ChapterWhile we found your issue, “Harvard’s New Chapter in Black Studies” (see Black Issues, Oct. 9), to be informative, you failed to identify Michigan State University’s Ph.D. program in African American and African Studies (AAAS) on p.33 when listing African Studies programs. AAAS was established in February 2002 and welcomed its first class […]

November 5, 2003