For this ?nal assignment, you are to write a research essay of 7 to 9 pages (double spaced, 12 point font) Please write your essay in response to ONE of the following questions. Your essay should be well-organized, well-written, proofread, and spell-checked. Equally important, it should have a clear argument that you state in the introduction and develop with speci?c examples and speci?c evidence. You should use footnotes. Refer to the Turabian Citation Guide- a student version of the Chicago Manual of Style- online at https://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/ turabian_citationguide.html Also, your essay should be based on at least two primary and at least two secondary sources. You are encouraged to use the assigned course readings from this semester, only doing outside research if necessary to make your argument. Final essay questions 1. This course focuses on African American history in the U.S. Yet, as we have seen, generations of African Americans have thought of the Black freedom struggle in international, rather than merely national, terms. Make an argument as to how international, even global, perspectives on blackness and Black peoples situation have shaped Black struggles for freedom here in the U.S. Most relevant primary sources: the writings of Marcus Garvey, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, primary sources in Debating the Civil Rights Movement, and We Charge Genocide Most relevant secondary sources: Chad Williams, A Mobilized Diaspora, Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize (we only read the introduction but, depending on the argument you want to make, you might need to read additional sections), Lawsons and Paynes secondary source essays in Debating the Civil Rights Movement 2. Like the history of the U.S. in general, African American history is too often told from a male-centered perspective. Make an argument for how placing Black women at the center of the story changes and enriches our understanding of Black life and Black politics since World War II. Within this broad question, focus on a theme or themes that interest you. Most relevant primary sources: Freedom Bags (documentary ?lm on Moodle), Ida Mae Holland, From the Mississippi Delta, Angela Davis, Black Nationalism: The Sixties and the Nineties, The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977), Johnnie Tillmon, Welfare is a Womans Issue (1972), Audre Lorde, Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface. Most relevant secondary sources: Hine, Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women, Ransby, Ella Baker & the Black Freedom Struggle, and relevant sections of Debating the Civil Rights Movement. 3. In response to riots across northern cities in the late 1960s, Martin Luther King said that a riot is the language of the unheard. Why did so many African Americans remain unheard in the late 1960s, several years after the civil rights movement supposedly produced its greatest achievements in the form of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965? You may consider economic reasons, cultural reasons, political reasons, or a combination of them all. Most relevant primary sources: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Terkel, The Good War, King, Letter From a Birmingham Jail, SCLC Chicago Plan, 1968 Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, Carmichael and Hamilton, Black Power. Most relevant secondary sources: Katznelson, When Af?rmative Action Was White, Alexis C. Madrigal, John Rennie Short, Humes, Kaplan and Valls, Woods, Lawson and Payne, Debating the Civil Rights Movement. 4. Very broadly speaking, two schools of thought have recently emerged in Black studies: Afropessimism versus Afro-optimism. Afro-pessimists primarily focus on the persistence and pervasiveness of anti-blackness, of the brutalization of Black bodies since the inception of racial slavery. Afro-optimists, on the other hand, focus on Black resistance and resilience, on the way Black people have worked to create new, better worlds for themselves. Looking back on the past century of African American history, make a case for how and why the history of Black people in the U.S. calls for Afro-optimism, Afro-pessimism, or a combination of both. Whichever position you take, be sure to support it with plenty of historical examples and analysis from the course readings. Multiple primary and secondary sources from this semester are relevant. You should focus on one or more historical periods since World War I. You do not have to include all historical eras we have studied. 5. On February 21, 1969, African American Wesleyan students took over Fisk Hall for 21 hours, resulting in the formation of Malcolm X House and African American Studies at Wesleyan. Using primary Wesleyan documents that Prof. Nasta will put on Moodle- along with The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Black Power by Carmichael and Hamilton, and relevant pages of Debating the Civil Rights Movement (along with any other course readings you might ?nd relevant)- create a historical interpretation of the Fisk Hall takeover and the accompanying demands and protests of African American students on campus in the late 1960s. Questions to consider: how did the protests of Black Wesleyan students relate to the Black nationalist and/or Black Power movements of the time? What motivated the students, and what did they hope to achieve? How did the events at Wesleyan ?t in with student protests across the country (and across the world) in the late 1960s? Whichever approach you choose, be sure to develop a thesis that situates the Fisk Hall takeover and the creation of African American Studies at Wesleyan in the historical context of the late 1960s. 6. Develop and answer a historical question of your choice. If you choose this option, be sure to send your proposed historical question to Prof. Nasta before you begin your paper.
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