AP African American Studies Resource Archive | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

graphic of two men placed at either end of title, man on right is wearing a football uniform while man on left has his arms at his hips.

“Playbill” for “Fences”

1987

View the program for this play by August Wilson, part of his American Century Cycle.

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From left to right: a Black woman wearing a white vest and plaid pants kneeling with head raised; John Lewis, a Black man wearing a white button-down shirt, black pants, and black shoes, kneeling with head bowed while holding a notepad in his left hand; a Black girl wearing a white shirt, shorts, and shoes, kneeling with head bowed; and a Black man wearing a white button-down shirt, black pants, and black shoes, kneeling with head bowed. All are in front of a brick building with ground-floor windows.

John Lewis at a Prayer Demonstration

1962

View a photograph of members of the SNCC kneeling in prayer in Cairo, Illinois.

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A black-and-white photograph of an elderly Black man in a white robe and black kufi hat sitting with eyes closed, plucking a guitar made of a calabash squash.

“Griot Basimana, Mali”

1970

View this photograph, an example of the persistence of African learning traditions.

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Medal podium at the 1968 Olympic Games. Tommie Smith (the gold medalist, center), a Black man, is wearing a dark blue Team USA jacket (with red and white trim), the gold medal around his neck, and his right hand in a Black Power salute with a black glove on his clenched right fist. John Carlos (bronze medalist, right), a Black man, is also wearing a Team USA uniform (with an unzipped jacket) and mirrors the salute with his left hand. Peter Norman (left), a white man, is wearing a green jacket.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos during XIX Summer Olympics

1968

View a key example of sports as a platform for the Black freedom struggle.

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A button reading "Black is Beautiful," with black text on a white background.

“Kathleen Cleaver on Natural Hair”

1968

Learn more about this element of Afrocentric aesthetics and the embrace of “Black is Beautiful.”

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An open-topped car with four passengers in a parade. The driver is a Black man with a dark jacket, white shirt, dark tie, and dark driver's cap. In the back seat, from left to right, is a Black man in a military uniform; a Black man wearing academic regalia; Marcus Garvey, a Black man, wearing a military uniform and holding a sword. Next to the car is a Black man wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, and striped tie. In the background are apartment buildings, where Black people are looking on at the parade.

Marcus Garvey in Harlem

1924

View another photograph of Garvey and an entourage, as captured by James Van Der Zee.

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“Nonviolence and Racial Justice”

1957

Explore Martin Luther King’s philosophy toward nonviolent resistance.

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A black-and-white photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at a lectern. Login Required message is an overlay.

Why We Can’t Wait

1964

Read an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s 1964 book, focused on segregation in Birmingham prior to SCLC’s campaign there.

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Mountain chart showing change over time in Black (single race, non-Hispanic or Latino), Multiracial Black (non-Hispanic or Latino), and Black Hispanic or Latino populations, in beige, green, and tan, respectively.

The Growing Diversity of Black America

2021

Explore changing demographics in the Black population over the course of the twenty-first century.

A sepia photograph of Gwendolyn Bennett, a young Black woman, seated, wearing a dark jumper over a white t-shirt.

“Heritage” by Gwendolyn Bennett

1923

Explore Gwendolyn Bennett’s vision of Africa in this poem.

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The interior of the Dexter Avenue Memorial Baptist church, with light streaming in through multicolored stained-glass windows.

Young Black adults less Protestant than their elders

2021

Compare generational statistics of religious affiliation among Black Americans.

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George Clinton, a Black man, wearing a bright red wig, dark blue vest, and multicolored shirt with skulls and crossbones, playing the keyboard as other musicians surround him.

Let’s Talk about “Black Panther” and Afrofuturism

with Steve Vasquez

Learn more about the history of Afrofuturism upon the release of the 2018 Marvel film.

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