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

A tiled mosaic of three masked human figures dancing in long-fringed, multicolored body suits

“Each One, Every One, Equal All”

by Nick Cave

Explore the work of Nick Cave and his Soundsuits represented in this mosaic in the New York City subway system.

Work of Art

Hidden History: Jack Johnson

with Samuel Collins III, Linda Heywood, and Bob Spagnola

Explore the life and legacy of the “Galveston Giant” and champion boxer.

Video

“Nonviolence and Racial Justice”

1957

Explore Martin Luther King’s philosophy toward nonviolent resistance.

Primary Source

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.

Primary Source

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.

Video

A Black girl wearing sunglasses, a white blouse, and a white and black/white checkered skirt, holds a book in the crook of her left arm while walking to school. A White girl in the background screams at the Black girl as other White boys and girls, and men wearing helmets, look on.

“Little Rock”

1958

Read this poem written by Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén after the Little Rock Crisis.

Primary Source

Phillippe Mouillon, a gray-haired White man (wearing a collared white shirt), sitting next to Aimé Césaire, a Black man, wearing a gray jacket, gray shirt, and patterned blue and white tie. Both are sitting in chairs (Mouillon in a wooden chair, and Césaire in a padded office chair upholstered in black fabric), and Césaire is holding a book in each hand.

“Discourse on Colonialism”

1972

Read the preamble to Aimé Césaire’s treatise, a foundational document of the Négritude movement.

Primary Source

Toni Morrison, a Black woman wearing a multicolored sweater, white blouse, and black pants, next to her son Harold (wearing a brown sweater and khaki pants) and Slade (wearing a black shirt and red pants), in front of a multi-story house and trees.

“Culture Zone; Black to the Future”

by Walter Mosley

Read this column on the history of, and potential for, Afrofuturism and Black writers in science fiction.

Essay

A lithographic print juxtaposing two black faces stylized as African masks framed by yellow circular emblems with a black panther in the center. The words [BLACK IS / BEAUTIFUL] are inscribed around each panther. The print appears in quadrants, with one face in three-quarter view in the top left and the other face appearing straight on in the lower left. The panther emblems appear in a grid in the top right and bottom left quadrants, with the top and bottom rows extending across the full print.

“Negro Es Bello II”

1969

View an example of art from the Black Arts movement by Elizabeth Catlett.

Primary Source

A vertical timeline from the 1600s to the 2000s noting direct influences from one genre of African American music traditions in pink lines and indirect cross-influences with white arrows.

The Evolution of African American Music

by Portia K. Maultsby

View how African American music evolved over the course of four hundred years through this timeline.

Secondary Source

“Hey Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean”

ca. 1952

Watch Ruth Brown’s live performance of an early R&B song.

Video

Colin Powell, a gray-haired, bespectacled Black man, wearing a black jacket, white shirt, and polka dot (white dots on black fabric) tie

Commencement Address by Gen. Colin Powell

1994

Watch Gen. Powell’s speech at one of the premier historically Black universities.

Video