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

The first page of sheet music for "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

“Lift Every Voice and Sing”

1900

Read the lyrics composed by James Weldon Johnson for what has become known as the Black National Anthem.

Primary Source

Langston Hughes, a Black man, wearing a dark suit, dark tie, and white shirt.

“The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”

1926

Read Langston Hughes's essay on the limits placed on Black poets and writers during this period.

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A shirtless and shoeless Black man wearing white pants and a sword along his right leg while brandishing a rifle with both hands and identified as "Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons."

“Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons”

1769

View a depiction of a maroon community leader.

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The head of Countee Cullen, a Black man, with a stylized drawing of his shirtfront (white shirt, black bow tie).

“Heritage” by Countee Cullen

1925

Take a deep dive into Countee Cullen’s vision of Africa through this poem.

Primary Source

A lobby card for the movie "The Betrayal". The card is comprised of a black-and-white image of a man and woman standing in a room in front of another man lying on the carpet on the floor. The man on the floor appears to be dead. The woman is wearing a dark shiny dress and is holding a gun at her side in her left hand. Her right hand is resting on her chest and her face appears to be in a state of shock. The man standing next to her is wearing a light colored suit and hat and is extending his hand toward her

Lobby card for “The Betrayal”

1948

View a lobby card from Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s last film.

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An abstract painting of people in masks with oversized hands and feet.

“The Jungle (La Jungla)”

1942–1943

View this painting by Afro-Cuban painter Wifredo Lam.

Work of Art

Three of the San Francisco 49ers football team kneeling (right knee on ground, arms balanced on left knee) during the pregame performance of the national anthem, as their teammates, coaches, and staff stand, some with hats or hands on their left breast, behind them. The three Black men kneeling are wearing the 49ers uniform of red jerseys, gold pants (with red-white-red stripes along the leg), and either red or white socks.

San Francisco 49ers Protest

2016

View a contemporary example of sports as a platform for protest.

Wooden staff in the form of a kneeling female figure holding a stylized snake in an inverted U over her head, topped by a pair of opposing triangles in a bowtie or double-ax form. Female figure has white beads around her neck and staff is pigmented in red, blue, and white.

Yoruba osé Ṣàngó

Mid-20th Century

Take a closer look at an example of syncretic cosmologies.

Primary Source

A stained glass sign that reads “CITIZENS / SAVINGS / BANK”

Citizen’s Savings and Trust Company Clock

1920–2013

View this artifact of a financial institution founded for the purposes of growing Black wealth.

Duke Ellington, a Black man wearing a light colored jacket, white shirt, and dark tie, playing the piano with his right hand and conducting with his left as a Black man wearing a tuxedo plays guitar in the background.

“It Don’t Mean a Thing”

1943

Watch Duke Ellington and His Orchestra in performance.

Video

Seven Black women with Afros raising their right fists.

Black Panther Women in Oakland, CA

1968

View an example of women organizing and protesting in the Black Panther Party.

Primary Source

A black-and-white photograph showing children preparing bags of food to be distributed through the Panther Free Food Program at the Black Panther Community Survival Conference in Oakland, California. Four Black children, two boys and two girls, are placing bags of puffed wheat cereal into brown paper grocery bags that have been organized in rows.

Black Panther Free Food Program

1972

View an example of the Black Panther Party's direct action in the community through food distribution.

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