Religion, Race, and Humanism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony B. Pinn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Richard Wright ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unitarian Universalist ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lorraine Hansberry

This chapter explores the history of humanism within African American communities. It positions humanist thinking and humanism-inspired activism as a significant way in which people of African descent in the United States have addressed issues of racial injustice. Beginning with critiques of theism found within the blues, moving through developments such as the literature produced by Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, and others, to political activists such as W. E. B. DuBois and A. Philip Randolph, to organized humanism in the form of African American involvement in the Unitarian Universalist Association, African Americans for Humanism, and so on, this chapter presents the historical and institutional development of African American humanism.

scholarly journals Book Review: History of African Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Trent Shotwell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
American History ◽  
Social Life ◽  
African American History ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich

History of African Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots by Thomas J. Davis chronicles the remarkable past of African Americans from the earliest arrival of their ancestors to the election of President Barack Obama. This work was produced to recognize every triumph and tragedy that separates African Americans as a group from others in America. By distinguishing the rich and unique history of African Americans, History of African Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots provides an account of inspiration, courage, and progress. Each chapter details a significant piece of African American history, and the book includes numerous concise portraits of prominent African Americans and their contributions to progressing social life in the United States.

APPALACHIAN BLACK FIDDLING: HISTORY AND CREATIVITY

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-101
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Musical Aesthetics ◽  
African American Culture ◽  
Performance Style ◽  
European Americans ◽  
History Of ◽  
Musical Heritage

Discussions on Appalachian music in the United States most often evoke images of instruments such as the fiddle and banjo, and a musical heritage identified primarily with Europe and European Americans, as originators or creators, when in reality, many Europeans were influenced or taught by African-American fiddlers. Not only is Appalachian fiddling a confluence of features that are both African- and European-derived, but black fiddlers have created a distinct performance style using musical aesthetics identified with African and African-American culture. In addition to a history of black fiddling and African Americans in Appalachia, this article includes a discussion of the musicking of select Appalachian black fiddlers.

“Nothing Special to Offer the Negro”: Revisiting the “‘Debsian View’ of the Negro Question”

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Jones
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
The United States ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
History Of ◽  
Over Time

AbstractSince the early twentieth century Eugene V. Debs and his essay “The Negro in the Class Struggle” have been cited repeatedly as examples of an alleged indifference among white radicals to African Americans and the historical significance of racism in the United States. A close reading of the essay reveals just the opposite. Not only did Debs support African Americans' struggle for equality, he believed that it was critical to the realization of America's democratic promise. That position alienated him from other white Socialists, but it won the admiration of African American radicals including W.E.B. Du Bois and A. Philip Randolph. This essay examines how Debs's essay came to be interpreted as a capitulation to racism and, over time, alleged indifference to African Americans and the significance of racism in the history of the United States.

scholarly journals Islam in the African-American Experience

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-113
Author(s):  
Aneesah Nadir
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Main Concept ◽  
Hip Hop Culture ◽  
American Experience ◽  
Central Piece ◽  
History Of

Islam in the African-American Experience is a historical account of Islamin the African-American community. Written by a scholar of African-American world studies and religious studies, this book focuses on theinterconnection between African Americans’ experiences with Islam as itdeveloped in the United States. While this scholarly work is invaluable forstudents and professors in academia, it is also a very important contributionfor anyone seriously interested in Islam’s development in this country.Moreover, it serves as a central piece in the puzzle for Muslims anxious tounderstand Islam’s history in the United States and the relationship betweenAfrican-American and immigrant Muslims. The use of narrative biographiesthroughout the book adds to its personal relevance, for they relate thepersonal history of ancestors, known and unknown, to Islam’s history inthis country. Turner’s work furthers African-American Muslims’ journeytoward unlocking their history.The main concept expressed in Turner’s book is that of signification, theissue of naming and identity among African Americans. Turner argues thatsignification runs throughout the history of Islam among African Americans,dating back to the west coast of Africa, through the Nation of Islam, to manyof its members’ conversion to orthodox Sunni Islam, and through Islamicmessages disseminated via contemporary hip-hop culture. According toTurner, Charles Long refers to signification as “a process by which names,signs and stereotypes were given to non-European realities and peoples duringthe western conquest and exploration of the world” (p. 2). The renamingof Africans by their oppressors was a method of dehumanization andsubjugation.The author argues that throughout the history of African-AmericanMuslims, Islam served to “undercut signification by offering AfricanAmericans a chance to signify themselves” (p. 3). Self-signification is anantithesis to the oppressive use of signification, for it facilitates empowermentand growing independence from the dominant group. In addition,“signification involved double meanings. It was both a potent form ofoppression and a potent form of resistance to oppression” (p. 3). By choosingMuslim names, whether they were Muslim or not, Turner claims that ...

The Black Press

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Gallon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Black People ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Press ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Freedom's Journal

The term “Black Press” is an umbrella term that includes a diverse set of publications that include a small number of religious and mostly secular magazines and newspapers published by Black people in the United States from 1827 to the present. While religious newspapers are an integral part of the Black Press cultural tradition, of particular interest is how papers outside of formal Black religious dominations and institutions negotiated their self-defined racial uplift mission with their desire to attract readers to purchase and read newspapers. This focus does not deny the tremendous significance of Black religious print culture and the role it played in conveying African American cultural expression. Nineteenth-century religious papers like the Christian Recorder (1852–) were instrumental to the publication of early Black literature. Focusing on a small number of religious publications, then, provides a window into how they worked in conjunction with secular newspapers to define Black life in the United States. A newspaper is defined as “Black” if the publisher and principal editor or editors characterized themselves as such. Immigrant and foreign-language Black newspapers published in the United States were closer to the immigrant press. The history of the Black Press in the United States is simultaneously rooted in uplift and protest against racial injustice. Two Black abolitionists—Presbyterian minister Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm, one of the nation’s first African American college graduates—created the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, in 1827 to promote self-help and respond to anti-Black attacks in white papers. The first issue of Freedom’s Journal famously related the sentiments of its founders: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations in things which concern us dearly.” Indeed, Cornish and Russwurm’s statements define close to 200 years of Black journalism that created the necessary political and social space for African Americans to recover their humanity. Despite the significant role the Black Press has and continues to play, to some degree, the cultural history of the Black Press is underexamined relative to the emphasis that historians place on the race advocacy and protest mission of African American newspapers. Close examination reveals that the Black Press’s power lay not only in its capacity to assert the rights and humanity of Black people through agitation but also in the ways it reinforced and amplified the unique and lively culture of African Americans. To this end, the Black Press created a countercultural public of Black peoples’ image and identity that was equally instrumental in refuting the discrimination they faced in American society.

Abstract P115: The Epidemiological Profile Of CKD Among African American Men And Women: Findings From The Jackson Heart Study

Hypertension ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kia Monique Jones ◽  
Kia Monique Jones
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
African Americans ◽  
African American Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Minority Populations ◽  
Rapid Progression ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
History Of

The prevalence of CKD is paramount. CKD affects almost 1 in 7 adults in the United States and is associated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease. While African Americans make up about 13 percent of the population, they account for 35 percent of the people with kidney failure in the United States. The prevalence of early CKD is equivalent across racial and ethnic groups in the United States, but CKD progresses to end-stage renal disease far more rapidly in minority populations, with rates nearly four times higher in African Americans than in whites. The purpose of this study is to address the emergence of chronic disease complications in the African American community that focuses on associations with prevalent CKD outcomes in the JHS. Epidemiological study design used to access the preliminary data to derive conclusions about CKD. CKD was assessed by the JHS participants, who self-reported their CKD status/history. CKD was measured using the Renal form and History of CKD form that was given as a questionnaire within the JHS during Examination 1 Period. CKD was measured by Jackson Heart Study’s estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 to determine CKD status. African Americans have a disproportionate burden of CKD, which tends to have an earlier onset and a more rapid progression in this population. From a population health standpoint, CKD factors such as smoking, diabetes, history of hypertension, dietary patterns, physical activity, blood apolipoproteins and psychosocial factors account for more than 90% of the population-attributable risk. African American men and women with CKD is viewed among the highest-risk groups for cardiovascular events and disease. Race and ethnicity are associated with sociocultural and biologic variations that influence the risk and progression of CKD. Understanding these factors for minority populations can help in targeting interventions to decrease the disproportionately high rates of CKD progression and complications. As prevalence of chronic disease increased, public health’s focus on health- related behaviors and risk factors shifted the discipline’s attention to considering the neighborhood's influence on social determinants of health.

The hidden history of Benjamin Montgomery: Slave, manager, and accountant

2021 ◽  
pp. 103237322110581
Author(s):  
Sandra Gates ◽  
Megan Burke ◽  
John Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Accounting Practice ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Narrative Process ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Little is known about the contributions of African-American slaves in the histories of various business domains, including accounting. Some authors attribute this scholarly silence to ideological motives due to race-ethnicity and bigotry. Others note that this paucity reflects not only a lack of data but also an inability to adequately approach the contributions of minorities to the accounting profession. Consequently, there are hidden voices in accounting history that should be explored. One of those voices belongs to Benjamin Thornton Montgomery, a Southern slave who became a plantation manager and owner. Observing Montgomery’s practices through the unique historical lens of the ante-bellum period of the United States, we argue that he should also be acknowledged for his responsibilities as an accountant. Accordingly, we use an analytically structured narrative process to examine the compelling case of Ben Montgomery to inform a more accurate and balanced historical foundation of accounting practice in America.

scholarly journals “Using History to Make Slavery History”: The African American Past and the Challenge of Contemporary Slavery

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
James B. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Specific Detail ◽  
Abolitionist Movement ◽  
Racist Ideology

This article argues that contemporary antislavery activism in the United States is programmatically undermined and ethically compromised unless it is firmly grounded in a deep understanding of the African American past. Far too frequently those who claim to be “the new abolitionists” evince no interest in what the original abolitionist movement might have to teach them and seem entirely detached from a U.S. history in which the mass, systematic enslavement of African Americans and its consequences are dominating themes. As a result contemporary antislavery activism too often marginalizes the struggle for racial justice in the United States and even indulges in racist ideology. In an effort to overcome these problems, this article seeks to demonstrate in specific detail how knowledge of the African American past can empower opposition to slavery as we encounter it today.

Abstract 15312: Racial Disparities in Trends in Mortality From Cardiac Arrests in the United States

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anas M Al Zubaidi ◽  
Graham Bevan ◽  
Mariam Rana ◽  
Abdul Rahman Al Armashi ◽  
Mustafa Alqaysi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Census Data ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Increased Risk

Background: African Americans are at increased risk of fatal cardiac arrests, but population-based studies exploring contemporary epidemiology are not available. We sought to identify the trend in race-specific mortality from cardiac arrest in the United States. Methods: Using the multiple cause of death database, we identified all patients (Caucasians or African Americans) who died of cardiac arrest (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision code I46.x listed as underlying cause of death) between 1999 and 2018. Age-adjusted mortality rates were standardized to the 2000 US census data, and stratified by age group (<35 years, 35-64 years, and ≥ 65 years). Results: A total of 311,065 cardiac arrest deaths were identified, with an overall age-adjusted mortality of 53.6 per million (Caucasian: 49.1 per million, African American: 90.6 per million). Overall, age-adjusted mortality decreased from 80.1 per million persons (1999) to 44.3 per million persons (2012), followed by 8.8% increase to 48.2 (2018). Between 2012 and 2018, African Americans had higher rates of increase (10.9%) compared with Caucasians (6.9%). Largest disparities in relative changes between 2012 and 2018 occurred in patients younger than 35 years (African American: 35%, Caucasians -11%), and patients ≥ 65 years (African Americans: 8%, Caucasians 4%), figure. Conclusions: Although the mortality due to cardiac arrest has declined in the US between 1999 and 2012, a recent increase has been noted between 2012 and 2018, particularly among younger African Americans. Studies should focus on identifying causes of disparities and identifying methods to reduce the racial gap.

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