Black Past
Black Past: Cooke, Sam (1931 1964)
Sam Cooke's influence on music, as the pioneer in cross-over from gospel to rhythm and blues, is described in this encyclopedia entry. His music was important to the African-American identity in the Civil Rights movement.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Leaving, 1960, Making of African American Identity: V. 3,
This exercise examines black migration from the South in the 1960's through the perspective of Alice Walker's "Roselily." A PDF accompanies this resource, reviewing the deeper meaning behind a passage from this text.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: The Search for Identity: Alice Walker
Alice Walker is highlighted in this brief biography for her acclaimed contributions to literature, relating the struggles and triumphs of African Americans throughout history. Click on "Alice Walker Activities" for related materials.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Attacking Stereotypes, Making of African American Identity: V. 3
Two images that express the growing militancy of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. This article explains how Joe Overstreet (1934-) and Betye Saar (1929-) went head to head with the formidable Aunt Jemima and with wit and irony...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: The New Negro and the Black Image: From Booker T. Washington to Alain Locke
This essay explores how Booker T. Washington and others used the term "New Negro" as an attempt to recreate the race by suggesting education, refinement, money, assertiveness, and racial consciousness.
Smithsonian Institution
Anacostia Community Museum: Speak to My Heart: Communities of Faith
This site delves into the role that religious institutions and spiritual traditions have and continue to play in the civic, social and cultural lives of African Americans.
PBS
Pbs: Identity, Oppression, and Protest
This lesson plan supplements a study of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The lesson is designed to help students understand the impact of Jim Crow Laws and their impact of oppression on African Americans. Blues music is shared to help...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: The Search for Identity: Toni Cade Bambara
Toni Cade Bambara is featured in this brief biography for her ability to combine and advocate for both feminism and black minorities through her literature. See "Toni Cade Bambara Activities" for related resources.
Columbia University
Columbia University Libraries: Notable New Yorkers: Mamie Clark
On this website you can read about Dr. Mamie Clark, distinguished African-American educator, and hear an interview with her about her studies of race and child development. This interview is part of Columbia University's Oral History...
Black Past
Black Past: Baraka, Amiri
This is a very brief encyclopedia entry about Amiri Baraka, born as Everett Leroi Jones. He is an impassioned poet and playwright who wrote about the black racial identity. A link to a website for more information is provided.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg: The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
This famous examination of the struggle for identity and equality is presented in multiple digital formats.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: The Search for Identity: Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is featured for her ability to illustrate the idiocies of racial stereotyping through her award winning literature. See "Toni Morrison Activities" for related materials.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: E. Lynn Harris
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features E. Lynn Harris, an American author, who in a series of novels drew on his personal familiarity with the gay community to chronicle the struggles faced by African-American men with sexual...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou recounts her coming of age story as a mature but apprehensive girl in the American South and California during the Jim Crow era. Selected (8) reading passages (grades 7-10) to pair with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by...