 African American culture is rooted in Africa and is a blend of chiefly sub- Saharan African and Sahelean cultures.  The arrows on the map indicate major migratory patterns of Africans and their descendants over the past 500 years. Their forced migration during the Atlantic Slave Trade, when people were deported from ports along the west and east coasts of Africa, is shown. Inland ethnic groups were also captured and sold into slavery. Enslaved Africans entered the major port cities, from which they were distributed throughout the Americas. Despite legal sanctions, the contraband trade from Africa and between countries in the Americas continued until the 1870s. The solid lines on the map indicate migration through 1873.  During the Atlantic Slave Trade, twenty million people from West, West-Central and South-east Africa were transported to the Western Hemisphere as slaves. This population would leave a major influence on the culture of English, French, Portuguese and Spanish New World colonies.  The African Diaspora is the story of how Africans, though scattered and dispersed, managed to retain their traditions and reform their identities in a new world. Elements of African culture such as religion, language, and folklore endured and were the links to their past lives. In the process of Americanization, Africans formed another culture known as African-Americans  1619  The first Africans as slave labor are introduced in America. A Dutch trader exchanges his cargo of 20 Africans for food in Jamestown Virginia, in August of 1619. It is believed that these Africans were sold into conditions similar to indentured servitude - a common practice in England and colonial America. The American slavery system became more developed and codified in its inhumane treatment around 1680.  1773: Phyllis Wheatley poetry published  1808: U.S. bans import of slaves  1831: Nat Turner slave revolt  1839: Amistad Slave Ship Revolt  1846: Frederick Douglass  1849: Harriet Tubman  1850: The Underground Railroad  1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin  1857: Dred Scott Decision  1861: Civil War begins  1863: Emancipation Proclamation  1865: Civil War ends/Lincoln assassinated  1866: Civil Rights Act passed  1881: Tuskegee Institute Founded  1896: Plessy vs. Ferguson “separate but equal”  1909: NAACP founded  1919: Harlem Renaissance begins  1932: Tuskegee Experiment begins  1954: Brown vs. Board of Education  1955: Rosa Parks arrested  1955: Murder of Emmett Till  1963: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom  1963: Medgar Evers assassinated  1964: Civil Rights Act  1965: Voting Rights Act  1965: Malcolm X assassinated  1968: Martin Luther King assassinated  1995: Million Man March  2008: Barack Obama elected as President of the U.S.  Christianity is most prevalent  Islam (14% of Muslims in US and Canada are African American)  Judaism  Buddhism  Kwanzaa or Kwanza , African American scholar and activist "Maulana" Ron Karenga invented the festival of Kwanzaa in 1966, as an alternative to the increasing commercialization of Christmas. Derived from the harvest rituals of Africans, Kwanzaa is observed each year from December 26 through January 1. Participants in Kwanzaa celebrations affirm their African heritage and the importance of family and community by drinking from a unity cup; lighting red, black, and green candles; exchanging heritage symbols, such as African art; and recounting the lives of people who struggled for African and African American freedom.  After the 1896 Supreme Court decision of Plessy vs. Ferguson, the idea of “separate but equal” came to fruition  Black schools and white schools were supposed to be “equal” but most black schools were far inferior to their white counterparts › Fewer resources (Black schools only got 60% of funding that white schools received)(Lowe, 2004) › Further distances  In 1954, the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education mandate the desegregation of American schools  BUT it did not require the desegregation of schools by or in a specified time

 1957: The Little Rock Nine at Central High School; the first 9 African American students to attend what was a racially segregated school in the U.S.  It was 1968 before courts starting demanding desegregation of schools in the South and 1973 before it was enforced in the North (Lowe, 2004)

Desegregation came at a price  In the South alone: › loss of more than 30,000 black teachers › and in some states as many as 90 percent of black principals › loss of many high schools and their cultural traditions.  40.2 million—African Americans in U.S. as of 2006 (including those of more than one race.)  13.4%—of the total U.S. population  18—Number of states with an estimated African American population on July 1, 2006, of at least 1 million. New York, with 3.5 million, led the way. The 17 other states on the list were Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. US Census Bureau, 2006  31%—the proportion of the population younger than 18  8%—the proportion of the population 65 and older

 2.4 million—Number of military veterans in the United States in 2006. More military veterans are African American than any other minority group. US Census Bureau, 2006  81%—Percentage of those 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma in 2006.  18%—Percentage of those 25 and older who had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2006.  1.3 million—the number of those 25 and older who had an advanced degree in 2006 (e.g., master’s, doctorate, medical, or law). In 1996, 683,000 African Americans had this level of education.  2.3 million—Number of African American college students in fall 2005. This was an increase of roughly 1 million from 15 years earlier. US Census Bureau, 2006  $31,969—The annual median income of single-race households in 2006. In constant dollars, this is up from $26,468 in 1986.  $34,770 & $30,352—The 2006 median earnings of single-race men and women, respectively, 15 and older who worked full time, year-round.  24.3%—Poverty rate in 2006 for single-race African Americans. This rate was down from 31.1% in 1986.  20.5%—The percentage of single-race African Americans lacking health insurance in 2006, up from 19% in 2005. US Census Bureau, 2006  64%—Percentage of households that contained a family. There were 8.4 million African American family households.  45%—Nationally, the percentage of families containing a married-couple family.  1.2 million—Number of grandparents living with their own grandchildren younger than 18. Of this number, 51% were also responsible for their care.

US Census Bureau, 2006 Homeownership  46%—Nationally, the percentage of households that lived in owner-occupied homes. The rate was higher in certain states, such as Mississippi, where it reached 58%.

Jobs  26%—The percentage of those16 and older who work in management, professional and related occupations. There are 44,900 physicians and surgeons, 80,000 postsecondary teachers, 48,300 lawyers, and 52,400 chief executives. US Census Bureau, 2006  Movement and kinesthetic abilities highly developed  Value imagination and humor  Ability to express feelings and emotions, both verbally and nonverbally; strong oral language tradition  Richness of imagery in informal language  Experience with independent action and self-sufficiency  Physical action orientation (learn by doing)  Learn quickly through hands-on experience, manipulative materials, and multiple stimuli  People oriented (focus on people rather than objects)  Resourcefulness, unique problem solving abilities  Tend to view things in their entirety--not in separate pieces  Preference for the oral mode of presentation in learning  Use of inferences, may approximate time/space/number  Alert, curious, good retention and use of ideas  Ability to navigate between two cultures, some subgroups have high assimilation to mainstream learning styles  Kinesthetic/tactile learning  Subdued lighting rather than bright light  rely heavily on visual input rather than auditory input  respond highly to cooperative learning  discussion style is simultaneous talk instead of alternating talk  Trait of verbal communication is the use of colorful language  prefer to study while music or conversation occurs in the room  have an outer-directed rather than a egocentric focus  rely more on information from their surroundings  prefer and are interested in working with people  like to work in groups  prefer to maintain close proximity to other students  react intensely to being praised or criticized  function better under cooperative conditions  respond better to rewards such as praise, smiles, pats on the back, and the like  learn much better when the curriculum is humanized, attributes human characteristics to concepts and principals  Many students avert their eyes while being confronted about their behavior, and teachers may misinterpret their lack of eye contact as indicating insincerity and guilt.  Note: Cultural learning styles are intended as general guides--not absolutes for all members of an ethnic group. Sources: (Davis, G. & Rimm, S., 1997) (Dresser, N., 1996) (Education Alliance at Brown University, 2002) (Lynch, E. & Hanson M., 1997) (McPhatter, A., 1997) (Murphy, E. & Nesby, T., 2002) (Nash, K., 1999) (Robinson, L., 1998) (Sparks, S., 2000) (Srebalus, D., & Brown, D., 2001) (Ting- Toomey, S., 1999) (Vasquez, J., 1990).  Reference: Effective Education of African American Exceptional Learners- New Perspectives edited by Bridgie Alexis Ford, Festus E Obiakor, and James M. Patton © 1995 by PRO-ED, Inc. 8700 Shoal Creek Boulevard Austin, TX 78757-6897  Reference: Teaching In A Diverse Society Herbert Grossman LC 1099.3.G76 1995 Copyright 1995 by Allyn & Bacon A Simon and Schuster Company Needham Heights, MA  http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/black -history-timeline.jsp  http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Schomburg/t ext/migration5.html  http://www.as.wvu.edu/~equity/african.html#s ect7  http://fycs- diversity.ifas.ufl.edu/diversity%20website/unit2.p df  Lowe, R. (2004). The strange history of school desegregation. Rethinking Schools Online, 18(3). Retrieved November 3, 2008, from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/18_0 3/stra183.shtml