Desktop Documentary- Ida B. Wells

Class Updates: 3/13/13 and 3/14/13

Yesterday in class (3/13/13) we took PowerPoint notes on Sit-ins. Sit-ins were the most effective tactics of the Civil Rights movement they were non-violent protest. In Greensburg, NC in February, 1960, 4 African American students sat at a segregated lunch counter at a Woolworth’s store after purchasing other items in the store. When the waitress and manger didn't serve them they sat there until the store closed and came back the next day with more African Americans and did the same thing. Whites became angry and poured condiments and other liquids over them and dropped lit cigarettes down their clothing. Today in class (3/14/13) we took notes and watched a video on Freedom-Riders.  The Freedom-Riders were African American and white people who took the bus from Washington, DC to New Orleans, LA. When the buses got to Alabama violence struck. The police allowed the angry whites to have 15 minutes to attack the bus riders after forcing the bus to a stop. The bus was set to fire and the angry whites attempted to burn them alive in the bus. 

Class updates: 3/11/13

We did not have class on Friday (3/8/13). Today in class (3/11/13) we read a document about the segregation that still exists in America today. This racial segregation case was about the “Jena six” these were teens that were racist and beat up a white man. One of the six was charged with attempted murder. Nooses were hung by whites from oak trees which were how African Americans use to be lynched. We learned about Little Rock which was where the president sent in armed troops to help African Americans get to class safely. We had a discussion about if we felt that there was segregation in our lives at school. Segregation does exist in Triton, every day people don’t acknowledge the people they don’t like and this is a form of segregation. Every day people sit alone at lunch because some people won’t accept them. Every day the people who you think are your friends are really talking trash behind your back. Our class also realized that most people in our school are white and if there was more African Americans there would be problems, this is awful to realize but it’s the truth. Although we think of segregation as something in our history books the cold hard truth is that it’s sitting in front of our faces today in 2013.

Why was Marcus Garvey a controversial figure?

Just in case! (this is also shared in a Google doc.) 

Charlie Spinale

F period

American Studies 1: History-H

3/6/13

Why was Marcus Garvey a controversial figure?

Marcus Garvey was displayed as a controversial figure through a lifetime of events. Marcus Garvey created the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) which prepared African Americans to leave; he wanted all African Americans to return to their “motherland” or homeland of Africa. Garvey’s plan differed greatly from African American leaders who wanted everyone to be together, while Garvey wanted everyone in their correct homeland.

Throughout Document A we see how Marcus Garvey was a controversial figure though the eyes of Malcolm X, Malcolm was one of the few throughout the documents who viewed Garvey’s controversial ideas as good rather than harmful. Malcolm was a political activist who encouraged black rights, and agreed with the ideas of Marcus Garvey. Malcolm states that Garvey encouraged African Americans to return to their homeland of Africa. Garvey encourage Malcolm’s father Reverend Earl Little, a Baptist minister, to preach about Garvey’s diverse ideas. Malcolm states “The Klansmen shouted threats and warnings at her that we had better get out of town because “the good Christian white people” were not going to stand for my father’s “spreading trouble” among the “good” Negroes of Omaha with the “back to Africa” preaching’s of Marcus Garvey.” Malcolm also states that Garvey was “raising the banner of black-race purity and exhorting the Negro masses to return to their ancestral African homeland-a cause which had made Garvey the most controversial black man on earth…”  This shows how controversial Garvey’s ideas were because they were being heard all around the world and were being encouraged in a positive way by African Americans like Malcolm’s father Reverend Earl Little.

In Document B which is a “letter to U.S Attorney-General” we see that Marcus Garvey’s controversial ideas are viewed in a negative manner. The letters states that the UNIA is composed of African Americans with black friendly business; the letter describes the members as “ignorant Negro fanatics.” Not only does the letter discriminate the members of the UNIA it describes the organization being more dangerous than the KKK (Ku Klux Klan). The letters states, “The Garvey organization, known as the U.N.I.A., is just as objectionable and even more dangerous as the KKK, inasmuch as it naturally attracts an even lower type of crooks, and racial bigots.” The letters describes that the signers of this letter “foresee the gathering storm of race prejudice and sense the danger of this movement, which caner-like, is eating away at the core of peace and safety—of civic harmony and interracial coexistence.” The authors fear the dangers of Garvey and the UNIA, they believe they will bring more racial problems, and break apart peace and safety.

In Document C which is a memo from Edgar Hoover, we see that he believes Garvey’s controversial ideas are also dangerous. Hoover thinks his Black Star Line Steamship is agitating the Negro movement. “…and in addition to his activities in endeavoring to establish the Black Star  Steamship Corporation he has also been particularly active among the radical elements in New York City  in agitating the Negro movement.” Hoover is actually angry that Garvey has not broken any federal laws, because if he had, what he’s doing would have been stopped. “Unfortunately, however he has not as yet violated any federal law…” Hoover’s fears how Garvey’s controversial ideas could be dangerous. Hoover realizes that there “might be some proceeding against him for fraud in connection with his Black Star Line propaganda…” Hoover’s thoughts may have been correct the timeline states the in 1923 Garvey was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison for mail fraud. This was because Garvey had allegedly sent out brochures advertising a Black Star Line ship that he had not yet purchased.  

            In the last document we see An Autobiography of Marcus Garvey which portrays his thoughts on his own controversial ideas. Garvey states that his “downfall” was planned by his enemies. He states that they planned traps and spies among the employees of the Black Star Line and the UNIA. He also states that his own employees went against him. Although his Black Star Line was affected, Garvey states that the UNIA has 900 branches and over six million members. At the end of this autobiography we see how controversial Garvey’s ideas truly were. He states “We believe in the purity of both races…It is cruel and dangerous to promote social equality, as certain black leaders do. The belief that black and white should get together would destroy the racial purity if both.” This quote represents Garvey’s controversial ideas because he states that it is dangerous to promote equality and putting blacks and whites together will just destroy the purity of both races.

            A controversial figure is defined as “giving rise or likely to give rise to public disagreement,” this is exactly what Garvey did he rose against the ideas of most leaders and went with his own ways; Garvey’s unique ideas define a controversial figure. All Garvey truly wanted was a place where African Americans could thrive as their own race, he wanted this to be done in their original homeland of Africa, “we believe that the black people should have a country of their own where they should be given the fullest opportunity to develop politically, socially and industrially.”

Class Updates: 3/6/13 and 3/7/13

Yesterday in class (3/6/13) we watched a movie on the murder of Emmett Till. Emmett was brutally murdered by two men for whistling at a white woman. After Emmett Till’s death his mother, Mamie Till, decided to show his body publically because she wanted everyone to know what happened to him, the public was very angry that something this horrific happened. Several people fainted after seeing Emmett’s body.  Emmett Till’s murder showed that blacks were still being targeted and something needed to be done, Emmett’s death sparked the Civil Rights movement.

Today in class (3/7/13) we talked about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. At this time African Americans were being forced to sit in the back of the bus, while whites sat in the front. The African Americans fought back and boycotted the bus business, this was a success. The bus business lost a significant amount of business because almost all the bus’s customers were African American.   

Class Updates: 3/4/13 and 3/5/13

Yesterday in class (3/4/13) we wrote several journal entries involving the Scottsboro case. We got a timeline that provided a guide to what was happening in the time period of the case. In the Scottsboro case 9 innocent African American Boys were charged with raping and assaulting two white women on a train. The boys were originally sentenced to death but received other sentences after the case was further reviewed. This case showed that African Americans were not treated equally in court, these boys lives were ruined for a crime they never committed. After reviewing the case we wrote journal entries from the point of view of a member from the jury.

Today in class (3/5/13) we first completed a worksheet involving Segregation in the United States. We reviewed the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy vs. Ferguson; we also colored in a map representing the southern states that required racial segregation in public schools.  We learned about the Brown vs. Board of Education, this case was a case composed of 5 different cases that went against the segregation of public schools. Although the African Americans were “separate but equal” they had lower quality facilities. After this case went to court the “separate but equal” idea was eliminated in the United States and schools could no longer be segregated.

 

Class Updates: 2/27/13 and 2/28/13

Yesterday (2/27/13) we read four documents involving Marcus Garvey. There was a set of questions to go along with each reading. Marcus Garvey created the UNIA which prepared African Americans to leave; he wanted all African Americans to return to their “motherland” or homeland of Africa. Marcus’s plan differed greatly from African American leaders who wanted everyone to be together, while Marcus wanted everyone in their correct homeland. Today in class (2/28/13) we read several poems by Langston Hughes, these poems described life in the South. The poems describe how awful life is in the South with things like Jim Crow Laws and lynching going on, they describe how great life would be in the North.  We also listened to several songs by Duke Ellington that were made during the Harlem Renaissance, these included: East St. Louis Toodle-oo, The Mooche, and Mood Indiso. These songs were created when the Africans ended up in Harlem. This all started during “The Great Migration” when African Americans left the South to move to big cities in the North like Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and New York City. They left due to the racism and discrimination of the South and because of the job opportunities available in the North. The African Americans that went to New York City ended up in Harlem, and this is when the “Harlem Renaissance” developed in the 1920s and 1930s.