DAY section March 20: Black Religion

Hank Williams

Image: Ethel Shariff in Chicago, 1963. By Gordon Parks (1912-2006)

Announcements

Scholarship info: The Puerto Rican Day Parade scholarship due date is April 2; Dominican Day Parade scholarship due date is April 2; The St. George’s Society scholarship (for students with a background from British Commonwealth) is usually due in the spring; contact Lehman’s scholarship office (linked) to apply.

Lehman’s Pre-Graduate Advising Office offers workshops on the graduate school application process and has drop-in hours each week via Zoom. This semester’s workshops focus on personal statements, interviewing, and the various standardized exams. All are highly recommended–especially if you haven’t thought about it. Details at their site

Course Announcements:

Please BRING BOOKS OR PDF COPIES OF READINGS WITH YOU TO CLASS. We’re going to do some in-class exercises that you’ll need the book for.

DO THIS for next week

Monday March 20:

FINISH section 4.12 (from chapter 4) on the 1960s. (We’re skipping sections beyond that.)

READ from the following section of Chapter 5 (Black Religion) in Introduction to Black Studies

  • Read pages 189-214
  • Focus on the sections on:
    • The Dogon Tradition,
    • Maat
  • Read for the following:
    • How central tenets (beliefs) of the Dogon and Maat shape the worldview of African people

Wednesday March 22:

  • Read the sections of chapter 5 on the social ethics of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Nation of Islam/Malcolm X
  • READ THESE PAGES: 214-222, 224 (The Christian tradition, Social ethics of Martin Luther King, Black Liberation Theology, Summary on p. 224). 228-229, 232-236: Muslim tradition, Nation of Islam, social ethics of Malcolm X

Quick highlights from March 13/15 classes:

  • Reviewed sections of Chapter 4 on Civil Rights-Black Power in Maulana Karenga’s Introduction to Black Studies (pages 150-168). Skipped last section on 1970s-2000s
  • See the Lecture Notes page for a copy of my presentation with highlights from the text
  • Music: James Brown: “Say it Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”–on YouTube here
  • Resource/for further reading: Peniel E. Joseph’s Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour a narrative history of the Black Power movement. In the CUNY library system here, the NYPL here, and you can buy it used online starting at about $5.

General reading strategies:

  • Underline/highlight key points in the text
  • Use the reading questions at the back of chapters to focus you: read those first
  • Try to understand the definitions of the key concepts listed at the back of the chapter
  • Make a note to ask the instructor to clarify anything you don’t understand
  • Note key issues, approaches, and dilemmas/challenges Dr. Karenga outlines

Discussion questions

  • See chapter/essay highlights above

What’s Next?

FINISH chapter 5 and go on to Chapter 6 in Introduction to Black Studies.

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