LibGuides: Black Studies : Welcome

Welcome

"Nearly 40 years ago, African American students at San Francisco State College engaged in protests that led to the creation of the first bachelor’s degree–granting departments of Black Studies in the United States. Nathan Hare was made the first chair- person of the department. This was 1967. A year later, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, leading to the most widespread demonstrations and urban disturbances in the history of the United States. However, with the death of King came a renewed commitment on the part of the American nation to bring about educational reform, and Black Studies was one of the beneficiaries of this new mood. Since that time, scholars have undertaken the task of fleshing out Black Studies with theoretical works, research studies, methodological discourses, social responsibilities, and institution building."

Molefi Kete Asante, and Ama Mazama. Encyclopedia of Black Studies. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2005.