What is African American ?

Jesse Jackson does more than make up words: he negotiated the release of Lt. Robert O. Goodman, Jr., a Black pilot who had been shot down over Syria and taken hostage in 1983.

This narrative retains incalculable value. It reminds men and women that a shared past binds them together, even when distance and different circumstances and experiences create diverse interests.

Before he was a blockbuster actor, Will Smith was The Fresh Prince and, along with partner Jazzy Jeff, won the first-ever Grammy for Best Rap Performance. They boycotted the awards because the category was barred from television.

It also integrates black people’s history into an American story of seemingly inevitable progress. While recognizing the realities of black poverty and inequality, it nevertheless depicts the trajectory of black life moving along what Dr. King referred to as the “arc of justice,” in which exploitation and coercion yield, reluctantly but inexorably, to fairness and freedom.

The hair brush, lawn mower, cellphone, refrigerator, and — thank heavens — the air conditioner were all the fruits of African-American inventors’ creative laboring.

Yet this story has had less direct relevance for black immigrants. Although new arrivals quickly discover the racial inequalities of American life for themselves, many—fleeing from poverty of the sort rarely experienced even by the poorest of contemporary black Americans and tyranny unknown to even the most oppressed—are quick to embrace a society that offers them opportunities unknown in their homelands.

Baseball legend Jackie Robinson had an older brother, Matthew Robinson, who was also a star athlete in his own right. He won a silver medal in the 200-yard dash in the 1936 Olympics — coming in second to Jesse Owens.

While they have subjected themselves to exploitation by working long hours for little compensation and underconsuming to save for the future (just as their native-born counterparts have done), they often ignore the connection between their own travails and those of previous generations of African-Americans.

Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black major-party presidential candidate survived three assassination attempts during her 1972 campaign.

New circumstances, it seems, require a new narrative. But it need not—and should not—deny or contradict the slavery-to-freedom story. As the more recent arrivals add their own chapters, the themes derived from these various migrations, both forced and free, grow in significance.

They allow us to see the African-American experience afresh and sharpen our awareness that African-American history is, in the end, of one piece.

Eatonville, Florida, the childhood home of writer and cultural anthropologist (and my all-time favorite author!) Zora Neale Hurston, is also the first town in the country to be incorporated by African-Americans.

in 1948, multitalented actor, singer, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson was considered for a U.S. vice presidential spot on Henry A. Wallace's Progressive Party ticket

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, snagged several Guinness World Records, including highest annual earnings for a pop star, best-selling album of all time for his classic, Thriller, and most Grammy Awards won in a year (he took home . Incidentally, Beyonce holds that record for the ladies — she took home six in 2010.

Tice Davids, a runaway slave from Kentucky, was the inspiration for the first usage of the term “Underground Railroad.” When he swam across the Ohio River to freedom, his former owner assumed he’d drowned and told the local paper if Davids had escaped, he must have traveled on "an underground railroad." (Davids actually made it alive and well.)

In 1739, the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina became the largest slave revolt in colonial America — some of the men who participated had been soldiers in Africa before being sold into slavery.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a real place, so to speak. The home of Josiah Henson, whose life is generally believed to have been an inspiration for the novel, has been restored and added to the National Register of Historic Places in North Bethesda, Maryland.

Maya Angelou stopped celebrating her birthday for many years following the assassination of her friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the same day. She annually sent flowers to Mrs. King to commemorate that day.

At age 42, Satchel Paige became the oldest rookie to play Major League Baseball and continued to play until he was 47.

In 1967, Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. became the first African-American to be trained as an astronaut. He unfortunately died in a plane crash during flight training before he could be sent on his first space mission. Sixteen years later, Guion “Guy” Bluford carried on Lawrence’s legacy by becoming the first Black man in space.

Langston Hughes’ daddy discouraged him from being a writer and only agreed to pay for his college education if he studied engineering.

Architect Paul Williams mastered the art of drawing upside down so that he could sit across from — not next to — white clients who didn’t want to sit side-by-side with a Black person.

Barack Obama is a lot of firsts, but he’s also a Grammy award winner. His audio books, Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope, won Best Spoken Word Album in 2008.

. Athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith made history — and headlines — when they raised their black-gloved fists on the awards stand at the 1968 Olympics. Both also wore Black socks and no shoes on the podium, representing Black poverty in America.

After retiring from baseball, Jackie Robinson helped establish the African-American owned and controlled Freedom Bank.