What is African American ?

The overwhelming majority were taken from the area of western Africa stretching from present-day Senegal to Angola, where political and social organization as well as art, music, and dance were highly advanced.

enslavement. Moreover, the development of the belief that they were an “inferior” race with a “heathen” culture made it easier for whites to rationalize black slavery. Enslaved blacks were put to work clearing and cultivating the farmlands of the New World.

On or near the African coast had emerged the major kingdoms of Oyo, Ashanti, Benin, Dahomey, and the Congo.

Frederick Douglass, an important African American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman, became a leader of the abolitionist movement after he escaped from slavery. Douglass also supported women´s suffrage and other disadvantaged minorities.

an estimated 10 million Africans brought to the Americas by the slave trade, about 430,000 came to the territory of what is now the United States. The overwhelming majority were taken from the area of western Africa stretching from present-day Senegal to Angola, where political and social organization as well as art, music, and dance were highly advanced.

In the Sudanese interior had arisen the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai; the Hausa states; and the states of Kanem-Bornu. Such African cities as Djenné and Timbuktu, both now in Mali, were at one time major commercial and educational centres.

Although the initial acceptance of “Negro History Week” was slow, in the following years, the observance rapidly gained momentum, prompting the creation of black history clubs and organizations and raising awareness of the importance of African American history.

Woodson died in April 1950, which means he didn't even live to see the expansion of the Negro History Week to the Black History Month by President Gerald Ford in 1976.

On or near the African coast had emerged the major kingdoms of Oyo, Ashanti, Benin, Dahomey, and the Congo. In the Sudanese interior had arisen the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai; the Hausa states; and the states of Kanem-Bornu.

uch African cities as Djenné and Timbuktu, both now in Mali, were at one time major commercial and educational centres.
With the increasing profitability of slavery and the slave trade, some Africans themselves sold captives to the European traders.

Martin Luther King Jr., an African American civil rights activist famous for his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech, became only the third American whose birthday is commemorated as a federal holiday. He is also the youngest male to have won a Nobel Peace Prize. He received the Prize in October 1964 for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.

Bayard Rustin, an African American leader in social movements for racial justice/civil rights. However, he also fought for gay rights and openly admitted his homosexuality, for which he was often criticized even by his movement fellows. In 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom

The captured Africans were generally marched in chains to the coast and crowded into the holds of slave ships for the dreaded Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean, usually to the West Indies. Shock, disease, and suicide were responsible for the deaths of at least one-sixth during the crossing.

Considered one of the founders of African American literature, Jupiter Hammon (1711 – 1806) was a black poet who, in 1761, became the first African American writer ever to be published. A devout Christian, Hammon was born into slavery and stayed a slave all his life. But unlike most slaves at that time, he was allowed to attend school where he learned to read and write.

In 1800, the number of African Americans exceeded 1 million. In 1900, there were almost 9 million African Americans living in the US and their current population is estimated to be about 45 million. African Americans now account for around 13% of the total US population.

In the West Indies the survivors were “seasoned”—taught the rudiments of English and drilled in the routines and discipline of plantation life.

Detroit, Michigan has the highest population of African Americans with about 80% of the city´s 680,000 residents. On the state level, Mississippi has the highest percentage of African Americans with 1 million out of 3 million inhabitants.

The first black astronaut was Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., but he died before he could travel to space. The first black astronaut in space was Guion Bluford in 1983. In total, Bluford spent more than 28 days in space. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010.

Some years ago, I was interviewed on public radio about the meaning of the Emancipation Proclamation. I addressed the familiar themes of the origins of that great document: the changing nature of the Civil War, the Union army’s growing dependence on black labor, the intensifying opposition to slavery in the North and the interplay of military necessity and abolitionist idealism.

Potato chips, a snack popular all over the world, is rumored to have been invented by an African American. In 1853, a chef George Crum supposedly got upset with a rude customer who sent his dish of French fries back to the kitchen, claiming they were too thick, too mushy and not salty enough. Crum, spitefully cut the potatoes as thin as he could, fried them until crispy, and threw a generous handful of salt on top. He hoped the rude customer would learn his lesson but in fact, the customer loved the crispy chips. The restaurant began to sell the chips and they soon became the most popular dish on the menu.

I recalled the longstanding debate over the role of Abraham Lincoln, the Radicals in Congress, abolitionists in the North, the Union army in the field and slaves on the plantations of the South in the destruction of slavery and in the authorship of legal freedom.

African Americans invented many things including the folding cabinet bed, carbon-filament light bulb, gas mask and even the blood bank. The Blood bank was invented by Charles Richard Drew, who – while studying at Columbia University – discovered a method of separating red blood cells from plasma and then storing the two components separately.

Halle Berry, an actress and former fashion model, became the first and so far the only woman of African American descent to win an Oscar for a leading role for her performance in the romantic drama Monster's Ball. Although the beginning of her professional career was very tough due to her biracial background (her father was an African-American and mother was a Caucasian), Berry became one of the highest paid and most renowned actresses in Hollywood.

And I stated my long-held position that slaves played a critical role in securing their own freedom. The controversy over what was sometimes called “self-emancipation” had generated great heat among historians, and it still had life.

Talking about popular African American Hollywood actors, Morgan Freeman is one of the most successful. The holder of Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2005 for his role in Million Dollar Baby, Morgan is famous for his strong disapproval of Black History Month. He argues that the history of the African Americans shouldn't be relegated to just one month.